I was wondering about the Caldera being a cone shape. Is it for stability or other purpose ? If I take a can ( say a #10 can ) make holes up and down, and buy a pot that just fits in, will that be almost as effective as the cone ? Or is there something else I am missing ?
If you have a cylinder within a cylinder, there won't be enough space for airflow up the sides of the pot. Yes, the conical nature of the Caldera Cone does provide some stability, but that's not the major issue. The conical shape create separation between the walls of the pot and the walls of the cone so that heated air can flow up the sides of the pot. The conical shape in and of itself affects the air flow in such a way as to cause more efficient heat transfer. Most stove set ups just heat the bottom of the pot via the flame. The Caldera Cone makes use not only of the flame but also the heated air. This is why the Caldera Cone set up is more efficient than other stove set ups.
Take a look at this photo.
Notice the vents at the
top of each cone. Air is heated by the burner within, flows
in a controlled fashion up the sides of the pot, transferring heat as it goes.
This is really a brilliant design. The cone serves (at least) four purposes:
1. Entraps heat near the pot.
2. Protects against wind.
3. Controls air flow to maximize heat transfer.
4. Supports the pot.
Most stove set ups,
if they have a good wind screen configuration, do only one and two. The "magic" of the Caldera Cone is that you get all four in one neat, practical package. The conical shape and the placement of the air vents is not random nor is it optional if you want the kind of efficiency that you can get with a Caldera Cone.
Now, if you're car camping, you could just "throw fuel at it." In other words, since you don't care that much about weight, you could go with a really inefficient design and just burn lots of fuel. Personally, I like efficiency, but that's just my particular idiosyncratic persona.
Heat source within the #10 can , can either be some sort of home-made alcohol stove or esbit.
Yes, you could do a DIY alcohol burner. The 12-10 burner is really well tuned though. In my experiments with DIY burners, I haven't been able to get as good of results as with the supplied burner. My DIY stoves produce a fair amount of soot in a Caldera Cone which is a low oxygen environment. The 12-10 burner burns cleanly.
The real issue though is not the burner but rather the cone. Speaking for myself, I'd prefer a good cone with a DIY burner over a good burner with a coffee-can-with-cutouts type "cone".
HJ
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