Rocket stove!

   

     In my opinion, one of the best, most fun parts of permaculture is how it stresses the use of appropriate technology.

Built our first rocket stove today and baked a loaf of beer bread! Worked great, just took a bit of time and a minor rebuild to get it "rockety". I also thought of a design change to make it better.

 

 

This is the second incarnation, which happened about 3 minutes after the first.

 

At first the sticks were right down on the grey bricks. This didn't allow air to flow to the fire. Which is also where I will make an adjustment on the rebuild. I'll open it up a bit underneath and add a small grate to allow ashes to fall, which should help it to burn hotter. 

 

 

It was pretty windy today. I'll add a collar around the top of the chimney to keep the wind from blowing down and putting the fire out. The wheelbarrow worked well enough today.

 

I put a small crack between the grey bricks in front and that seemed to help a bit with air intake. The air was able to actually flow up under the fire.

 

 

It was starting to sound really rockety!

 

Almost finished loaf of beer bread. Would have baked better had I let the dutch oven

 heat up more thoroughly.

 

 

     The great thing about these rocket stoves is how simple they are to set up, how hot they burn, and how little fuel they use. I baked a loaf of bread using a small pile of damp twigs, and 20 paving bricks. On my first try. If I went out to buy bricks to make this, I would have spent $10 by using these (expensive) pavers at fifty cents each. If you want to cook on a camp stove you'll spend between $20 and $200 and have to buy the gas to power it. How much wood does it take to cook over a camp fire?

 

     These stoves come in many different forms and are mostly used in third world countries because of how clean they burn, how small they are and how little fuel they use. In some villages people can cook an entire meal over only dry grass which is great in a place with no wood or propane! They can be made from many different materials from bricks to cement to old food cans or cinder blocks. The tin can versions are extremely light and are great for travel and camping or survivalism.

 

     All in all I have to say that this was a success and I will be refining the design on a small scale in order to build a larger more permanent installation. I'll keep updating as I go with more detailed instructions and better plans.

 

Keep on keepin on!

 

J.B.