TIP number 120

The nimble fingers of Andrew Skurka creating a tiny powerhouse stove.

Make your own alcohol stove

There are oodles of cool designs for homemade alcohol stoves, and they are all made from junk out of the recycle bin. Searching the internet for alcohol stove designs is like going down the rabbit hole, be prepared to get overwhelmed with information. The stove designs drawn here are made with cat food cans and a simple paper punch.

For solo cooking, most stove designs require setting the pot is set right on the stove unit, so there is no reason for any kind of stand. The smaller sized Fancy Feast cat food can stove and a solo cook mug is an amazingly simple and efficient cook-system. I was turned-on to this tiny stove by Ultralight superstar Andrew Skurka. He’s traveled thousands of miles with just this little beauty in his pack—no need for anything more.

Use nothing more than a simple office supply hole punch as your only tool.

Cat food cans gleaned from the trash are the source for an excellent alcohol stove.

If you are cooking in a team of two, the larger can (3 3/8” diameter) requires a little gap between the stove and the bottom of the pot. You can use three tent stakes to make a perfectly sturdy platform, and get multi-use points for the stakes!

I've played with this design using the 3 3/8" sized can, and I find it has more ooompf that the "Fancy Feast" size. It can be used with a pot setting right on top of the little can. But, for a little bit better performance, using the tent stakes as a stand helps the heat output and cook time.

A very light alcohol stove with heat output for a team of two.