StoveTec Biomass Cookstove and Super Pot Reviewed
Marketing from StoveTec
The same great StoveTec cookstove quality and performance, now 50% lighter! The One-Door Deluxe Lite rocket stove was designed to burn wood, biomass and other found fuels. This stove is an excellent option for both campers and preppers with it’s proven reliability in third world countries and relief efforts.
Equipped with a refractory FeCrAl alloy and ceramic fiber lined combustion chamber, as well as a 3.9 inch chimney section that enables smoke and emissions to mix with the flame decreasing harmful emissions and virtually eliminating any smoke.
Other notable features include thick rugged 6-stud cast stove top, thick concrete style floor insulation, reinforced metal door frame for increased durability and stove life that includes feed rack mounting brackets that keep the fuel feed rack stable.
Manufacturer: StoveTec, stovetecstore.net
Model: Biomass Cookstove,Stove: 10.75″ dia. x 11.75″
Door Opening: 4.5″ x 4.25″
Weight: 13.10 lbsOrigin: China
MSRP: $109.00
The Review
Lightweight packable stoves have always been an interest of mine not only for backpacking, but also for bugging out. But what about bugging-in when the gas is out or no longer available? Today I’ll be taking a look at the Biomass Cookstove and Super Pot from StoveTec to fill that need. So let’s check it out…
When it comes to emergency preparedness, I prefer outdoor wood burning stoves over the gas, liquid and solid fuel stoves mostly due to fuel availability should SHTF. Additionally, many wood burning stoves are designed to heat much more efficiently than a typical campfire. Especially those utilizing rocket stove technology.
The rocket stove is often regarded as one of the most efficient, if not the most efficient biomass stove technology available today. The first rocket stove was created in the early 1980’s by an engineer at the Aprovecho Research Center located in Cottage Grove, Oregon.
By drawing oxygen through the burning fuel and into the combustion chamber, it becomes gasified and superheated through a natural convection. The superheated exhaust is then channeled upward through the vertical chimney where it continues to burn ensuring that all of the fuel has combusted before it reaches the heat exchanger, thus reducing harmful emissions. As the heated exhaust exits the chimney it is able to efficiently heat the cookware through heat exchange. As a result, rocket stoves are able to achieve a much hotter and much more efficient use of fuel.
Many wood burning stoves are compact and very lightweight. Perfect for backpacking and bugging out. However, since they are so small, they typically do not work as well with larger cookware. But if you are vehicle camping, off-grid living, or simply bugging-in at home, a larger outdoor rocket stove is ideal.
StoveTec’s Biomass Cookstove is a self-contained rocket stove 10.75″ in diameter at its widest point and 11.75″ tall. The entire cookstove, fuel shelf and adjustable pot skirt will easily fit inside a 5-gallon bucket safely keeping any loose ash and soot fully contained during storage and transport.
The rugged outer skin of the stove has a green enameled finish and a single-door opening with an arced top in the side nearly 4.5″ wide and 4.25″ tall to provide access to the fuel chamber. It has a black reinforced metal door frame for increased strength and durability. there are two feed rack mounting brackets for keeping the fuel feed rack firmly attached to the stove.
On each side of the stove body there is a heavy-duty hinged steel lifting handle with black heat-resistant injection-moulded grip. Each handle is securely attached to the body of the stove with three pop-rivets to safely lift and move the stove, even when it is hot.
The stove’s floor and combustion chamber are insulated with an ultralight ceramic fiber cast to Aprovecho’s exacting design specifications from a lightweight clay found only in China. They have been double fired, first with a green kiln firing followed by a ceramic firing in a traditional chinese kiln. As a result, the two-piece ceramic insulation layer is very durable and light enough to float in water which one of the primary reasons the stove is so lightweight and efficient.
Additionally, the model that I have is also lined with a tough FeCrAl (iron, chromium and aluminium) alloy refractory to further increase its efficiency and protect the ceramic insulative layer.
The steel fuel shelf is designed to support any fuel longer than a few inches in length. It is approximately 10″ long and 6″ wide at its widest point and made from a heavy steel wire.
The stove top is made from a rugged cast iron ring with six integrated pot supports providing ample stability for larger cookware including cast iron skillets and dutch ovens. Additionally, the shape of the ring is designed to channel the heated exhaust from the large 3.9″ chimney upward and around the cookware to achieve an efficient heat exchange. Especially with the help of the adjustable galvanized steel pot skirt. It is designed to regulate and channel the flow of exhaust around the cookware to increase the exchange of heat.
The Biomass Cookstove rocket stove was designed to burn wood, biomass and other organic fuels as efficiently as possible. Just a few small sticks is all it takes to boil a gallon of water in under 15 minutes. Once the fire is lit, the smoke will begin to clear as it is burnt during the combustion process. If it keeps smoking a lot you might have too much wood in the chamber, or the wood might be wet.
StoveTec’s Super Pot is a stainless steel pot with an integrated full-height pot skirtĀ. Like the adjustable galvanized steel pot skirt that comes with the Biomass Cookstove, the integrated pot skirt is designed to increase the exchange of heat from the superheated exhaust to the super pot and block the effects of cool wind on the pot. However, since the superpot skirt covers the entire outside of the pot, it is also much more efficient than a standard pot with the adjustable skirt. Check the StoveTec website for availablity.
StoveTec has a unique stainless steel Water Pasteurizer also with an integrated skirt available for purchase separately. Additionally, you can purchase their 5-gallon Stove Bucket and Canvas Stove Bag directly from their website to protect and store the cookstove when it is not in use.
Functional Testing
To test the efficiency and performance of the Biomass Cookstove and the Super Pot, I figured boiling a gallon of water would be an ideal test to demonstrate its abilities. First, I placed the stove on a flat, level tree stump, though the ground would have worked just fine as well.
Next, I filled the combustion chamber with a few cups of wood shavings and small kindling topped with an infused cotton ball. Then I lit the cotton ball and tinder with a ferro rod, slowly adding small kindling as it began to take off. Once the fire was roaring and the smoke had subsided, I added three larger sticks about 1″ in diameter.
Then I placed the Super Pot on top of the stove with the lid on top and one gallon of water inside. As the sticks burned, I fed them into the combustion chamber, adding another about 10 minutes later. After a little over 13 minutes, the water had reached a rolling boil so I removed the pot from the stove and let it cool. I continued to let the stove burn out, stirring the coals as needed until it went out.
To clean up, I simply dumped the resulting ash into a small metal can and wiped the stove and pot out with a damp rag after they had completely cooled.
Final Thoughts
StoveTec’s Biomass Cookstove is a fully contained, highly efficient and economical rocket stove that requires very little fuel, producing maximum heat with minimal smoke. Perfect for campers and preppers alike, both on and off the grid. The stove is built solidly to provide many years of service, and has proven its reliability in third world countries and relief efforts around the world.
I was thoroughly impressed with the speed and efficiency of the Biomass Cookstove, though I do wish it had come with a storage bucket included. It would undoubtedly make an ideal addition to any emergency preparedness plan, or simply for use on family outings when you need to quickly whip up a meal. At a little over $100, the cookstove provides a ton of value and will likely save a lot of money and resources over its lifetime.
About StoveTec
StoveTec’s mission is to deliver clean and efficient cook stoves to the nearly 3 billion people that currently cook over an open fire or an unimproved cook stove. 1.6 million people, 85% of which are women and children, die every year from inhaling the smoke emitted by open fires or unimproved cookstoves.
StoveTec’s mission is to also provide fuel efficient cook stoves for survival situations when traditional fuels may not be available or are in short supply, camping and other recreational uses as well as efficient stoves for commercial and mass cooking needs.
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