I stumbled across rocket stoves in 2013…when I was looking up the classic Mythbusters rocket launcher clip on Youtube. I was absolutely fascinated with the concept of rocket stoves but when I went to buy one, discovered they weren’t available in Australia and also that postage from the US to Australia was worth more than the stove itself, and being a fabricator decided to try making one for myself.

I quickly discovered that the optimal design was to encase the stove body inside of a steel container to contain the heat, that would have otherwise been lost from the burn chamber.  Many of the early prototypes I made had this body enclosed in a paint tin or steel bucket but it was impossible to scale.  Securing a supply of buckets of a consistent size and shape without buying a shipping containers worth of them, was beyond our reach.

My workshop has been built one piece of equipment at a time depending on the need and so I invested in a sheet metal roller so that I could form my ‘own bucket’.  Solving that supply issue and having refined the ratios of the burn chamber and riser I combined the two and created the wokkett; a rocket stove that will take a Wok.   This beauty will run in gale forced winds due to the shrouding affect of the bucket and is quite solid and unlikely to tip over.

It can also take a dutch oven or heat up a large pot of water.

I wondered if there was a way to try and reduce the footprint of the Wokkett and increase the burn chamber size so I went square…creating the Field Stove.  While similar in principle to the Wokkett stove, it’s a very different stove, focusing more on portability, even when running. Take a look…

So anyway, In off setting the burn chamber, I effectively moved the heat source as far away as possible from the carry handle, keeping it at a comfortable temperature even after running for long periods of time.   The main reason for this was to solve an annoying problem that all rocket stoves have, which is ash build up.  I wanted a way to be able to safely tip the stove onto it’s top to remove excess ash, but retain enough of a coal base so that you wouldn’t have to start from scratch with the fire if you needed to cook for a long period of time.

This is achieved with a small shelf built into the base of the riser, so that with a simple tipping action you can dump 80% of the ash.

 Another positive effect of the offset burn chamber was the extra length it gave to the burn chamber, increasing it’s fuel holding capacity.

I know what you’re thinking, wouldn’t having the burn chamber offset create uneven heat?  Yes, it does, but surprisingly enough this was actually not as big of a deal as I thought it might be with testing.   The great equaliser in this design is the shield and the placement of the vents in the heat shield which directs the heat across the bottom of the pan meaning that the uneven heat is so minimal it’s not actually a problem.

The base of the rocket stove is double skinned capturing lost heat and creating a better barrier between the stove and whatever surface the stove is sitting on. I also incorporated fixed pot holder so they can’t be lost and they won’t fall out when tipping the ash out. With stoves square design it packs in better with the camping gear. 

In conclusion, this really is my favourite stove to use.