Howdy,
Roscoe here with a review of the nifty camp stove I had out this past weekend. Officially it’s the “StoveTec Deluxe 2-door Wood, Biomass, or Charcoal Fuel Stove.” I had gotten it back inApril of 2013 and I remember firing it up in the backyard and got water to boil with it (Wohoo). But that was as far as I had gone with using it. I watched several video reviews on Youtubeof it and the general consensus was, It’s Badass. Some of the videos were painful to watch as can be expected when dealing with Youtube but at least it gave me the ideas on its operation, possible fuels, and cookware.
Simply, build a fire in the chamber and it directs the heat up under your cookware and with the added collar, more heat is used, allowing stuff to cook faster. The stove came with 2 grates, one to use with wood and Biomass and the other with charcoal (haven’t tired that yet so hopefully save that for the next Adventure Dynamics Excursion). The initial fire I started was with what was available, some paper, pine needles, twigs, and pinecones (pinecones were Awesome in this thing). I was lazy and used a Zippo but there would be no problem starting it with fire steel. Once the fire got going, I just fed in some branches on the rack into the top chamber. The natural branches seemed to burn better and create more heat in the StoveTec rather than the processed 1” x 2” stakes often used with target stands. With either one, the wood burned, we had fire, and made hot food(Yay Team).
The cookware that was used was Woks as well as a simple pot. The Wok was set inside the StoveTec collar and heated up fast. Unfortunately, some technique needs to be learned to make theStoveTec able to simmer or to cut down on the heat. That would have saved the extra dark and crispy bacon and rubberized Elk (luckily the Kielbasa came out just fine). The simple small pot was used to heat water but was used without the collar; possibly making it take longer to get boiling. Things to try next time are aCast Iron skillet and maybe a Dutch oven.
With the weight of the StoveTec being about 22lbs, it makes it good for camping out of the Adventure Dynamics Technicals at a basecamp whilst we go out Lurping but it wouldn’t be much fun to have it strapped to your back. The price I got it for was $124 with free shipping off of Amazon. However, it no longer seems to be on their website. But it looks like you can order directly fromStoveTec.
http://stovetecstore.net/index.php/
This looks to be a very similar stove to the StoveTec.
Some of the Youtube nonsense I sat threw was the types ofStoveTec Stoves put out by the manufacturer. (Don’t know why but I kind of wanted to throat punch him while watching the video).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zn_dcFz2YdM
This is decent video on the different types of cookware used on the StoveTec that gave some cooking ideas and camp food possibilities. (Same guy, still needs a throat punch).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XTVJL7-uxo
So while carousing Youtube, I saw several videos of what folks were making on their StoveTecs. Albeit, some of them looked to be a rather ambitious undertaking; best done with a trial run at the homestead to better plan the prep work (and if that dinner fails, In-N-Out, Chinese, or Dominoes could be a life saver).
In closing, I was impressed with the stove and think it was a wise investment; who doesn’t like to play with fire and have hot food?
~Roscoe out
Editor's note: For those who might be making the derp face at the prospect of the Tactical Wok, we are hoping to get a write up from the subject matter expert. Sage fire wok'd elk steak in fresh bacon grease...
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If you don't, go fuck yourself...
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-G.Monkey
Ahhhh... the StoveTec!
ReplyDelete'Bacon-grease fried elk in wok' guy here, chiming in to sing the praises of this ingenious piece of equipment!
First off; my single only problem with the wok sitting on this set-up is my own lack-luster performance on the wok in general, compounded by 10 or so beers, which is usually compensated for by lower heat source temps... something that no true 'master' of the wok would ever wish for? Usually, the main problem with a wok is not getting it hot enough. Any wok master with the reflexes of a Ninja would absolutely be in awe of the amount of heat this stove delivers over what I consider the wok's best heat source, the coals of a campfire.
I have become a huge fan of campfire wokking (sp?), but never did I envision something that one could feed a few twigs and pinecones into and then have a blow-torch of heat come out of that perfectly fit the wok, elevated even, at a comfortable working height, as opposed to the campfire.
No field portable cook stove I have ever come across, short of something attached to a quickly exhaustible 20lb propane tank, has ever created enough source heat to use a wok.
And this StoveTec Biomass blast furnace will never run out of fuel... that in itself is epic. My wok is of a very thin steel design, thinner than most. I would almost have to say that though I can out-drink the average Ninja, I personally should either refrain from drinking before attempting a wok meal on this stove, or perhaps utilize its phenomenal capabilities with cookware requiring a slightly slower reaction time, such as cast iron? I can only imagine a cast iron skillet on this stove... that would be a good match for me, until I learn to get faster on the wok...
I also used Roscoe's stove to boil a gallon of water for 'Cowboy Coffee' in a large steel pot. It of course did this faster than I could ever dream of on my electric range at home, and the ambient air temperature around us was about 26 degrees.
It isn't very often that I come across a piece of equipment that I 'need', I'm extremely happy with what I've got, but this thing is on my wish list.
In the 'truck/ATV/group' camping cook role, it is worth every pound.
In the 'disruption of the power grid/no access to liquid fuel canisters' cooking (and even possibly heating?) role, it is more than worth every dollar.
Elk shoulder is the toughest piece of meat one will ever chew, when cut as thick as I did on my 'test piece'. It tasted phenomenal. The other, much thinner pieces, were out of this world.
It sure got the Coyotes singing! Singing the praises of the StoveTec Deluxe 2-Door Biomass Radness stove.