Easy Wood Gasifier Stove + 2 Non-Perishable Recipes

I'm going to show you how to make a complete camping stove setup and use it to cook a decent meal suitable for serious camping use

To be honest I kind of just made these recipes up today based on some similar things I've done before, except now I had a few specific goals in mind: To actually cook a tasty & healthy meal (not ramen), that is completely non-perishable, that isn't too difficult, but is still affordable. In other words, real camping food.

The result was awesome!

There are 3 different things made in this instructable:

1. Easy Wood Gasifier Stove (aka hobo stove):

2. Dinner Part 1: Hearty Beef and Veggie Soup

3. Dinner Part 2: Beer Bread (for dipping into soup)

This little wood burning camping stove is great because its fuel source is free and unlimited, it produces only a little smoke, and you don't have to carry heavy liquids to burn. It is a little slower to start than alcohol stove though.

This particular design is super easy to make and only requires three tools to do so. The assembly trick is that the small tin can can be press fit around the existing inner lip of the paint can, as you'll see in the next step.

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Wood Gasifier Stove Bill of Materials

1 New Quart Size Empty Paint can

14.5 oz standard size vegetable tin can (this will becoem the inner chamber)

64 oz V8 juice tin can (this will become the 'pot holder' which allows the fire to vent.)

1 Carabiner clip for keeping the pieces together (Mine had an integrated flashlight for night cooking)

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Tools:

Can Opener

Drill with step drill bit.

Cutting Tool: (Tin Snips/band saw/Dremel with cutter wheel)

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Cooking Accessories:

You will need to use something that is actually made to be cooked in as a pot. I wouldn't recommend doing any cooking inside tin cans because they have lining materials not intended for heating.

A cheap solution would be to scrounge something from goodwill or get a $7 grease dispenser from Walmart. Or you could get a compact camping pot set off amazon like this one.

1. Can Opener: Use the can opener to open both tin cans and dump out their contents into something else. Also use the can opener to cut open the bottom of the paint can.

2. Cut the large tin can: You can cut this can to whatever length you want to control how hot the cook pan will get. Mine is 2.25" tall. If you cut your can right maybe you can get two pot holders (a tall one and a short one) out of this.

3. Drill Holes: Use the drill to make holes in all the cans as shown in the pictures. Don't worry about the sizes being perfect, this will work as long as you put the holes at the right ends of the cans.

4. Assemble: The inner lip of the paint can happens to be the perfect size for a press fit into the rim of the 14 oz tin can. You can just shove them together by hand and your done!

I also put a little knob into the top of my paint can lid to make it easier to grab. You could also use a wine cork or piece of wood for this.

5. Fire Starters: You can store kindling inside the stove in a bag. I had good luck with an experimental ball made of dryer lint wrapped around a votive candle inside a paper egg shell carton.

Be safe about starting fires in the woods! My setup was done on top of a brick and I never took my eyes off it. When I was done I put the lid on the stove for a while to help kill off the embers, then I doused the ashes in water.

This makes enough soup for 2 hungry adult campers or 3 kids.

Ingredients:

*1/2 Cup Bob's Redmill Veggi Soup Mix: (Green Split Peas, Yellow Split Peas, Barley, lentils and Vegetable Pasta)

*1/2 Cup Dried Diced Tomatoes (These are hard to find in local stores so I cheated and used a fresh tomato)

*1/2 Cup Shredded Beef Jerky (The boiling will soften this up. I would stick with 'original' flavored)

*~4 Cups water (Just under two full plastic water bottles)

*1 Cube of beef bullion

*1 teaspoon of your favorite seasoning

Put everything into a seal-able plastic bag and store at room temp.

Cooking Instructions:

Dump entire bag into pot with water, bring to boil then simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

This makes enough bread for 2 hungry adult campers or 3 kids.

Ingredients:

*1.5 cups of SELF RISING flour

*2 tablespoons of sugar

(Put the above two things into a sealed plastic bag and store at room temp.)

*A 4 oz apple sauce bowl (applesauce is a good non perishable stand in for eggs and butter here)

*1/2 a can of beer (drink the other half while cooking the meal)

Cooking Instructions:

Dump all ingredients into pot and mix well. Cook covered at low/medium temp for 50 minutes, do not stir.

While you're eating your dinner you might enjoy reading about my take on "The Ultimate Altoids Tin Survival Kit"

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If you got some good camping ideas from this project then let me know and please vote for me in these contests! The "Camping Food Contest", the "Outside Contest", and the "Summer Food and Drink Contest" because my work is original and tasty!