Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

1. buy a pound of coffee in an old-fashioned metal can; save the can after the coffee's gone. Run a ring of 'vent holes' round the bottom with a church-key type can opener about 1 1/2'' apart.

2. save a newspaper or pick up a throwaway free trader and wad each sheet individually to about tennis-ball size; keep these inside the coffee can along with your favorite lighting device.

3. next time you're out of lighter fluid, you have a chimney and 'tinder/kindling' at hand right in the can!

Laredo wrote:1. buy a pound of coffee in an old-fashioned metal can; save the can after the coffee's gone. Run a ring of 'vent holes' round the bottom with a church-key type can opener about 1 1/2'' apart.

That sounds a lot like the charcoal starter I picked up this year. I'll put a tiny grill on top of it and use it to grill a steak or a couple burgers. It gets hot really fast, and only needs a few coals.



Mike...

I have that same exact chimney starter. I had to downgrade it when I got this new one. It just didn't make enough coals to get the grill good and hot.

Then of course there's extreme bbq:

http://www.doeblitz.net/ghg/

Don't try this at home.

Hell, don't try this ANY time!!!!!!!!!!

That is some pretty serious treatment...

http://www.doeblitz.net/ghg/grill.jpg

Mike...

My chimney starter gave up the ghost this past weekend.
It appears that what happened, was that the metal had been annealed and annealed repeatedly... So many times that it just got soft and collapsed.
I wonder if dowsing it with cold water upon pouring out the briquettes would have prolonged it's life?...
Looks like I'm gonna have to build my next one... I looked everywhere in this town and nobody carries them this time of year.... What's this world coming to?!!!

I got mine from Amazon. I still had my other one so I wasn't in a hurry to get it.

http://tinyurl.com/dhk25

here are some good sources:
http://www.motherearthnews.com/library/ ... Hobo_Stove

http://journeytoforever.org/edu_hobostove.html

Laredo's post reminded me of the "Hobo" stoves we used to make when I was in the boy scouts.

Took a 3 pound coffee can, punched a bunch of holes in the side near the bottom of the can with an old "church key" can opener (the side that still has an end on it), then cut a opening that was a little bigger than a tennis ball on the side with tin snips (so when the can is flipped over it looks kind of like an igloo with a doorway in the side, and vent holes around the upper edge).

Stuff a wadded up sheet of newspaper in the opening and light it, and you should get enough heat to fry a hamburger directly on the bottom of the can (which is now the top).

Hope this makes sense without any pictures.