Fire, avoiding smoke, cooking .........

piqued · Coal Joined: Oct 16, 2004 Posts: 3 Location: Dallas

Good Plan -- Except, what if the time it takes for "the dust to settle" is 5 Yrs? 10 Yrs? NEVER?

NTBKtrader · Intermediate Crude Joined: Oct 19, 2004 Posts: 590

oowolf · Posted: Thu Dec 02, 2004 5:26 pm Post subject:

Get a solar oven-no smoke

seahorse · Expert Joined: Oct 15, 2004 Posts: 2080 Location: Arkansas

Its very difficult to build a smokeless fire. Don't burn anything green. The hotter the fire, the less smoke. For example, when you have real hot ashed, there's little or no smoke.

However, if you are trying to hide, even if you're fire is smokeless, whatever you are cooking will have a smell that will travel. Also, fires with wood make noise. So, for planning purposes, you always have to assume that your fire is insecure.

If you must make a fire in an insecure area (hiding), build the smallest fire necessary. Keep it going only long enough to serve its purpose (cook, boil water, dry clothes). Try to build a blind around it to hide the light of its flames (using a poncho for example, or dig a pit high enough to hide the flames). Travel, sound, light, all travel farther at night, so you are probably better off building a small fire during the day.

Last, after the fire is finished, so your best to conceal the site, and never sleep where you cook or eat. That's where they'll be looking for you.

Schneider · Posted: Sat Dec 04, 2004 2:44 pm Post subject:

Codeman · Coal Joined: Aug 14, 2004 Posts: 17

Thank you for the great links!

I have been experimenting with various alcohol stoves that I have made. They work great and produce no odor or smoke. My next mode of experimentation will be with wood gas cook stoves. And perhaps after that a gassifier for an internal combustion engine.

kpeavey · Expert Joined: Oct 04, 2004 Posts: 1094

I have a coleman camp stove. the tanks are a pound each, available at wal-mart for about 2 bucks each. For making coffee in the morning a single tank will last a month. If you have lots of space to store tanks ahead of time, it is an option. There is no smoke or odor from burning the propane.

The food, however, may have a definate odor, and will draw attention considerably faster than the smell of smoke.

Another option is a solar cooker, solar oven, solar stove. Run a google search, you'll get all the information you need to fashion an effective device. The operate without fuel, reach high temperatures, can be built to fit anything from a sandwhich to a side of beef. They also have the advantage of being enclosed. Even if the food has an odor, it is inside the unvented oven.
These are cheap, practical, and effective. What else do you want?