alcohol stove v. propane

[twinlow]

I owned a Beneteau sailboat and had a 2 burner Origo non-pressurized alchohol (methyl hydrate) stove and it was terrific. Absolutely safe, cheap to operate, and minimal space used. No hoses, no sniffers, no valves required. OK some will argue that it is a bit slower but hey - being retired it simply does not matter.

Cheers

[DesertAlbin736]

I am thoroughly sold on my Origo non-pressurized alcohol stove for my A25. Which of course like Albin boats, Origo stoves are made in Sweden. I had one on my previous Catalina 25 sailboat and regretted letting it go with that boat when I sold it. The previous owner of our Albin had a non-marine Coleman propane camp stove installed in the galley with a hose running through the bilge to a small 10# tank stored in the space on the starboard side of the cockpit next the helm station. Totally illegal jury rigged installation with no sealed locker whatsoever and no solenoid cutoff valves. First thing I did was rip that thing out and install a 2 burner Origo, which luckily a friend had a used one for sale for a good price.

It does well making coffee, and in most cases have to turn it down to a lower setting when cooking because it puts out plenty of heat. You may notice some slight alcohol smell and some people don't like that. But you don't have to worry about propane vapor settling in the bilge and blowing your boat up. Origos don't flare up because they work same non-pressurized principle as Sterno cans. But instead of jelled fuel you pour plain denatured ethanol into the fuel canisters which are filled with an absorbent material. No pumping up pressure or pre-heating burners to vaporize the alcohol. Flame is controlled by sliding disk dampers. Have never had any trouble with either one of mine. Fuel is a bit expensive, but can be purchased at any Lowes, Home Depot, or hardware store for about $16 per gallon, which is enough fuel to last most of the season.

What I do with mine is keep a 1 qt MSR backpacker's fuel bottle handy to refill the canisters as needed, as it's always hard to pour fuel from a 1 gallon or even a quart can without spilling. That way I just pour in enough fuel for what I need to cook that meal or heat the coffee, not fill the canister all the way up, since unused fuel may end up evaporating over time, even with the little gasket thingies installed.

[denchen]

Please bear in mind pure alcohol burns with an invisible flame, you can see an LPG flame, propane and butane.

[Vic K]

Number of years ago we were in a anchorage in Florida, about sundown saw a man jumping around in his cockpit. We at first thought he was doing some ritualistic dance celebrating sun set in the Keys. Later we found out that he was on fire from an alcohol stove. I've been fooling around with boats for over four decades and never heard of a boat being burnt up because of propane, LNG or butane. Can't say the same for alcohol.

[JeffScott92]

I appreciate all of the information and experiences. Not ready to do all of the work right now, but will probably remove the propane and bring in the non-pressurized alcohol. I was planning on re=doing the counter top in the cabin anyway. I like freeing up the space below decks for a future generator, no gas lines or electricity needed.

[glk34]

We have had both non pressurized alcohol (origo 3000) and butane and had no problems with either. We like the way the alcohol cooks but the stoves are expensive. We were pleasantly surprised at how well we like the butane. Very simple to use.

Chris
Iron Jack

[rnummi]

Anyone know if a Origo 4500 will fit in the A27? Got a line on a used one in good shape.

[Jay Knoll]

Anything will fit if you've got a saber saw

[smacksman]

I've used all three types and all require great care and attention to detail.
By far the quickest is a microwave oven - 20 secs to boil water.
I have had all the 'fail-safe' gagets fail at some stage. For instance, gas detectors in a bilge environment eventually fail.
Alcohol cookers are slower, but if the flame is blown out the meal takes longer.
If a prpane/butane flame blows out and 'fail-safes' fail then you may join the 18 reported incidents in the UK ( plus un-reported incidents) which result in ...

[amber jj]

Very descriptive.

[Tree]

Why not fit a diesel stove? The modern ones are just as easy to use as gas without the fear of explosion.

Oh and Smacksman, Yachting Monthly blew that boat up right on top of my Turbot bank in whitecliff bay!

[Shangie1]

Wanted to chime in on non pressurized alcohol stoves.

I cook often on our boat, sometimes up to seven days (not retired yet), and have yet to be unable to turn out a decent meal with an alcohol stove. We don't eat out often for health reasons and because one of us is on a medical diet.

I am okay with the longer cook times compared to propane/butane because I experienced a propane leak on a portable appliance once and never want to go through that again. I do ventilate for safety and to reduce condensation while cooking and of course we always have working fire extinguishers on board.

Our meals cook up fairly quickly due to precooking and freezing items like cooked rice, some meats, veggies for frittatas, soups, stews and raw eggs ( raw eggs freeze great so long as they are stirred up a bit) as well as entire meals. Also, whenever I know a few days ahead of time that we are going boating I prepare doubles of the meals we are having until then and then freeze those extras for the weekend or the week. The frozen food helps keep the boat cooler cold and fully or somewhat prepared meals are easy to thaw and reheat.

To help control alcohol evaporation due to the flame control valve sometimes shifting while underway I place a silicone pot cover over those valves to keep them in place- works great!

[SalishAire]

Sooooooo just to mix things up a bit ...... Clarice convinced me that installing a propane stove would be quite the challenge with the issue of making sure the propane locker was properly vented (a big deal) and besides we had previous very good experiences with a Wallas diesel heater stove. So we put out the bit bucks and now have a Wallas. We have spent very little time on the water with the boat yet but our testing and the time on the water we have had indicates this will work well as both a heating and cooking appliance. I have installed a computer fan and duct from the head to the aft cabin hoping to keep it somewhat warm with the forecabin heat but we haven't passed judgement on that system yet. The Wallas does require very clean fuel so rather than plumb into the main diesel tank we put a supply jug under the counter. It did turn out to be a voyage saver when we discovered our main tank had water in it and after cleaning filters and fuel lines were able to get home by doing some emergency plumbing into the Wallas tank and running the engine from it.

[WillieC]

Plus one on the Origo two burner. We had propane on the WillieC when we got her. Brand new, first boat owners,...clueless. We check out any and all used boat s...tuff stores and saw a number of "propane lockers" in various states of deterioration for sale. What's all this yak about "propane lockers"? We had a funky box separating our tank from the fridge, a solenoid controlled valve. and rotted hoses, leaky fittings, inaccessible tank...a regular mess. So I started researching Propane on a Boat. (Nice working title for a horror film, no charge.)

Yeah, no. Redoing the whole system for an ancient decrepit propane two-burner was not in the cards, so the Starfleet Commander let her fingers do the walking on the interwebs and found a near pristine two-holer Origo for cheap. Grabbed it right up. Turns out the Origo was original equipment on the A25s, if I am not mistaken, and it fit right in the lift-out potion of the galley counter. Sort of. I think ours is missing some metal shielding and I don't feel comfortable lighting up the Origo down in its recess, so I lift it out and use it atop the counter or, much more often, carry it out to the pilot house and set it on our table or the expanded lid where one of our two Pelican coolers resides. I love that flexibility and I don't miss anything going on inside or outside the boat. I can see approaching wakes and other conditions that need attention when you have a stove going.

I must admit I like the Wallas units but can't abide the cost. (Said the guy who just spent a small fortune on new canvas, radar, deep cycle batts and new alternator with external controller, to say nothing of all the free labor...but I digress. Pictures coming!) Oh, and the $85 Chinese heater.

As to making the 4500 fit on an A27...and I know nothing about the 4500...anything can fit anywhere with the right tools and skill sets. Or checkbook. Be bold! Once they pass 40 years of age, there is no original restoration factor to consider, if there ever was one. Make your boat work for you.

The fire hazards are real and fuel handling is no laughing matter. The little bottles DA suggests are almost required. Pouring out of a gallon can is best done on land (or dock) with a funnel into the smaller container. Then, adding fuel to the burner cans on the stove is simple. Just be safe and smart. I also have rubber like seals that I use to actually seal the canisters to the stove lid when not in use. Otherwise all that alcohol will eventually evaporate. Do nothing with your burners until they are stone cold.

[Burton]

We use a two burner (non-pressurized) Origo on out A25 Slow Motion. We are happy with its simplicity.

The big drawback now is price— I just saw a single burner listed on eBay for $700. The stealth camping crowd using vans to live in has made the Origo stoves the stove to get. They are no longer made and so now those of us in the boating crowd have to compete with the van camping crowd to get one.

Yes, it is slower than propane, and it has some alcohol odor. We recently picked up about 11 gallons of 80% (liquid) hand sanitizer alcohol from Home Depot for three dollars a gallon, as they were closing it out. There may still be some of that available. This 80% stuff burns just fine.

I would add one thing about filling the canisters. If you slant them at about a 30° angle, it reduces the chance of spillage.

We are now experimenting with food thermos cooking. (The ones with the wide mouth). This has the potential to add some convenience and save fuel, depending on what one is cooking. However, so far we have only tried it for oatmeal and it works great. On the ‘net is lots of info on Thermos cooking.

It is true that the flame is at times invisible. However, we do not find this to be any disadvantage. And, one can supposedly put the flames out with water. Never had to do that yet as it is so easy to extinguish the flame. By the way, we ran a pressurized alcohol stove on our Catalina sailboat and never had a problem. I wonder if people get in trouble when they don’t take the time for the fuel to vaporize properly, they open the valve, and shoot liquid alcohol straight up into the boat.

By the way, our son is a fireman/EMT and he will not have propane or butane on his boat. (I’m sure it can be done safely, if one follows the rules.) His boat cabin is smaller than our A25.