Butane Stoves

[kathleenmariekg]

A local store sells butane stoves for $15.00.

I have never had one of these. Are they a good back-up? I think people in this neighborhood might be using them for when their power is cut off for lack of payment. And I think some people might be used to them from where they lived before they came here. Also a lot of people live outside and squat in abandoned areas. The store seems to do a steady business selling these stoves and the cannisters.

I have a pressure cooker that is big enough for an entire chicken or a 5 pound bag of potatoes. I have learned to cook in it efficiently by bringing it up to pressure and cooking for a short period of time, and then just letting the pot sit until it cools.

This was the first video about butane stoves that I clicked on. It talks about using a pressure cooker even more efficiently by wrapping the pot in a blanket as soon as it reaches pressure, instead of continuing to heat it for a short period of time. Years ago, I had learned of that trick from someone that lived on a sailboat.

 

[kathleenmariekg]

More newbie butane stove links I found informative

indoor vs outdoor

Safety and explanation of CRV

 

[Reynolds]

They work, but propane is so much better.

 

[kyredneck]

A local store sells butane stoves for $15.00.

I have never had one of these. Are they a good back-up?

I've got one somewhere I bought from my FIL probably 25 yrs ago or longer for exactly that, back-up. Played with it never actually cooked with it but |I've no doubt it would pair nicely with a pressure cooker for efficiency.

Besides doing a lot of pressure canning I cook extensively with an Instant Pot which is nothing other than a smart pressure cooker. Adjust the settings on it and you can walk off and leave it to do it's thing.

Wrapping the pressure cooker in towels or blanket would indeed save even more fuel. My mother used to cook whole country hams in a metal lard can by pouring in boiling water and wrapping in blankets and letting it sit overnight.

I've a large pressure canner that will can 20 quart Mason jars at a time. It takes a long time to get it up to pressure and a long time for the pressure to come down naturally and the food tends to get overcooked if I don't direct a fan blowing on it to expedite the cool down.

 

[kyredneck]

They work, but propane is so much better.

Probably so, and the fuel is probably more common and available than butane. I've got this butane one because my FIL needed some cash and was pestering me to buy it.

I wouldn't be surprised if I have a propane camp stove stashed somewhere in the barn.

 

[kyredneck]

Propane vs Butane

 

[kathleenmariekg]

Thanks!

Butane seems readily available in my new neighborhood. This place is one step up from the black market and has a lot of goods trucked in from Mexico that who knows where they started. Last night, one of the stores just randomly seemed to have a supply of Betta fish in baggies. LOL.

Name brand batteries, or so the package says, are a $1 a package, but you have to ask for them from a person behind a grill, that also guards a large display of fake eyelashes that seem to be a big seller there.

Butane is new to me, but this place seems flooded with it.