Digital Friend's video: How-to Make An Easy Cook Steel Bucket Using A Wood Gas Stove Tutorial

Learn how to combine a steel bucket and a wood gas stove to make a very easy outdoor cooking system. This system works when it is dry. This system does not work as well in the rain, there is another bucket system which is a little different which works in rainy conditions. Have a look at some of my other wood gas stove videos to learn how to quickly and easily light and manage a wood gas stove. Advantages The advantages of this system are that it is very efficient and can use multiple fuel sources. The steel bucket is also inexpensive and easy to make, all it takes is a step drill. The bucket can be transported a short distance while it is lit. The bucket can stand on a wooden table without the bottom burning the wood, due to the approximately 1 inch of soil used as a spacer on the bottom of the pail. The dirt spacer act as a heat shield, protecting the wooden picnic table from burning. This system works in the wind. The bucket acts as a heat reflector. The bucket and cast-iron pan together enclose the flame, which increases fire safety. There is also very little visible smoke or flames. Disadvantages This system doesn’t work in rain, because rain accumulates in the bottom of the bucket and turns the soil into mud and then the stove starts to tilt and stops working properly. Fuel Wood pellets, chopped lumber or twigs. Tools Bent nose long reach pliers, ferro rod, petroleum jelly coated cotton balls Why Should I Care? This is a great system to do a little bit of cooking if there is ever an extended power outage caused by a natural disaster. The system also works great on a camping trip, picnic or other outdoor cooking event. Here’s the general idea. You have to adapt the principles to your particular steel bucket, which will probably be different. The idea is that the soil is put into the bottom of the bucket to raise up the stove to the point where the handle of the cast iron pan sitting on top of the stove barely clears the top of the bucket. This is done to stabilized the bucket and stove and also to get the maximum efficiency form the windscreen. The further down in the bucket the pan rests, the better the windscreen works, because the pail sides shield the stove flame from the wind. Remember, the pail acts as both a wind break and a heat reflector, because shiny metal is a good heat reflector. The dirt/soil/sand mixture is also there to act as a heat shield, protecting whatever the stove is resting upon. Someone might want to cook on a picnic table and avoid a black burn mark where the stove was sitting during use. To solve this problem, I use about 1 inch of soil which is packed down hard. When the embers fall out of the stove onto the soil, the dirt shields the wooden table top on which the pail is sitting from the heat of the embers and the heat coming from the bottom of the stove. These stoves get really hot. If you just sit the stove directly on the bottom of the metal pail and then rest the pail on a wooden surface, the wooden surface will be burned. Once the correct dirt level has been determined, the holes in the bucket are drilled using a step drill. The holes in the bucket must be a little bit higher than the air intake or vent holes in the bottom of the wood gas stove. The reason for this is that when strong wind blows against the bucket, the wind should not blow through the bucket holes and directly into the bottom air intake holes in the bottom of the wood gas stove. If the bucket holes are a little higher than the air intake holes on the stove, the wind blowing through the bucket holes will blow onto the steel outside part of the wood gas stove and is then sucked downward a short distance into the air intake holes. As a result, the gas flame is then not blown out, and this avoids a situation where the stove flame goes out and the wood gas stove starts smoking. The smokeless exhaust from the stove is blown out top sides of the bucket, thereby transferring heat to the sides of the pan. In a general sense, the air is sucked into the bucket through the air holes, then it is sucked down into the stove through the air intake holes in the stove, after which point the exhaust goes out the top of the stove an out the top of the bucket. If you are using the bucket directly a non-burnable surface like cement, dirt, sand or soil, then no heat shield is needed. You might still need to put soil into the bottom of the pail because it acts as a spacer, allowing the pan handle to just clear the top of the bucket. Safety Issues I only use this stove somewhere where it cannot accidentally cause a fire. I use lots of common sense and think ahead. I use thick leather welding gloves to protect my hands from accidental burns. I also wear safety glasses. It is a good idea to have a watering can, a bucket of water or a fire extinguisher nearby just in case there is an accidental fire. Never leave the stove unattended. Thanks for watching, enjoy your food and Have A Great Day!