Purpose A buddy burner is a small portable stove that may used for cooking for one or two people. Description There are many different types of buddy burner. All use a large tin with air holes in it as either the surface on which food is cooked, or as the stand on which a small cooking pot is placed. The source of heat may be either a night light (tea lite) or a larger, home-made candle-based heat source. This description is for the latter. Materials & Tools Materials: Two empty food cans each with one end removed. The larger should fit over the smaller, leaving a gap of about 5cm (2 inches) Candle wax Corrugated cardboard A suitable wick, either string or a proper candle wick Tools: A heat source (small cooker) to heat the candle wax An old pan in which to heat the wax Scissors Oven gloves Tin snips Old-fashioned Party-7 opener (makes triangular holes in the top of large beer cans) Method Cut the corrugated cardboard so that the height is such that it just fits inside the smaller can, and the length is such that it goes round about three times inside the can. It doesn't have to be one length. Cut the wick so that it is slightly more than double the height of this can. Heat the wax until it is just melted. Put the cardboard in the can. Double the wick, and put it in the can with its two ends poking out somewhere near the centre. Carefully pour the hot melted wax into the can until it is almost full and the cardboard is covered; make sure the two wick ends are poking out. Put somewhere safe for the wax to cool. Now take the larger can and make airholes so that there is an oxygen supply to keep the "candle" burning well. Using the beer-can opener, make lots of triangular holes around the curved sides of the can at the closed end. Now you need to make either one large hole or several small holes at the open end of this can. If you have tin snips, you can cut a suitable rectangular hole in one side of the can. The hole should be about one sixth of the circumference and about one quarter the height of the can. Notes Note that the volume of the wax will decrease as it cools, so it is necessary to fill the can quite full. Use Find somewhere safe to place the buddy burner. Light the "candle" - the cardboard will form part of the wick, giving a fiercer fire. Place the larger can upside-down centrally over the "candle" tin. Either cook directly on the top of the can, or use a small pot. |