Having enough food isn't enough when you are prepping for a disruptive event. If you have to live off the grid for a while you also need to know some creative ways to cook your food. Here are the steps you should follow if you follow yourself needing to use a soda can as a stove. Following these steps will lead to successful cooking and a great meal in any situation!

Important Steps To Follow When Using A Soda Can Stove Include: 

Clear a surface to cook on that won't catch fire.
Make sure there are no flammable materials near your cooking area.
Look for a location that has a natural wind break. It not only makes it easier to cook, but it's safer too.

Lighting the Stove
Pour the denatured alcohol into the main opening of your stove, filling the stove about halfway for a 10  minute burn time.

Then light the fuel. In daylight, the flame is nearly invisible and you'll have to listen for a small ‘puff' as the vaporized gas ignites. As soon as you hear it, get your hand away quickly. On cold mornings, you'll need to get the flame of your lighter practically on the surface of the fuel to get ignition. If lighting the stove is difficult because the fuel is so far down in the stove, it sometimes helps to hold the stove in your less dominant hand at a slight tilt to get the fuel higher up the side of the stove and light the fuel at the high edge.

Never leave a burning stove unattended. Everything you need to cook your meal should be within easy reach.
If you built the soda can stove, you must use a pot support! Set it around the stove and start cooking!

It will take your stove about a minute to completely warm up, but you can start cooking immediately.

The first couple of times you light a new stove, you might find the adhesive on your high-temperature tape catches fire along the exposed edges, especially at the top of the stove where it comes into direct contact with the flame. This is normal and nothing to worry about, but after the fuel burns off, you'll want to use your fingernail to rub the tape securely to the stove where it might have loosened.

Using the Simmer Ring
Before using a simmer ring, wait until your stove is fully warmed up which takes a minute or two after the stove has been lit. If you try to put a simmer ring on immediately after lighting the stove, you'll snuff out the flame.

Dropping the simmer ring into place
Hover the simmer ring above the stove and drop it into place. Adjust the simmer ring as necessary
You probably won't get a bullseye, but that's okay. Just nudge the simmer ring into place with a spoon or a stick.

Without the simmer ring, a half-full stove will burn for 10 to 15 minutes. With a simmer ring, the same amount of fuel will easily burn for as long as two hours.

Using the Snuffer

You'll have to play the ‘ring toss' game like you would with the simmer ring to get the snuffer on the stove. Most likely, it'll come to rest at an angle and not actually snuff the flame. Use your stick or utensil to nudge it into place.

If you're using a simmer ring, it is possible to snuff out the flame without taking off the simmer ring by using the snuffer upside-down.

Water will always snuff out the flame, and has an added benefit of cooling down the stove quicker as well. Because the snuffer covers all of the holes in the stove, none of it will mix with the fuel in the stove, but it's very effective in putting out the flame.

Don't Be Stupid 

Wait for the stove  to cool before trying to save any of it. Alcohol stoves get hot when you use them. Don't touch them when it's burning, and wait a few minutes for it to cool  before trying to touch or move the stove.

Who knew a soda could be used as a stove during a collapse and burn up to two hours! If all you have is a soda can and some fuel when you are hungry, you can make great use of this little stove. Just make sure you follow these important steps so that you can stay safe. Learning how to properly use a soda can as a stove just might save your life for when SHTF!

To learn more about how to properly use a soda can stove, visit The Soda Can Stove.

Featured Image via The Soda Can Stove