We throw around the words rocket stoves a lot at Bear River Rocket Stoves, but what, exactly, is a rocket stove? How does a rocket stove work? Can you build your own rocket stove? And, what makes Bear River Rocket Stoves stand out as a source for emergency cooking and a sustainable survival solution?
Blast your emergency preparedness into orbit with a rocket stove. What is a rocket stove? A rocket stove is a small, wood-burning stove with an interior elbow heating unit. Rocket stoves are very energy efficient and easy to use in situations where fossil fuel and electricity are not available. Because rocket stoves burn wood, the fuel is more readily available. A rocket stove is able to run from small amounts of wood, making it a very resourceful way to cook. Rocket stoves are an ideal survival stove because they easily burn twigs, leaves, and wood debris--all readily available after severe storms or earthquakes. Rocket stoves are a popular survival stove because they can be used to cook almost anything that requires stovetop cooking. Typically small, rocket stoves can be used for camping, hiking, or backyard cooking. They are also ideal for cooking on-the-go. Typically rocket stoves are a circular shape with an L or J-shaped heating chamber inside the stove. Fuel is burned in these stoves is by lighting a fire near the bottom of the elbow. An air draft is created from the chimney, causing efficient airflow within the stove. The stoves can heat up quickly and become very hot which makes them very convenient to cook with and serve people quickly. Rocket stoves propel air through the heating chamber, causing astronomically efficient fuel use. How does a rocket stove work? In order for any fire to burn, it needs fuel, oxygen, and heat. These three factors are known as the combustion triangle. In order for fires to get very hot, they need plenty of oxygen. Blacksmiths and glass blowers employ bellows for their fires to deliver more oxygen and, therefore get the fire to the desired temperature to mold glass and shape steel. The airflow in rocket stoves works on the same principle. Rocket stoves are designed with an insulated J-tube, or elbow where the fire of the rocket stove occurs. Sticks are placed in the end of the tube and air is pulled down into the chamber. When the oxygen-rich air meets the wood fuel and the heat created by the insulated tube, the ideal circumstances for combustion occur. The chimney, where the “rocket” part of the rocket stove is, ensures proper ventilation to deliver plenty of oxygen to the fire. The ventilation in a rocket stove, allows the fuel to be heated with super-efficiency and allows the stoves to use very small amounts of wood fuel. Once the fire is done burning you are left with ashes that can easily be cleaned out and the stove so you are ready for the next fire. In the most efficient stoves, there will be very few ashes. Overall the rocket stove uses the fuel more efficiently than other stoves. Ready for lift off? Spend a few hours on YouTube to learn to make your own rocket stove. How can I build my own rocket stove? There are a wealth of ideas on YouTube for making your own rocket stove. The basic idea is to create the J-tube or elbow for the interior of the stove. Pipes and even tin cans have been used for the interior heating chamber which is then insulated, usually with pearlite. An outer case is then needed to house the heating chamber and provide a surface for a pan to sit. Building your own rocket stove can be a fun weekend project. Do-it-yourself rocket stoves can be made quickly and easily with readily available materials. Through the years, Dan Weatbrook, Sr., the founder and inventor of Bear River Rocket Stoves, has dabbled in dozens of small rocket stoves. While each stove met its purpose, to cook in an emergency situation, Dan wanted to improve upon each design. In each iteration, he adjusted the materials used to construct the stove, the way air circulated through the stove, the way a pan was able to sit on top of the the rocket stove, and even the possibility of making a rocket oven. With each rocket stove Dan made, he began to realize the limitations of the small stoves. While rocket stoves are an efficient way to cook from one pan, simple DIY rocket stoves have limitations. One drawback of the do-it-yourself rocket stoves don’t have an oven. In a situation where the power is out for an extended time or fuel supplies are depleted, cooking a one-dish, stove top meal for every meal becomes tiresome--both for the cook bent over the rocket stove and the people tired of eating only stovetop meals. In survival situations, a freshly baked loaf of bread, warm corn bread, or even a casserole would be a welcome change. To Dan, the biggest drawback of DIY rocket stoves is the size. Granted, the do-it-yourself rocket stove designs allow for a quick and portable cooking source. But traditional rocket stoves only allowed for a single pan and lacked the ability to feed large groups. So Dan designed Bear River Rocket Stoves with a different purpose in mind: he wanted to make a rocket stove big enough to cook--and bake--for a crowd. Dan took everything he’d learned over the years about rocket stoves and designed a super-efficient stove/oven combo powered by three separate rocket chambers. He included an oven. He used high gauge steel to resist heat warping. He put the stove on industrial casters to allow the stove to be easily repositioned. This rocket stove has an exclusive design and is the only one available on the market. What started as a hobby has become a passion for Dan: to provide a way to feed your family or feed a group in emergency situations. Bear River Rocket Stoves launch survival stoves to a new level We think of Bear River Rocket Stoves as the Mother Ship of rocket stoves. They are large, sturdy, and worthy of a professional kitchen. While they are definitely not for the backpacking crowd, Bear River Rocket Stoves offer what small rocket stoves can’t: the ability to provide a hot, comforting meal to a group. The size of Bear River Rocket Stoves mean you aren’t hunched over a tiny stove. The large griddle top and oven allows you to cook multiple dishes using minimal fuel. You are cooking with the convenience of a professional oven range. Dan has applied the principles of super-efficient rocket stoves to create a rocket stove/oven with efficient ventilation to make it easy to cook for a group of people with only a small amount of fuel. The efficient use of airflow in Bear River Rocket Stoves makes it possible to use a minimal amount of wood while not relying on fossil fuels. This efficiency is a key concept in the Bear River Rocket Stove design. Whatever the situation you’re preparing for, Bear River Rocket Stoves are designed to help that situation be the best it can be under the circumstances and to duplicate the convenience of your own kitchen range and stove. Dan’s vision is to provide a sustainable solution to cooking for your family or a crowd in a disaster and to provide the peace of mind knowing you have the means to use your food storage to feed your family or feed a crowd. Thank you for your interest in Bear River Rocket Stoves. I feel strongly in the importance of being able to cook for your family without relying on fossil fuels or the power grid. I've designed these rocket stoves to allow you to cook and bake as you are accustomed while using as little wood fuel as possible. I will continue to add to this page. If you have additional questions you'd like answered, please drop me a line in the "Contact Us" page. --Dan Weatbrook, Sr.
What is a rocket stove?
A rocket stove is a stove that uses fuel very efficiently. Traditionally rocket stoves are large enough to hold one pan and do not have an oven. What makes Bear River Rocket Stoves revolutionary? Bear River Rocket Stoves are made from a 6x6x1/4' square tubing cut and welded into a right angle. Then we take a piece of 6x8x1/4" plate and weld it into the horizontal leg of the right angle to form two chambers, the top chamber is to hold the kindling and the bottom chamber is for the air to flow to the fire. The combustion chamber is in the elbow. That explanation is kind of technical. Tell it to me in plan terms? The way Bear River Rocket Stoves are designed allows for maximum efficiency in burning. Oxygen is essential to fire and the correct flow and swirling of the air in a Bear River Rocket Stove allows the fuel to release the most energy possible in combustion. There is so little ash left that I don't even clean out the rocket stoves anymore. What little ash is left over is just burned up in the next firing. How much do Bear River Rocket Stoves Cost? The big stove with a 4-foot griddle and 3-foot oven is $5850. The medium model with a 3-foot griddle and 2-foot oven is $4850. I have also designed a smaller rocket stove with a 2-foot griddle and no oven that is not yet ready for production. I hope to keep the price under $2500. All prices include shipping to any of the continental United States. How do you light a fire in the Bear River Rocket Stove?
How fast does the griddle heat up? That depends on a lot of variables: type of wood, wind direction, and outside temperature. Type of wood: Different types of woods burn with varying rates of efficiency. Oak, beech, and apple are hard, dense woods that burn a long time. Pine, a softer and more porous wood, will burn at only 60% the efficiency of oak. Wind direction: The direction of the wind, if any will affect the efficiency of your stove. Always have the wind blowing into the end with the 2 rocket stoves. This arrangement allows for maximizing air flow and will heat your stove faster. Outside temperature: In the summer, with little to no wind, you can start grilling in 20 to 30 minutes. The oven will get to 350 degrees F in about 40 to 50 minutes. Cold outside temperatures will increase heating time. Why do most Bear River Rocket Stove models have 3 rocket chambers? For control. One rocket stove heats up the front half of the griddle and the other heats up the back half. The 3rd rocket stove is for the oven. If you are cooking for just a few people, you can save fuel by firing up just one rocket chamber. All 3 rocket stoves are needed for initial heating of the oven. Once it gets hot, if it is not too cold outside, you can let the 2 rocket stoves for the griddle go out and the oven rocket stove will do the job just fine, giving you a nice savings in fuel. How much do Bear River Rocket Stoves weigh? The 4 foot griddle/ 3 foot oven model weighs in at 700 pounds. It is not for the backpacking crowd. 3 foot griddle/2 foot oven model weighs 625 pounds. The 2 foot griddle/no oven model weighs about 400 pounds. 700 pounds is a lot. Why so big and heavy? Think of it as a powerful speedboat. When you initially open wide the throttle, nothing happens but you dig a big hole in the water. Once the boat gets up to speed and is planing, you can pull the throttle way back and save fuel while maintaining the speed. That is what those 700 pounds of American steel will do for you; all that steel will stay hot and require less fuel to do it. My son accused me of building these stoves like a tank. He is right. I want these stoves to last a lifetime. Keeping them well seasoned after each use will extend their life. What if I want to move my Bear River Rocket Stove to another location? Will I need a crane? No! All this steel is easily moved around because of the high quality casters we use. One person can easily move it around on concrete while 2 or 3 men can roll it across the lawn or a gravel driveway. It takes 2 or 3 men to load the big stove onto a pickup truck with ramps. One or two people can easily load and unload any stove onto a trailer with a good tailgate ramp. All that steel means you can depend on these stoves to serve your family into the next generation. Are Bear River Rocket Stoves easy to move around? Surprisingly, yes. We use casters rated for 400 pound load capacity. Two of the casters are rigid and two are swivel casters with brakes. They have grease fittings for the bearings. These are industrial strength casters. One person can easily move the stove on concrete. Two or three men can move it across grass or gravel. Two or three men can load it into a pickup using ramps and just two people can load a stove onto a trailer with a drop down ramp. Do you have a smaller model than the one used in the video? Yes. We have a 2x2 foot griddle-only model that will be ready for production soon. With 2 rocket stoves and just a 2 foot square griddle to heat, this Bear River Rocket Stove will perform great in the coldest climates. Can I use my Bear River Rocket Stove to heat my home? Bear River Rocket Stoves are designed for outdoor cooking and not intended to heat homes. Can I burn coal in my Bear River Rocket Stove? No, I do not recommend it. Coal burns hotter and might shorten the life of the rocket stoves. Coal also leaves clinkers and a fine ash that would need cleaning out after each burn. Can I grill with just one rocket stove lit? Yes. If you just want to cook for a small number of people, just heat the front or the back half of the griddle. You will use less fuel and it works great. Can I burn my trash? No. As a fire starter it would be ok to burn paper sacks, newspapers, etc., but if you burned trash in the rocket stoves, the light ash would clog up the airways and not allow the proper heating of the stove. It would have to be cleaned out much more often. We have included clean out ports on the bottom of the oven but these should not have to be used very often at all. Speaking of clean-out ports, how do I clean out my stove? Because these stoves burn so efficiently, you won’t need to clean out your stove very often. When it is necessary to clean, locate the two clean out ports on the bottom of the oven at the lowest point in the stove where ash will accumulate over time. To clean it out take a piece of wood and a hammer or a rock and knock out the two sliding covers. These covers were intentionally made very tight so as to prevent any air leaks. Next, remove the chimneys and take a stick about 3 feet in length and with a rag tied to the front end of it, insert the stick into the chimney ports and push the stick, rag end first, into the stove until it stops at the far end. Repeat this procedure for all chimneys, cleaning out the front and rear halves of the airway. Next, clean out below the stove by feeding a rope with a rag attached though the airway. Repeat this procedure twice for the front and rear halves of the oven to ensure thorough cleaning. Lastly, re-insert the pullouts back into their places and start grilling again. Who should buy a Bear River Rocket Stove? Anyone who is concerned about what is coming. Bear River Rocket Stoves are the preparedness item that will last generations. These stoves are difficult to steal and provide the ability to cook hot meals for your family or barter for what you need by providing the way for others to cook their food. |