Here we experiment with the most basic rocket stove, the four brick stove.
Let’s start this out by saying that I did not have a budget for experimenting with rocket stoves. That doesn’t mean I had an unlimited budget, it means I had no budget. Most of what I do is done with bricks and cinder blocks (concrete blocks) I had around the house.
The most basic design can be built using 4 concrete blocks. It is a basic design that requires either an “H” block or, as I did, knock one end off of one of the blocks.
I have been experimenting with Rocket Stoves in an effort to build a rocket stove BBQ grill. Well actually, I want to use it for a bunch of different types of outdoor cooking. This post will be the first in a series of posts that walk you through my experimenting with the rocket stove.
A rocket stove is an efficient cooking stove using small diameter wood fuel which is burned in a simple high-temperature combustion chamber containing a vertical chimney, which ensures almost complete combustion prior to the flames reaching the cooking surface. Wikipedia
The core elements of the rocket stove are the fire chamber and the chimney.
My ultimate goal is to build a permanent installation with a rocket stove as the heat source, but with a number of different options for cooking. These options could include a BBQ grill, indirect heat grill, rotisserie, burner, and maybe even a pizza or bread oven. To do this, I am going to have to start small and build my personal knowledge. I have done a lot of research along the way, and looked at a lot of other people’s designs. If you are interested, the Design Principles at rocketstove.org is a good place to begin. I begin with a 4 brick stove that I will discuss in this article, and end up with a relatively flexible system that allows me to adjust bricks to customize the way I use the heat. Along the way, I will have a handful of articles where I will share what I have done and learned. I hope you enjoy.
