Meths ... It's not just for drinking

Some of you may remember that last year the WRT blog hosted 'stove wars' where we compared various types of stove to see which would enable you to brew up quickest*. One thing we didn't look at was meths stoves, so I thought we'd redress the balance.

For many the first thing they picture in their mind when someone says 'cooking with meths' is a Trangia stove, the unpleasant memories of scouts and waiting hours for a tin of beans to warm up are still very real! Cooking with meths doesn't have to be like that though, it can be a simple and surprisingly quick process ... particularly if you've honed your culinary skills down to just needing boiling water. A meths stove is the very definition of basic, no moving parts, nothing to wear out or break and you can even make your own for free (we'll have a look at that when there's a grown up here to supervise me).

In the picture there's a home made 'coke can' stove and a slightly posher Vargo titanium one. Both work in the same way, pour some meths in the top, light it, wait a minute or so for the stove to warm and 'bloom' then cook ... simple. Once it manages to stop raining, I'll fire them up and compare the results to last years. You never know we might get a surprise.

*I know it's a little sad but it keeps me happy and at least a few of you must like it