Hobo Stove Cooking

Sticks or charcoal keep a hobo stove hot.

Hobo stoves make cooking outdoors fun and inexpensive. The stoves, made from tin cans, use a small amount of fuel to create the heat necessary to cook food. The stoves offer a way to make and enjoy fresh food while camping or hiking.

Requirements

To make a hobo stove, you need a clean, empty tin coffee can. You also need a frying pan or other cookware that can sit on top of the tin can. For fuel, you simply place sticks gathered from the woods or charcoal in the tin can. Light the material with matches or charcoal starter.

How It Works

A hobo stove acts like a miniature camp stove. Once you light the sticks or charcoal with matches or charcoal starter, the burning material produces a fast, hot heat. Four holes punched into the bottom of the can allow air to get inside and keep the fire going. A pan placed on top of the hot stove provides the heat with which you can cook food.

Uses

Boiling water for tea or hot drinks works well on hobo stoves. The stove takes up little space in your backpack. You can also cook just about anything that fits in your pan, including meat, stews, beans and eggs.

References

• Mother Earth News: Hobo Stove Cooking
• The Frugal Outdoorsman: A 2 Cent Hobo Stove

Resources

• Survival & Self-Reliance: Camp Cooking