Guest post by Right Wing Mom, who will be contributing additional articles about cooking with a fuel-efficient stove.
We received our EcoZoom’s Dura Stove in July. It came well packed and was very easy to set up. The instructions are simple and straight forward.
To get started with our first meal on the EcoZoom, we placed the Dura Stove on our brick patio. Dry leaves and twigs were all the kindling we needed. Once started, we added slightly larger twigs to build the fire.
After the initial start, the fire burned with virtually no smoke, and after a few minutes we added larger (1/2 inch) limbs to maintain the fire. Total start time: five minutes and the fire was ready for cooking!
Shelf Stable Quick Meal
This meal uses only shelf stable ingredients that can be purchased at your local grocery store and kept in your food storage.
Ingredients:
1 can regular Spam (cubed)
2 boxes Hamburger Helper Cheeseburger Macaroni
1 (12 oz.) can evaporated milk
4 ½ C water
Optional: canned vegetables and mushrooms will bulk up this meal and increase the nutritional value.
- Place diced Spam in a 6 quart pot. Cook until crisp, approximately 5 minutes.
- Add water, canned milk and Hamburger Helper. Bringing it to a slow boil. This took approximately 15 minutes.
- Cover and let simmer for the recommended 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Regulating the flame was simple by adding or removing sticks from the fire.
Here is our finished product. (Notice the remaining limbs.)
This meal took less than 40 minutes to prepare and will feed our family of four. It used only handful of dry twigs and limbs from our back yard. There is slight smoky flavor, which we enjoy.
A special thanks to my incredible husband (Live Free or Die) for his help in the making of this demonstration.
Coming soon: Breakfast on the EcoZoom.
RightWingMom lives in the southwest and enjoys family camping and cooking under duress!
Hi RWM
Thanks for the review! Looks like a terrific stove.
I would worry about the smoky-flavor in the food and the possibility of carcinogens. Might be a good idea to keep a lid on the pot.
Dennis,
We did use put the lid on the pot, as per the Hamburger Helper instructions. The pic didn't make the cut. 🙂
Honestly, the smoky flavor was extremely mild, just felt I needed to mention that it was there. Once the fire gets going, within 5 minutes, the EcoZoom Dura puts out virtually NO smoke. I truly feel the threat of carcinogens is VERY minimal. Compared to my years of cooking over an open campfire….the EcoZoom is a winner in my opinion!
If burning wood is a concern, EcoZoom makes a Versa model that burns charcoal. Our next review will feature that model.
If you are worried about carcinogens, I'd open the can and eat it right out of the can !
Myself, I'm a big BBQ freak and love to cook over open flame. I have 5 grills, as well as 2 styles of solar cookers.
I have been looking at these hybrid stoves . I appreciate the overview of the product, but wonder if you recommend it, or how it compares to similar stoves in construction, efficiency, and cost.
Thanks,
Henry
Henry,
We've used the StoveTec Rocket stove which is similar to The EcoZoom Dura. Our experience with other types of alternative cooking include: Sterno camp stoves, Coleman propane stoves, and traditional campfires with grates and tripods. These alternative cooking units can be difficult and costly to maintain an adequate fuel supply. If you live in a heavily wooded area, like us, fuel will never be an issue with the EcoZoom Dura. We have not used a Volcano stove or a homemade Hobo stove which are less expensive and more portable options. That said, I really like the EcoZoom for it's fuel efficency and decreased smoke. It produces a single burner that can be regulated by adding or removing sticks. The stoves seem durable and well built. If there were any drawbacks, it might be the cost and weight. At an average of $100 it is pricey, but I truly feel you're getting quality, and remember the free fuel if you have trees! It is a heavy unit, therefore you would NOT take it on foot during a Bug Out situation. However, it is very good for Bugging In, or to have at your BOL.
Thanks RWM for further input.
Fuel would be my main problem, (living in a subdivision in the desert).
I still want one of these type stoves, as a fall back.
Virtually everything is a carcinogen or toxic if the dose is high enough. Most things we encounter we could never possible ingest or otherwise expose ourselves to enough of it to matter. The real threat with a wood fire is inhaling the particulates which lodge in your lungs. The threat with particulates is more about the physical effects as your lungs become clogged and work to clear themselves, not so much a carcinogenic effect. In closed spaces smoke and the related gases can decrease the amount of oxygen you get but of course you wouldn't use one of these stoves in an enclosed space.
Great demonstration! Very efficient, I appreciate the info and your time and energy spent showing us how to do it and being the ginea pig!!
My pleasure. Really looking forward to our next review!
That is a great review, I hadn't seen that product before!
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Because of your review, my husband bought a Versa stove. We tried it out this weekend and loved it. Our stir fry meal turned out great. You can read and see more about it here: http://kimbersglen.wordpress.com/2011/08/29/ecozo…
I read many reviews before purchasing my Ecozoom last week… thanks for yours – great photos. When you said that you cooked rather quickly I just noticed your photo your bottom door is closed. I might need to try this as I used four sticks as they suggested but my cooking just simmered rather slowly and my fire kept going out 5 times. I think it must be because I left the door wide open. Next time I shall shut the door and try charcoal briquettes to cook plus a paraffin fire starter I made myself. My veggie burgers tasted great anyways!
Seems like a good product, but $100 is just too pricey for it. You can build a decent rocket stove for a fraction of the cost.