Cooking Aboard: Fuels and Stoves

Article by Paul Esterle

While sandwiches and cold cuts will suffice for a while, sooner or later you’ll want some heat, for your morning coffee, a tasty entrée or a warming soup on a cold afternoon. That will require some sort of stove, of which you have several choices. Let’s look at some of the more popular ones and their pros and cons.

Stoves commonly used aboard boats can be divided into six categories based on the energy source:

• Propane

• Butane

• Alcohol

• Kerosene

• Solid Fuel

• Combination Stoves

Each of these fuel types have different BTU content. A BTU (British Thermal Unit) is defined as the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one pound of water by one degree (F). While hard to visualize, it is a handy means of comparing fuels and stove outputs. The following table shows the approximate BTU content, per gallon, of common stove fuels:

• Propane 91,000 BTU/Gal.

• Butane 102,000 BTU/Gal.

• Kerosene 129,000 BTU/Gal.

• Alcohol 65,000 BTU/Gal.

Solid fuels are weighed by pound or volume and electricity is measured in kilowatt hours, making it difficult to compare with liquid fuels

While important, the fuel type isn’t the only criteria for choosing a stove for your boat. Fuel cost and availability, fuel safety factors, stove cost and ease of use all figure into your choice. Other factors are also important: many people don’t like the smell of kerosene, might be afraid of propane or don’t want to deal with the ash from a solid fuel stove. Often the choice is made for you when the stove comes with the boat. As long as the stove is safe, give it a try and see how you like it before deciding to switch styles.