I recently changed my kitchen setup to include a caldera cone w/alcohol stove and a brasslite 550ml mug. To test it out I used some isopropyl from the auto parts store packaged as "gas line antifreeze". The fuel that I had used before was just denatured alcohol from a paint store. I have heard that denatured alcohol can be inconsistent, and that the pure isopropyl is a better bet for fuel... Upon testing the isopropyl burned very efficiently and far hotter than the other stuff, but when I cooked with it my whole pot and cone were covered with a thick black soot. I'm wondering if this isn't just some wierd coating burning off part of my setup, but it seems more likely that the fuel is responsible. What is the best fuel to use in alcohol stoves?? I've heard so many things and now I'm confused:-(

Edited by pbrown19 on 05/22/2008 12:12:44 MDT.

My first preference is HEET in the yellow bottle. The red bottle leaves soot.

Second preference is denatured alcohol from the hardware store.

Third preference is grain alcohol from the liquor store. Burns great, but is VERY expensive.

HEET in the red bottle burns good, but leaves the soot. The only downside to the soot is that it is messy.

They didn't have the HEET brand at the store, but told me this stuff was the same thing... obviously it must have been the red bottle type. I wasn't aware there was any isopropyl that left soot. I'm going out to go out and try a bottle of the yellow HEET.

Edited by pbrown19 on 05/22/2008 14:02:05 MDT.

Yup, Isopropanol=soot.

Yellow Heet is Methyl Alchohol .