Thursday 4th December

Inspired by his visit to Energy Cafe last week, Andrew returned today with his fantastic invention: a Swirl Stove.

Made from a customised flue, the stove ignites with a micro amount of electricity from a battery.

Andrew added sawdust pellets and a drop of parafin to get it going.

The flame spins in a smokeless swirl…

How long will it take to boil water in the storm kettle?

Just three minutes and one handful of pellets!

The wood chippings that Andrew donated burn just as well. A great advantage of this stove is that: “it could continuously produce char from dried tree surgery waste…and still do your cooking.” It did a great fried egg!

“This is: The Boy Scouts Guide to Making Willow Charcoal in the Swirl Stove”

You will need: willow branches and a tin can with lid.

Chop willow branches into even lengths…

…so they fit into the tin can with the lid closed.

Fill the can with lengths of a similar width and close the lid.

Place can in Swirl Stove…

…bury with fuel (sawdust pellets or wood chips), put the kettle on and wait…

…for 40 minutes. Remove can with tongs and let it cool.

Hey presto! Beautiful sticks of charcoal for sketching with.