How long can a Fancy Feast stove cook?

Ever since I built my first fancy feast, I have been wondering how long it can cook for or burn. In this post, I share my experiment with the absolute max fill-up off fuel 65 grams or milliliters of bio ethanol.

My fancy feast stove has quickly become my go-to alcohol stove for its simplicity and reliability, it can bring water to the boil pretty quickly, it’s easy to light, and it’s easy to snuff out with the addition of another can. And, no pot stand.

All the specifications for my particular fancy feast stove can be found in my post about it.

For this experiment, I’m using a homemade windscreen, Fancy Feast, and the Tomshoo 750 ml pot. I’m holding this experiment in a controlled environment and have safety equipment at the ready, I do not recommend filling up the fancy feast with more than what you need to get the job done. It would stay below 50 grams or milliliters of fuel if you have to cook for longer periods of time. Always be aware that there is some risk to alcohol stoves, or any stove for that matter. It is playing with fire after all.

I wanted to push the boundaries of the fancy feast and see what it can do if you need a stove that can burn for longer than the usual time it takes to get your water boiling.

Total Burn times

The longest I could get the fancy feast to boil water for with 65 grams worth of bio ethanol is 25:08 minutes, with 30 grams of fuel it clocked in at 12:55.

The stress test did not warp or damage the fancy feast in any way, nor did I see any deterioration on the wicking material I used, which is an old cotton t-shirt I cut up. This proves to me that you do not need carbon felt or fiberglass to make this stove. And thus makes this stove more accessible in my opinion. I for one was not as easily able to get a hold of some carbon felt and had to order it.

When it arrives I will hold this experiment again and update this article if there was any notable difference between carbon felt and the original cotton wick.

Use case for alcohol stoves in general

In the end, few people will actually use the fancy feast stove intensely and are more likely to add between 10 to 20 grams worth of fuel to get their water for dinner and a drink to a boil. More than that is not really necessary when hiking.

If you are hiking in snowy conditions and want to melt some to make water, you can use a fancy feast for this purpose. Up to 25 minutes of cooking with 65 milliliters of fuel is possible.

For me, it was a good experiment to run to see what the max is for my stove, and I encourage you to do the same with your fancy feast. Be careful though and don’t do it in a forest or high-risk area for the first time. Share your times down below! Would like to see them.

Happy hiking and Hike for Purpose!