How Long Does It Take You To Boil Water?

[gosstyla]

16 oz, 3 minutes in the microwave of my tea.

[hpeer]

I usually boil about 16oz of water. I haven't timed it. It takes about 30 seconds to preheat the burner, then I put the pot on and in 5 to 10 I'm good. The burners themselves are a bit variable depending upon their condition and the tank pressure.

Maybe more reasonable or practical is making no knead bread. I can bake a loaf in 1 hour 15 minutes from lighting the stove. Two pound loaf.

Kerosene stoves. I have one in each boat. Similar performance.

[dannc]

Originally Posted by StuM

It also depends on the shape, size and material of the container and lid; how efficiently the actual BTUs are transferred to the water as opposed to the surrounding atmosphere and how much is lost to radiation and evaporation during the heating process.

How long is a piece of string?

And what is the starting temperature of the water?

Later,
Dan

[estarzinger]

Btw . . . Tests suggest the pot design does in fact make a big difference (40%):

These oddly-shaped pots and pans heat food faster, save energy - The Washington Post

Efficient Cooking: It’s All in the Pot - IEEE Spectrum

[Roy M]

estarzinger, thank you! I am going to fit out my new galley with TurboPots. This came at a most fortuitous moment. Turbo Pot Stock Pots, Sauce Pans, and other cookware from Eneron

[Jim Cate]

FWIW: The safety thermocouples in marine stoves are a necessity for sure... but they can be over-cautious! Our Mariner 4-burner drives me crazy because the settings on the thermos are way too conservative. If one turns the gas down to anything below about half throttle, it promptly shuts the damn thing off. Simmering requires use of a "flame-tamer", and that is inefficient.

Our previous Insatiable, built in 1974, had an Eno two burner that appeared to have been designed for the RV trade: no original gimbals, little rubber feet on the bottom and built of enameled mild steel, but it did have thermo safeties. Worked like a charm, and was still going strong in 2004 when we finally sold the boat. Anyhow, that possibly could be a source for non-marine priced stoves for those in the market.

Jim

[roland stockham]

Depends on traffic, the kettle always boils at the exact moment you have left to turn off the radar alarm, trim sails etc! Much more important for me is how controllable the stove is, does it simmer well, is the heat even. Also how much fuel you have to carry and how easy is it to find. Hopping between countries is a pain if you use gas because there are so many different cylinder fittings. Liquid fuels are much safer (non explosive) but more complex to light. Long spells on remote anchorages, it's easier to carry 5gal Kerosine which will last several months than 4-5 gas cans. If you really want a quick simple cuppa fit and inverter and use an electric kettle - faster than any stove.

[hpeer]

40 oz took 20 min today. So that's 5 cups, or 4 min/cup. Not including light time of kero stove.

[Vasana]

I know that the type of fuel you use is something you want to consider some fuel burn hotter then others. propane,diesel,butane. if your just boiling water in a hurry a propane/butane mix fuel like you get At REI for hiking will heat you water faster and more efficient. although you should keep an eye on it most hiking stoves aren't very big so its easy for your tea kettle to fall.

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by robert sailor

It has nothing to do with the stove and everything to do with the size of burners which are rated in BTU's. Small burners are around 5000 btu and the larger ones are around 8000btu

Yes and the size of the pot/water. cover the pot makes a difference. You need one burner with at least 8000 BTU.

[estarzinger]

I have never used one, but have heard good things from my high altitude climbing friends:

http://www.jetboil.com/

Anyone with first hand experience care to comment?

It would be easy to gimbal but not sure it would be necessary.

[oldragbaggers]

KISS, I get what you're trying to accomplish here, but I think you're asking the wrong question. When you're cruising, the length of time it takes to boil water isn't really a huge issue unless you wake up homicidal in the morning and someone's life may depend on you getting your coffee super fast. There are other issues more relevant to the KISS principle and those are the things I should think would be more the criteria to consider. (By the way, my husband and I have always adhered to the KISS principle as well so I totally get where you're coming from.)

If you want to keep it KISS, how about asking which fuels are easiest to use, easiest to store, easiest to get in the most places where you might cruise, and at what cost. Which stoves are easiest to install, least complex in their construct and will therefore cause you less maintenance problems (and costs) over the long term. The differences in types of stoves/fuels go far beyond how long it takes them to bring water to a boil and I am also of the mind that a btu is a btu regardless of fuel. Going from most complex to simplest (IMO).

Lots of people swear by propane, but it requires a very precise installation with redundant shutoffs and alarms (best done by a professional at some expense) and you must be meticulous in its use. However it is also most like using your stove at home. Turn it on and cook. But are you going to want to lug propane tanks to a facility to refill on your bicycle, assuming you have a bicycle? You may encounter difficulties taking those tanks on public transportation in some places if refill facilities are not close by. Biggest con is explosive nature of the fuel which takes us back to the need for a precise installation and meticulous use.

Pressurized alcohol and kerosene stoves can be very simple installations (stove with small integral tank attached) or more complicated (separate remote tank) but still not nearly as complex an installation as propane. They require a bit more finesse to use but are not difficult if you have the patience to do it correctly. Burners will need some care to keep clean and functioning correctly. Kerosene replacement burners are extremely difficult to find and expensive. An advantage of a kerosene stove might be that if you have a cabin heater that runs on kerosene they can feed off the same tank. Kerosene stoves need to be primed with alcohol so you will need to carry both fuels although only small amounts of the alcohol. Non-explosive fuels, but problems can occur with burning alcohol splashing out of the priming cups or trying to light a burner that isn't adequately pre-heated.

Diesel stoves would be most suitable to those cruising in cooler climates but if it works for you, then you would have less fuels to carry, it is not explosive, and you would have your cook stove and cabin heater in one.

Non-pressurized alcohol stoves are (in my opinion) are the simplest to install, easiest to use, and have very few maintenance problems. Fuel is costly and may be hard to get in some places, but it is not hard to carry enough to last a good long time if you have the storage space. It is the coolest of all the fuels but I have cooked on them and have never felt that my cooking times were any longer than what I have on my stove at home. That might be a factor of attitude though as I am never in a rush to do anything when I am aboard the boat.

If you want a KISS boat these seem to me to be more logical concerns. The solution to your original question, as everyone else has already pointed out, is much harder to answer.

[boatman61]

If.. as you say.. your looking at the 40ft+ boat range.. just buy a standard domestic cooker and get it re-jetted for Propane..

[KISS]

Originally Posted by oldragbaggers

KISS, I get what you're trying to accomplish here, but I think you're asking the wrong question. When you're cruising, the length of time it takes to boil water isn't really a huge issue unless you wake up homicidal in the morning and someone's life may depend on you getting your coffee super fast. There are other issues more relevant to the KISS principle and those are the things I should think would be more the criteria to consider. (By the way, my husband and I have always adhered to the KISS principle as well so I totally get where you're coming from.)

If you want to keep it KISS, how about asking which fuels are easiest to use, easiest to store, easiest to get in the most places where you might cruise, and at what cost. Which stoves are easiest to install, least complex in their construct and will therefore cause you less maintenance problems (and costs) over the long term. The differences in types of stoves/fuels go far beyond how long it takes them to bring water to a boil and I am also of the mind that a btu is a btu regardless of fuel. Going from most complex to simplest (IMO).

Lots of people swear by propane, but it requires a very precise installation with redundant shutoffs and alarms (best done by a professional at some expense) and you must be meticulous in its use. However it is also most like using your stove at home. Turn it on and cook. But are you going to want to lug propane tanks to a facility to refill on your bicycle, assuming you have a bicycle? You may encounter difficulties taking those tanks on public transportation in some places if refill facilities are not close by. Biggest con is explosive nature of the fuel which takes us back to the need for a precise installation and meticulous use.

Pressurized alcohol and kerosene stoves can be very simple installations (stove with small integral tank attached) or more complicated (separate remote tank) but still not nearly as complex an installation as propane. They require a bit more finesse to use but are not difficult if you have the patience to do it correctly. Burners will need some care to keep clean and functioning correctly. Kerosene replacement burners are extremely difficult to find and expensive. An advantage of a kerosene stove might be that if you have a cabin heater that runs on kerosene they can feed off the same tank. Kerosene stoves need to be primed with alcohol so you will need to carry both fuels although only small amounts of the alcohol. Non-explosive fuels, but problems can occur with burning alcohol splashing out of the priming cups or trying to light a burner that isn't adequately pre-heated.

Diesel stoves would be most suitable to those cruising in cooler climates but if it works for you, then you would have less fuels to carry, it is not explosive, and you would have your cook stove and cabin heater in one.

Non-pressurized alcohol stoves are (in my opinion) are the simplest to install, easiest to use, and have very few maintenance problems. Fuel is costly and may be hard to get in some places, but it is not hard to carry enough to last a good long time if you have the storage space. It is the coolest of all the fuels but I have cooked on them and have never felt that my cooking times were any longer than what I have on my stove at home. That might be a factor of attitude though as I am never in a rush to do anything when I am aboard the boat.

If you want a KISS boat these seem to me to be more logical concerns. The solution to your original question, as everyone else has already pointed out, is much harder to answer.

Yep, I've already considered all that (your concise summary of the issue would have been very helpful when I was doing my original research!), and it led me to a multi-fuel camp stove that can burn diesel. It ticks all the boxes.

Fuel availability - diesel is in every port in the world

Fuel cost - diesel is relatively cheap

Fuel consumption - these stoves sip ~1 gallon per month at my estimated usage

Safety - no explosion risk, CO is an issue but only if you're an idiot

Ease of Installation - nothing to install other than a gimballed mount

Heat output - diesel has relatively high energy density

Cost - ~$100-$200 (+cost of DIY gimballed mount)

Maintenance - few moving parts, small and cheap enough to carry spare(s)

Ease of Use - adjustable output, simple/brief start-up procedure, can simply add another unit if I need a second (or third or fourth) burner

.........

My only remaining concern was about actual heat output (hence this thread). The specific stove I had in mind (MSR Dragonfly) is supposed to heat a liter of water in 3.5 minutes, which seems pretty good to me (a lot faster than my electric range at home), but I thought I'd ask just in case there's some uniquely nautical factor that I'm missing. Someone in another thread pooh-poohed the Dragonfly, implying it would be inadequate to the job (I'd be very hungry...etc etc) and I couldn't see why. Figured it must be about heat output...

But now, from what people have posted in this thread so far, it sounds like 3.5M/L is quite good.

[JPA Cate]

Hello, KISS,

Now that I have an idea of the context of the question, I ran the experiment this morning, but I used an 8 oz cup of water, at 76 deg. F., present bilge temp.

The kettle is dome shaped ($20.00 from a used boat bits place), s/s, no lid, just a filling/pouring spout, and the bottom is a sandwiched with the filling a thick alloy plate.

Fuel is propane, stove is a 4 burner 23 y. o. Mariner with broiler and oven that came with the boat, and is "tired" now from so much cooking. I used one of the better burners.

8 oz. water, measured, and it took 2 min 10 sec. to whistling, and i think I lot of that time was in warming up the bottom of the kettle. Sorry, should have done it with a liter. FWIW, I think the usual coffee/tea water runs between 3-5 min., depending on how warm or cool the tank water is and what the ambient temp. is. That would be boiling a little over a liter (about 1-1/2 qt.).

Hope this helps. There sure are a lot of variables.