Hi Pol,

I’m a BIG fan of my Origo.
I really like the feeling of it being one less thing to worry about, having previously had propane and paraffin. I’ve yet to have any accidents with it, but with water always on hand feel confident.

They’re  slower than gas and paraffin but I don’t care.

Regarding the smell and itchy eyes, I use bio ethanol and following earlier posts by Arne, dilute it with water between 10-20% ( I’m quite approximate, just measuring by thumb). This definitely reduces the smell (though not completely, which is probably a good thing as it means I still maintain ventilation), with not really any discernible drop in heat. 

If David’s finds have gone, Compass24 offer an Origo alternative, they also have the single version burner version. IIRC there maybe concerns in reviews that they are not quite of the same quality as the originals.

"Methylated" is now a misnomer - it harks back to the time when methyl alcohol was added to ethyl alcohol / ethanol to make it undrinkable. It made it poisonous. Nowadays, a safer bittering agent is added instead (try dipping a finger in and licking it - you won't die, but you certainly won't enjoy it!), whatever the ethanol is distilled from, and it's probable that "methylated spirit" from a paint supplier, coloured purple, is pretty much the same stuff as "bio ethanol" supplied for burning. Bartoline brand of methylated sprits lists propan-2-ol and butanone as the only additives to the ethanol - no methanol. I find that Ekofuel brand has a reasonably pleasant smell in liquid form, and doesn't affect me when burning. 

An Origo is all you're going to find. It's a pity that the Maxie burner is no longer available, because I like it much better than the Origo. The German equivalents work in the same way as the Maxie, but are smaller and slower.

I see that there's a new Origo 3000 on ebay at the moment - it's likely to sell quickly. [edit: already sold!] Also three more:  https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_nkw=origo+3000&_sop=12

Hi All,

Some questions about changing from a Taylors pressurised paraffin stove to an alcohol stove..

I have been working through this excellent series of posts in an attempt to educate myself on the subject of cooking stoves. However it spans 7 years, and I read very slowly...

I've always used gas. Uneasily. Now we have a boat with a Taylors paraffin/kero stove. Very new and unused. But we all have a problem with the fumes. Meths for lighting, paraffin for cooking. It can't be good for us? And we sail in Scotland where we often have the fire on to keep us and the boat dry, so we don't want more ventilation than is necessary for that purpose.

Since I doubt we can use anything other than paraffin on that pressure stove,I'm afraid I'm going to have to haul it out. Anyone interested in the stove please get in touch via my profile...

Assuming for now that we'll try to avoid propane, may I ask a few questions?

Does "bio" ethanol give off a less unpleasant odour than Methylated spirit, or any odour at all? Burnt and unburnt Meths is unpleasant to my crew.  I think the by products of the combustion of ethanol are pretty blameless compared to Meths. Is an Origo stove second hand the best alcohol burner I'll get at the moment (I looked up Whitworths as mentioned earlier but no sign of a Maxie just now). How much slower is the Origo than propane?! Can we see the flame eg on a sunny day?

If Origo is the one, do I have to make my own clamps to keep the pans on it? There was mention that the fittings supplied aren't much good. The boat is a 34' Badger. Not planning on having gimbals as the cooker is athwartships and quite near the centreline. Coastal cruising at present. Any suggestions gratefully received!

The new boat is Constance, built by John Greetham in SE England. I plan to bring her to the West coast of Scotland up the North Sea later this month. She will be on my profile as soon as I can.

Pol

If one reads the excellent post on yacht minimus you will eventually come to "Blog of the voyage of Minimus."  If you scroll down to the bottom of the page you will come to stoves. I have tried unsuccessfully to add a link to this article but I hope someone comes to my rescue because it adds some useful information to kerosene cookers. 

can you say what kind of heat exchanger is used in the video?