Should You Add a Sterno Folding Stove to Your Preps? 

The price of these folding stoves have SKYROCKETED! I actually paid $5.99 for mine at the Bass Pro Shop in October 2020, and now I'm seeing them online and in Wal-Mart for $16 - $20! I realize that it's a case of supply versus demand, but it just feels wrong. JOMO.

1) Break the noodles up before you open the package. That makes them much easier to eat in bite-sized pieces. 2) Add a generous handful of dehydrated or frozen vegetables while the noodles cook. 3) Drain the noodles dry, add back to the pot, and scramble an egg into the noodles, and add half the seasoning packet. That makes them more like fried rice rather than a soup.

When I worked as a correctional officer, I learned that ramen noodles were the basis for a lot of the inmates recipes. They'd save the season packets for other stuff, but they would use the noodles for tons of stuff. You'd be surprised how good a meal made with ramen noodles, chili in a pouch, refried beans in a pouch and a few other items can be. Lol

I discovered these Sterno stoves about 8 years ago during a 7 day blackout. I keep several on hand. They never let me down. Great video.

Thanks for the demo. The possibilities are endless, Ramen, boiled eggs, canned soup, rice, only limitation is your imagination. The object is to try and keep some sense of normalcy.

When I make Ramen noodles, I don't usually drain any of the water. I add the entire seasoning packet along with sautéed veggies (peas, onions, carrots, broccoli). This makes a nice soup.

I’ve had that stove (w sterno) as my backup stove for a few years now. In a small apartment, I’m especially concerned about storing fuel and gases from burning fuel cause of the small space. Sterno is a great option for boiling hot water and heating cans up. I try to make my ramen meals a bit healthier so adding just about any frozen vegetable works well when I don’t have fresh food. If you start storing “long term” foods like dehydrated and freeze-dried, they’re a great addition also.

Hey Pegi and Don, I’ve had these for years! They aren’t perfect and slow but in an emergency they are awesome. I gave one to my sister during the Sandy situation in 2012, she had an electric range. She loved it and kept it. I put them in the winter packs for the cars. Just in case someone gets stuck out there during a winter storm. I don’t use the seasoning pack I put teriyaki sauce, pasta sauce or any sauce that has less sodium in it. Thanks for the video!

The folding stoves are excellent to have as a back up. Being a former scout, camper etc. I’ve had those in my emergency evacuation kit as well as my black out/power out box. Yes sternos last well past the expiration dates too!

Oh, I am a collector of different types of stoves. My motto is 20 is 19, 19 is 18, etc..etc.., lol! My husband doesn’t understand that but it’s what I like and I tell him stoves are cheaper than diamonds, lol! I collect tuna cans, bought the small aluminum cans with lids and I have plenty of carbon felt, plenty of various types of fuel (yellow heet, tea lights, corrugated cardboard, gel fuel…) with the thought it would be easy to give out to some friends and family and cheap to make if necessary.

Hey Mr. Don. You and Ms. Pegi should shoot a video with a created ramen noodles and other pepper pantry items using that portable stove. Maybe used canned chicken or tuna w/ canned or dehydrated vegetables. Make a casserole in a pot!

Another option for wxtingushing the flame and or controlling the flame is to use a "damper" container like they use on the buffet lines. You place the sterno in the container, and it has a sliding handle to help control the flame. I have several of these burners, and dampers. Burner from Walmart, damper from Amazon. or restruant supply..

ad soy sauce ,chicken from a can, green onions, to the chicken flavored roman it makes it taste like chicken stir fry. ive also used steak and onions to the beef flavored

Hi Don! Great demo and video. Another way to enjoy ramen noodles is to add frozen asian stir fry mix to the soup, and by all means add the seasoning packet to the water to bring it to a quicker boil (no need to drain the noodles). We have also made it with cabbage, carrots and snow peas and added chinese dumplings (frozen) or shrimp...I can go on and on but I think you get the idea. Don't forget to try adding hot sesame oil after cooking to bring it to a whole other level.Excellent little stove to have when the power goes out.

I have been wondering how well those little stoves work and now I know. We will definitely be getting a couple of them for our pantry. Thanks for the demonstration.

I’ve added a bit of chicken, beef, or shrimp and left over veggies to it for quick soup😋

I really like your no nonsense type of content

These are great! When I did my test, I fried up some bacon. I worked perfectly!! The motto for food storage should be Store what you eat so you will eat what you store! I store up all my favorites!

Breakfast Ramen. Pack of ramen noodles-save the season packet. Break the noodles up / crush until 1/2 or one inch. Boil. Drain. Add on can of Coconut milk keep stirring. Cinnamon. Pinch of clove and allspice. Sugar. Butter.

I simmer them and add some various frozen peas, green beans, corn, and broccoli (just a tbl spn of each), then strain everything to zero standing water. I throw that into a buttered pan and lightly brown the noodles. I then add two eggs and mix them around until cooked. I usually season with Mrs Dash Spicy, it has zero salt and really tastes great. This works as breakfast lunch or dinner. Alternatively, I'll use one egg and add substitute in some precooked sliced meat, usually turkey, ham, or pepperoni. On rare occasion I'll use bacon, then it's insanely yummy! If this gourmet meal was $15 in a restaurant, I would feel like I got a deal. At home the food is literally $1 per meal. If you include tip, that's 18x cheaper!

My grandmother used to eat instant noodles for lunch. She would add a slice of spam, some lettuce for her veggies and maybe a hard boiled egg into the soup. If you don’t like spam, you can add Vienna sausages.

My husband and I have always loved Ramen, in the best of times and the worst of times ❤️

I remember cooking on a 2 burner sterno stove 50 years ago in the boy scouts. Great video.

From fresh, frozen or dehydrated, add mushrooms, green onion, celery and leaves, shredded greens like lettuce, cabbage, boy choy, mixed veggies from a bag in the freezer. You can mix up such things dehydrated and store in a glass jar or little snack bags for camping. Other options are rice or pasta and seasonings so to avoid chemicals in ramen. Good video, Don of Peg and Don.

Chicken ramen, pulled chicken; Alfredo sauce, add some broccoli

Shrimp ramen. Frozen shrimp. Can of diced / herbed tomatoes or a can of Rotel. Ginger. White pepper.

I have one of those and it works. I made the noodles with butter, garlic and shrimp. It was pretty good.

Just a tip.. you can also burn small pieces of wood (outdoors of course) with this stove should you run out of fuel. Use it as a twig style stove.. or get a Trangia style alcohol burner as it should fit fairly well too in this stove. Also, there a couple companies named Firebox Stove and Solo Stove that makes camping/backpacking types of stoves that would be great to have for an emergency, although the price point goes up significantly..

have 2 in my gear. have cut a grate plate that fits into the bottom of my stove. this allows up to 9 charcoal briquets to burn inside. this has become my primary bbq grill, when cooking for 1. this gives me a 1 hr burn time for cooking.

There’s a reason marathon runners and racing cyclists eat Ramen type food before a big race. Combined with a simple way to prepare, you’ve got a great preparedness staple.

Happy Monday Pegi&Don! We don’t have a folding stove in our preps yet, excited to see this video! ❤️

Like the sterno stove. I cook top ramen with a little frozen peas and carrotts.

Nice video. My boys and i used one for camping as a second burner. I usually made rice. I also had a single burner propane stove. I would boil the rice and put it on the sterno stove to simmer while i cooked beef teppen yaki on the propane stove. The timing was perfect.

Since they are so cheap and easy to use, i will get one for my prepping. Thanks💜👍🏾

Other options include things like the Trangia cookset. Complete setup and you can use metho which is cheap and available. Much more expensive to buy initially but excellent quality. It would be interesting to see how a metho burner would fit in the bottom of it as well. Might work out cheaper than buying proprietary fuel and throwing away the empty tins all the time.

I just found this video. The last two years we had power outages that lasted about 24 hours. I just wanted something warm to eat and drink. This is a great solution!

Don, you are so correct, it is a choice. Not my first but a choice none the less. Blessings fam.

Thanks for the Sterno tip, I found a watched pot takes longer to boil for some reason .

thank you sir from a senior from Canada

Love your video. I love the "think ahead" and independent attitude.

without the sauce add any meat and seasoning of your choice that way you can control how much salt, because the packet seasoning has over a 1000 percent sodium in it. it's alot you can do with Ramen the possibilty are endless lol, thanks for sharing, I just started my prepping and it's lot of fun for me very great idea, because never know what else will happen.

Thanks for the demonstration. I will be adding at least two of these to my pantry.

Scramble an egg and mix it in to give more protein or add mixed veggies or veggie of choice. I love ramen

we like ramen this way: cook, drain, add a teaspoon of butter and the seasoning, stir, eat.

You cooking ramen on this brought back memories. My friend and I used this type of stove and fuel on our first backpacking trip (we had no idea what we were doing back then, ha). Not a wise decision for a cold, March trip. 😅 I still have the stove but we upgraded after that. Not a bad option to have for emergencies if you aren't looking to boil water quicklly...I even keep a couple sternos just in case. Love your videos and thanks for sharing!

I have a cast iron pot and pan that I use on my gas bbq grill during power outages. Being from Florida during hurricane season . Thumbs up

Stirring in an egg is the best way to upgrade your ramen quickly. I appreciated the demo on building the stove. I just ordered one so now I know how it works!

Thanks for the demo!! First thing that came to my mind was hot water to make a cup of pour over coffee. We purchased a Fondo pot for this purpose, but I’m going to add a couple of yours to our Christmas gift giving list. Blessings to you and your beautiful bride

You can buy multi packs of chafing fuel at Costco or sam's club for not too much.. Also jerky cut into little prices will rehydrate into meat for your soups, as well as dehydrated onions or other veggies.

We love Ramen Noodles and many recipes, because I live with a Chef. But, when to use different recipes I search RU-vid. I am goin to look below for the link to this stove. Enjoy!

Great job on the demo. I don’t like long stringy Noodles so I crush the package with my hands against the Countertop. My favorite is to dice up Chicken or Pork Rib meat cut off the bones. As you did, add the seasoning packet contents; then shake in some Kikkoman Soy Sauce. JimO

Thanks for sharing

I always used a butter knife to take the lid off. Slide the lid on top and the fire goes out, When it cools down just press it down, to seal it closed. I have used chicken breast in a can and can of peas and carrots or corn added, makes a meal.

Thank you guys I just love watching you all thanks for blessing us.

Like the folding stove demo. Dehydrated veggies in ramen noodles, simple and delicious. No dehydrator......order dehydrator veggies on line. Long shelf life and also great for everyday cooking, camping and hiking. Happy Thanksgiving Don & Pegi, May your celebration be filled with family & friends, love, joy and LOTS OF GOOD EATS! 👍👍👍👍👍🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽❤️❤️❤️

I just made scrambled eggs and breakfast sausage with same Sterno stove and fuel. Made it in a Boy Scout mess kit frying pan. So I jumped on YT to see if others are enjoying the same. Liked the video even though I don't care too much for Ramen, I've got a case of it for bad times. IMHO, I use the Sterno for regular cooking that best fits the temp Sterno delivers. If I want coffee or to boil something, I've got an alcohol stove that boils water quickly. Nice feature of the Sterno is that it does not soot up pots and pans. Who likes to clean up?

Thanks

This is just the information I have been looking for! Thank you!!!!

Exactly what I needed to know.

AS A HUSBAND MY SELF WHO IS PREPPING FOR HIS FAMILY GREAT VIDEO..I WILL ADD TO MY PREPS

Nice 👍, get prepared folks!

Interesting, I never even knew about these. I guess I should get me one. Thanks for sharing!!

Hi Pegi & Don, have you tried those Sterno type units sold at Walmart and/or Gordon Food Service GFS, a place that sells banquet supplies, such as chafing dish fuel cans that are 3,6, or 12 hours as a suggestion. Thanks for another great video!!! Personally, I have nightmares of those noodles sliding down my throat the first year of college and I can't stand them!!! However, the rest of the family likes Ramen!!! Lol I went ahead two years ago and purchased a manual noodle maker and put it away to make noodles out of chickpeas or lentils as a plant-based person. The family meatatarians will use the Ramen to make a variety of dishes. We were blessed to get large amounts of Ramen in beef and chicken flavor this past Spring during COVID...1st time for the kids and grands!!!

A saucepan!!.Thank you!! I didn't think to use that. Had a hard time soring through the other mini pots.

Hi Don. Thank you for the information! Its so much easier to see how it works before buying. Take care and say hi to Pegi.

Thank you! I'm going to pick one up!

that was by far the best video of using the sterno cook stove... only used 2 cups in a thin pot and put the lid on..!! yes yes yes... my only comment is to use a sodium free broth powder (beef or chicken) instead of the ramen packet...herb-ox brand is best... i also add a small can of chicken or tuna and maybe some peas & carrots... i agree you can thrive not just survive a power outage.. acoustic guitars and harmonicas still work just fine....

U need to flip up the front flat so u can keep the heat in! 😁

Tip: keep an eye out at Estate Sales and Trudy Stores for Fondu Pots. The STERNO goes right underneath it.

Thanks Don. I have a Sterno stove I needed that how too instructions.

I am going to pick up a few of those! Thank you. I was without power during Hurricane Sandy for over a week but I had a gas stove so I could cook. Where I live now its all electric! A tip for ramen is to not use the packet and season with low sodium broth veggies and meat if you can. I have to keep my sodium lower. But emergencies happen and warm soup will be comforting.

I have an emberlit stove. Similar sort of thing, but made of stainless steel. It can burn wood, esbit tabs, or sterno (probably some other fuels too). My fave ramen recipe is drained ramen with a bit of butter, some garlic powder, and a little bit of black pepper.

I get the lid off the sterno can with a fork. The prongs are thinner than any other utensil. 😊

Great video Don. Its OK you don't have to be a cook you are a GREAT PROVIDER for your family, and thats whats important!! My husband is an AWESOME PROVIDER as well both pegi and I are blessed to have AWESOME husbands. Dont worry we will feed you guys!!😄😄 Love you and Pegi!! Happy Thanksgiving!

Sterno or Camp Heat may have value as a low fuel means of keeping food/coffee/soups ... Warm, if you have several people eatting or if you want the food hot from beginning to end of a meal. Especially if you are going to have animals or crops as we all know there are times you can't leave them until after meal time .

“Aight fam”

Good presentation! I bought 2 of these at flkea markets for a few bucks each. One is like yours, but the other one is steel (probably an old clkassic model from the 1950s.) I used a Trangia alcohol burner instead of the Sterno jelled fuel & it worked great. I had a rolling boiled in about 7-8 minutes. If an emergency occurs which requires evacuation, the Sterno stove folds compactly & requires little space in a vehicle kit. May God bless you & Peg. The Old Preacher

Thank you for showing us I will look into it.

You had to be told..... you are not a cook.... LOL! You made me laugh. I needed that today. I enjoy your channel. Respect!

My Sterno folding stove is almost 45 yrs old and it still works. I have some Sterno which is over 30 yrs old and it's still good. Just keep cool and well sealed. Rather than using the can of Sterno I now use a Swedish Trangia Alcohol stove with 90% alcohol.

Dear Peggi PLEASE continue to feature your husband on this channel with the mock cooking segment. Hearing him wonder if the ramen would fit the pot I near fell out on the floor😂😂😂😂😂 . Sorry Don ...it was funny though....😂

Variety of cooking methods

I like that folding stove. I’m still trying to convince my sis and to do more videos with me. He preps off camera

A man after my own heart. My own preparations are also nonelectric as opposed to a $20,000.00 Generac. The Sterno stove is very versatile, and an empty Sterno can filled with alcohol can also be used for enhanced versatility. While the stove today costs more like $13 the Sterno stove is still a great addition to anyone's preparations. Nothing wrong with Ramaan noodles AKA college rations but skip the season packet and experiment with your own seasonings. That packet has an unhealthy amount of salt. Alittle spaghetti sauce or even some garlic and oil are two suggestions. Overall, a great video.

I sure enjoyed your video. I like you. You're very genuine. I came across your video while researching Sterno for emergency cooking. Looks like as long as your water is pure it'll soften up your noodles or freeze dried or dehydrated food... canned soup et cetera

We are the same....we want to survive, but in a most comfortable way. Thanks for sharing. TTYL, my friends. ~~~~Tina

Wow best video on these I’ve seen and it’s good to have on tuck for emergencies

Good afternoon Mr Don..great job...nice emergency cooking....tell Ms Pegi to cook, seal & freeze some rice. Good for emergency eating in can soup.

Add frozen peas, carrots, and roasted corn...dice up some rotisserie chicken...very tasty 😋

Just before the noodles are all the way cooked add 2 tablespoons of peanut butter and boom - satay noodles.. Another great video, regards from Scotland.

I like this little stove. Looks safer to use in food preparation. Very good demonstration.

Thanks for h Sharing not seen those before

Just found your channel and subscribed ...I have heard that a paint can opener that they sell at HOME DEPOT and LOWES or your local hardware store will open the STERNO CANS very well without damaging the lid. I always add the packet of seasoning to the water before I start cooking them...makes the favor get more into the noodles! TAKE CARE!!!

Hello Don, Great video. Thank you for sharing. Keep it coming. Tell beautiful I said hi . I can’t wait to see more 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

Guess what I did???? Just bought 2 of those foldable stoves! Thank you for sharing this!!!

I bought a case of that clean heat fuel from the Dollar Tree now I just got to get that stove.

I'm lovin that sweet little saucepan .. with a cover no less.

Great video! At least you're honest about the cooking😂 . Yes water boils faster with the lid on.

Add a pinch of salt for boiling. It changes the boiling temp needed to boil water...water will boil faster.

Good Demo. If you break the noodles up while still in the pack, they will cook faster in the pot. Smaller sections. Add a cut up hot dog and chopped onion & garlic powder for extra flavor.💜💜💜