Kitchen and Stove Safety
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Kitchen/Stove Safety
Educational Goals
The ability to use a stove and cook safely and efficiently is a skill every expedition member must master. Burns from spilled hot water, stoves, and hot frying pans area common-in fact too common-type of injury on Wilderness programs. Students must know immediately how to operate a stove safely and properly. As the program progresses, they need to learn how to troubleshoot and to perform basic maintenance procedures. Advanced stove repair can be taught to interested students.
Key Points
Kitchen Safety
Safety in cooking begins with the kitchen set-up as every good chef knows. Kitchens should be set up well away from major travel areas in camp and they should be clearly marked out to all members of the group. Within the kitchen, there should be a “pantry” where the food is kept (preferably in your food duffle to keep critters out); a stove area that is level and free from flammable areas and items; and a prep area where cooks can organize pots, chop things, and get meals prepared. A clean and neat kitchen area is a safe kitchen area. Cooks should wear close toed shoes and wash their hands thoroughly before meal time. They should cook in the safety position (squatting) and minimize dangly, flammable clothing. Foot traffic around the kitchen prior to meal time should also be minimized. Early in the course, make sure you observe the meal time prep of each cook group to ensure that they are maintaining high standards of organization, hygiene, and other safe habits.
Stove Parts
Knowing the function and care of stove parts helps people operate stoves properly. The fuel tank stores fuel and can be pressurized with the use of the pump. The air “cushion” in the top of the tank helps store pressure that pushes fuel to the generator smoothly. Pumps need to be kept clean and well-oiled. The generator converts liquid fuel into a warm, fine mist that burns efficiently. Show how to control the flame and how to clean the fuel orifice.
Some stoves include pot racks for cooking and reflectors for more efficient heat distribution. Windscreens are useful for conserving fuel. Keep these parts clean and avoid needless folding to prolong their life. Brass and plastic stove parts are fragile and should not be overtightened. Protect stoves from rain and snow when not in use.
Stove Operations
Start cooking each meal with a full fuel tank. Leave some air space in the tank. An overfilled tank will display erratic pressures that can damage the stove or make it run poorly. Fill the fuel tank away from the kitchen and allow any spilled fuel to evaporate before lighting. To avoid accidental ignition, cool stoves before refueling
Choose a flat protected area to operate your stove. Avoid sites near combustible material like dry grass, duff, nylon tents, or low branches. Make sure all valves are closed and pump the stove to build pressure in the fuel tank. Do not over-pressurize. An over-pressurized stove will burn with a yellow or pulsing flame. On average pump a Whisperlite 15-20 times.
After the stove is pumped, open the fuel orifice, and release enough fuel to wet the generator and fill the spirit cup. Turn the stove off and light the liquid fuel. Make sure you turn your face away from the flame. When the fuel is burned down, turn the stove on, and re-light. The stove should burn with a steady blue flame. After the meal is completed, let the stove cool down, slowly open the fuel tank to depressurize, then refill the fuel tank
Troubleshooting and Maintenance To prevent problems with your stove, keep it clean and dry, oil the pump leather every few days, clean the jet after each meal, and pack it properly.
When problems occur, check simple things first. If fuel is not coming out, there may not be any in the tank—something that occurs surprisingly often with new students—or you may have a clogged orifice, a clogged fuel line, or lack of pressure in the tank. Low tank pressure can stem from a bad pressure cap, a dry pump leather, a bad one-way valve in the pump mechanism, or occasionally, from a cracked tank or generator.
A poorly running stove can be caused by dirt or water in the fuel, by an of set flame spreader, or by a partial obstruction in the fuel system. You may also have a pressure leak, or the stove may have been over-or under-pressurized, or over-or under-primed.
Safety and Conservation
If you get a fuel fire, let it burn out. Carefully set the lid on any burning fuel container. Choose a good, inflammable spot for filling stoves and cooking to prevent wildfires. Handle hot food and equipment with care. Don’t pass boiling water over humans and do not lean over a stove when lighting it. Watch loose hair or clothes around flames. Smother flaming body parts immediately. STOP, DROP and ROLL! Apply Cold water to burns instantly, or the hot skin will burn even deeper.
Conserving fuel saves weight. Furthermore, it is an integral part of our minimum-impact philosophy. Save gas by cooking when your tent group is around to eat or drink. Make hot drinks when the water is at the “fish eyes” stage. Turn your stove off when the food is finished. Cook out of the wind using a windscreen and reflector. Keep your stove well maintained and at peak performance. If you have a fire use it to cook too.
Stoves vs. Fires
Stoves help minimize our impact in the backcountry because they allow us more freedom in selecting campsites and require no wood gathering. Stoves are faster than fires in wet weather and allow us to camp above the treeline. When used properly, they lessen the chance of accidental wildfires. Stoves cause less air pollution and are legal in places where fires are not. But they burn fossil fuel that is pumped out of the ground in places like Alaska and Iraq, while wood fires burn a renewable fuel.
Teaching Considerations
Start with a simple class on lighting, operating, cleaning, and refueling stoves. Address repair and troubleshooting later. Let folks know that to be truly self-sufficient, they need to know how to maintain and repair any of their gear, including stoves.
Model impeccable stove use to establish good habits in your students. Stoves are potentially dangerous. Be familiar with the course’s specific stove type prior to going into the field.
Leadership Opportunities
Empathy—or the ability to understand or be sensitive to the thoughts, feelings, or experiences of another—is often cited as an important leadership trait. Watch for students who are afraid of mechanical things, and get others to empathize with them and help coach them until they excel at a skill they might have otherwise have avoided. This provides students with an opportunity to develop an important leadership characteristic.
Resources Harvey, Mark The NOLS Wilderness Guide,1999
