In his thread concerning the trouble he'd experienced with his pressurised kerosene boat stove Bry (bcripps) expressed interest in an alcohol stove option and I mentioned HERE that I'd recently acquired an Origo duel burner stove and oven combination, details to follow. And here it is The burner/fuel tank for the oven gets posted after refuelling in a drop-down door at the base. The removal sequence, pressing a plunger linkage ejects it The stove is detachable from the oven, bolted to these stainless steel gimbal plates, gimbal arms being installed in the galley housing I'll get back to discussing the oven in a moment, but detached from the stove hob, the hob offers easier access for photography Top flips up to get access to the two burner/fuel tank pans The one on the left is new, since only two burners came with the stove/oven. Amazon was my source but ships' chandlers are another option On one of the two burners that came with the stove the stainless steel gauze had burnt through due. Easy to replace from an ebay source for an exact match Here are contemporary and older examples of alcohol burners to give an idea of scale in comparison with the Origo burner. Though of much larger capacity (1.2 litres of fuel) and output it works on just the same principle as the simplest 'pad and gauze' types from early picnic burner sets, making the Trangia burner positively advanced! The burner regulating mechanism is a leaf shutter device operated by a linkage connected to the control knob. Closed to full in this sequence From above, on the stove hob here with flame spreader plate and pot rest grid removed, the burner riser tube is apparent Incidentally, I removed the flame spreader plate to get the photo of the regulater shutter in action, but to light the burner - with the flame spreader in place - the shutter flap is opened and a long-stemmed butane lighter (for convenience, but a 'cook's' match would do, is poked in the space between flame spreader and the hob opening. Easier to do than describe TO BE CONTINUED John
To light the oven, the wire rack is removed ... .. then the burner baffle plate at the base of the oven is taken out Here's that baffle/diffuser plate, which takes the brunt of the burner output (hence the heat distortion and discolouration) and ensures that there's a satisfactory temperature gradient in the oven, top to bottom The same leaf shutter regulator, operated by the oven control knob through a linkage The oven is very well insulated within the twin-shell stainless steel box and the oven door is of course double-glazed The base of the oven. It can be screwed down to a surface but is of course often gimbal-mounted I gave the oven a tough test in terms of getting up to a high temperature - baking a loaf. About twenty minutes to half-an-hour to get the temperature up to this I found I could throttle down a little to maintain that temperature. There's no thermostat control and it's a matter of keeping an eye on the temperature gauge and adjusting the burner regulator knob accordingly. In practice, it wasn't a chore and the oven (thanks to its being well insulated I expect) maintained the set temperature once set without further adjustment Loaf dough 'proved' and ready to go into the oven Half-an-hour later, I'm pleased with the result Unlike my domestic oven, the Origo doesn't quite achieve the ideal temperature gradient and judging by the crust on the base of the loaf, the oven's probably a shade too hot towards the bottom of the compartment. Nowhere near as pronounced as with a Coleman camp oven however ... ... and the proof was in the eating. Very good indeed! The hob performance? Around 1 1/2 litres got to a rolling boil in about eight minutes John
Something to add. Getting the oven back home from where I bought it I broke the outer pane of oven door glass. Car boot was full of this sort of stuff No matter. Measured up and ordered at my local glass merchant, a piece of 4mm thick toughened glass was soon to hand and installed John
Hi John, Looking good! Great to see your photos showing the Origo up-close-and-personal May I ask how it compares to, let's say, a paraffin stove? Cheers, Peter
G,,day John . a nice set up . it should last a very log time . it appears to be very practical and no high tech parts to wear or fail . and if there are parts that could fail the could possibly be made in just about any country. cheers, kerry
Cheers Peter, Kerry. Robust outfit indeed as you say. Compared to a paraffin stove it's slower to get a kettle to boil as you'd expect and no doubt takes longer to get the oven up to heat than a Taylor's paraffin fuelled oven. That said, the time difference is marginal and inconsequential. Bry (bcripps) posted a couple of links in his thread to yachting forums where the debate on alcohol/paraffin/propane options rages still. I'd be content with the Origo on a boat or in a camper van setting. Owning neither, it'll be handy to have a supplementary oven when the family descends on us at Christmas and I'll certainly be taking it to Newark next year to do some oven cooking in camp. Plus points:- reliability; simplicity; easy to fire up; a relatively safe fuel in a boat installation; non-pressurised and no 'pipework' so no potential for fuel leaks; doesn't smell (I'm using bio-ethanol, meths would be a bit whiffy when extinguishing a burner). Minus point:- Fuel's more expensive than paraffin or propane. John
John . I think that if you were scoring a stove / oven combination . with consideration for all aspects , safety , usage , life expectancy , ease of use , repairability , availability of fuel world wide etc etc . this unit would have to score very high indeed . is there a set of adjustable fiddle sticks / rails available for the cook top ???? kerry
Yes, Kerry, there's a couple of pairs of fiddle sticks available as an accessory. They clamp on the rail and slide along to adjust to pots on the rail running along the front (control knob side) of the pot rest John
Couldn't cheat you out of flame shots - just waiting for night to fall to get it on camera. Simmer to full heat John
Excellent. Most likely the best for the purpose. Now you must invest in the equipment to distill the fuel. I looked up what those units cost new........
Boy, oh boy John! I am looking forward to Newark next year. I am imagining roast beef with roast parsnips, roast potatoes and Yorkshire puddings; gravy, carrots and another veg. Great stove/oven combination with wonderful illustrative photos and great descriptive commentary. Loved it all.
It's a deal, Trevor! I was lucky getting this at around a thirtieth of the retail price and local to me at that. I omitted to cover fuel tank/burner refilling, something that was raised as an issue by Bry (bcripps') post HERE about his CookMate, an Origo clone as far as I can make out, in which he wrote, From the outset it was clear that refuelling directly from a 5-litre container was unworkable, the fuel overspilling and sloshing about as Bry experienced. As Bry's friend did, I soon resorted to decanting fuel into a more manageable container, and a Trangia bottle fitted the bill perfectly. I've just got the 1/3 litre version and four of those fills a fuel tank from empty. A 1-litre Trangia bottle would be more convenient in that respect I daresay, but I've just got the small bottle. The fuel flow from the Trangia valve cap is just right for the tank's capacity to slurp it up without spilling over Note that I've sat the tank on a horizontal surface to do this. The pictogram and instructions for refuelling on the Origo tank evidently haven't been well thought out at all. Holding the tank at an angle is just asking for the fuel to cascade off and peering into the opening with the tank held vertically to see fuel pooling at the level indicated to determine when it's got a full charge of fuel is theoretically ok I suppose but in practice haphazard. The tank is full of absorbent heat-resisting wadding and getting the fuel to 'pool' anywhere in the wadding isn't readily achieved I got around this to my satisfaction by using kitchen weigh scales and popping the fuel tank on them when refuelling. These stoves are intended for use in a kitchen (galley) environment so it's not unreasonable to expect there'll be kitchen scales at hand. I measured the weight of an empty fuel tank as 1-pound 10-ounces (about 720g). A litre of fuel weighs around 1 3/4lbs (800g). So, popping the fuel tank on the weigh scales to refuel, it's full when the scales indicate 3lbs 6oz (1 1/2kg approx). Call it 3 1/2 pounds, equivalent 1 1/2 kilogrammes, since it doesn't have to be all that precise. That gives about four hours of continuous use on a full flame, probably 12 hours or more on simmer. If I were using one of these outfits on a regular, daily, basis like Bry and his wife, I'd make it a habit to top the fuel tank or tanks up towards that figure of 3.5 lbs, or 1.5 kg, on the weigh scales before a cooking session where I didn't want it to run empty during my cooking. Get down to half that weight and you're about to run out of fuel. I'd certainly not resort to peering in the fuel tank opening (tank held vertically) to spot fuel glistening as the Origo instructions recommend and a Trangia fuel bottle and safety dispenser cap would be a good investment. John
Hello John. I use a 1 litre bottle which the fuel comes in(in NZ) and I use the tilt method to refill mine without any problems at all. Just a bit slower being careful not to over fill the canister which isn't a real problem as it can safely take a little more than recommended. Cheers, John
Beautifully done, John. Excellent photographs and commentary. Damn... that stove looks brand new. I could do with a slice of that Yorkshire Pud! And a BIG thank you for your idea of weighing the fuel and canister as a way of determining the amount of the fill. We have been looking for something like an liquor bottle pouring spout for the gallon jug but nothing found here yet. If I had a workshop, I'm sure I could make something. Well it gives me something to think about and something will click eventually. It always does... All best from Luperon... Bry
I'm pleased that was of use, Bry, and delighted to have you say "Hi" from Luperon! Hi back at you from Blackburn, Lancashire, UK! Let us know how things go on the stove front. John
Good Evening, @presscall , John, I love this write-up of your Origo 6000 stove/oven combo!! Now, I want one!! Lots to be the dog's B's, and work a treat! I'm sold on the simplicity, ease of use, and reliability of such stoves, and I know that SB and I could make great use of the oven, even though it is a bit on the small side. Thanks for tempting me with this post, and please know that I took the bait, hook, line, and sinker, and happily so! Now, to find a good 6000 for ourselves...... Thanks, again, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc
@Doc Mark Ah, I’ve whetted your appetite I see Mark. Some way down the line from my original write-up, I’ve not revised my opinion. You’ve summed the charm up precisely-simplicity, ease of use, reliability. For some though, that’s not enough and there’s got to be a pressurised burner in the plot, or it’s too bland. John
@presscall , John, Yes, indeed, you are certainly whetted my appetite!! I've already begun looking for a good, used 6000, and hopefully, one will pop up, someday. Until then, I'm just happy to have my Origo 3000, and other Meths stoves of similar lineage: Trangia Tribe, Speedster stove setup, Optimus 45A, Optimus MKI and MKII, Optimus Trapper 81's, and various other Meths stoves. Don't get me wrong, I still love my kero stoves, and white gas stoves. But, Meths wins in the "charm" department, and many times, that's quite good enough, and very satisfactory!! Thanks, again, for dropping your hook in my waters, and have with with your excellent 6000! Take care, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Mark
