I'm curious about the capabilities of Esbit stoves. The Titanium one sold here at BPL looks like a nice design and it weighs a mere 11g.
http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/titanium-esbit-wing-stove.html
I'm just not sure if an Esbit stove would be adequate for my needs.
I often camp with my wife and we cook together. We cook together using our 1.5 liter pot and we cook meals like Sidekicks, Uncle Bens, instant potatoes etc.
Does an Esbit stove provide enough heat to cook meals like this? Or would it take forever? Is it possible to cook over these stove (ie. Pancakes) or does the lack of flame control make this very difficult?
My understanding is that alcohol stoves throw off more heat that Esbit. Is this correct? Can an alcohol stove provide enough firepower to get a 1.5 litre pot full of whatever boiling in a reasonable amount of time? Or am I beyond the limits of these stoves?
