More on ESBIT efficiency & Epicurian burner

I have to think that your idea for the bathtub type tray would work just fine, but might be difficult to make in a round shape like that. Your skills may be better than mine. The system that seemed to get it right for me was using an MYOG Esbit tray made from Brian Green's template (weighs 1 gram). I placed the Esbit cube inside it, then the ring around the whole tray. Underneath it all, I placed a flat piece of Ti foil a little larger than the ring as a base plate. I'm just starting to experiment with baking and simmering, so I haven't worked everything out yet, but I have been getting burn times of around 50 minutes with a single cube. But you might try a rectangular bathtub style tray with 1/8" walls, but small enough to fit inside the ring.

I know what you mean about the "fiddle fun". I have almost as much fun doing that as actually hiking (but not quite).

A couple of questions:

1. Where would I Find Brian Green's Template?
2. I assume any conical barrier inside a TD caldera cone would work as an epicurean stove.

I have TD Fissure which I use with an Evernew 700ml tall pot. I have used with both esbitt and more recently with a couple of different alcy stoves. Reading about the ability to bake and gives me renewed interest in esbitt.

Ordering this small items from the US (to Canada) is not practical for me as the customs and shipping costs typically exceed the item cost, so I am considering MYOG options.

I can easily make an esbitt tray to catch the liquid as it burns and am thinking there is nothing more to the epicurean stove that constructing a cone (assuming you use it with vent holes turned upward). Am I missing anything? Really, when used with the holes upward it is just a second smaller-inner windscreen.

Here

http://briangreen.net/2011/11/titanium-foil-esbit-tray-stove.html

"I can easily make an esbitt tray to catch the liquid as it burns and am thinking there is nothing more to the epicurean stove that constructing a cone (assuming you use it with vent holes turned upward). Am I missing anything? Really, when used with the holes upward it is just a second smaller-inner windscreen."

That's essentially correct, except its more of a cylinder than a cone. I made a ring to modify my Starlyte as well to gate down the flame and get about a 45-50 minute burn time from 1 oz of alcohol. Probably not practical seeing the burn times achieved with 1/2 oz of Esbit, but again, its the "fiddle fun" getting to me.