Chafing Fuel

Basics

• A type of Fuel Burner specialized for heating Food in Catering Equipment
  • Also has niche use as Camping Stoves or Indoor Use Safe Heating/Cooking in Emergencies
• Electricity is a good alternative (Such as “Crock Pots” etc), or Steam Wells but for low cost temporary instillations such as catering my, it is a useful tech
• The names “Sterno” and “Canned Heat” are Genericized Trademarks of this

Fuels

• Chafing Fuel is typically offered on various burn times (measured in hours), as well as different fuel (and this heat/safety) options
• Alcohol Gel is the most common
  • Typically a mixture of Denatured Alcohol and Calcium Acetate (although other Gelling Agents may be used
• Due to the risk of Spills (of a flammable liquid!), recently alternatives are offered as well
• These tend to have less heat output as Alcohol (or better yet Butane or Propane or a Hydrocarbon (Oil) Based Fuel), but are safer, albeit harder to light
• One such option is Ethylene Glycol
  • This is also sometimes mixed with Diethylene Glycol , it is uncertain if this is an intentional mix, or if this is simply a result of synthesis, and as it is Fuel Grade, not Lab Chemical or USP Food Grade etc, this may be fine

Sourcing

• This part aims to determine what brand is the lowest cost per can (controlling for burn times/quality ideally too)

External Links

• The Wikipedia Page on Sterno