I too have an Origo 3000 stove which came with my boat, Ingeborg. Being used to Kerosene burners, I was a bit sceptical, at first. Earlier, I had ruled out alcohol stoves because of the very high price on the denatured alcohol fuel, here. This is still very expensive, in particular the ‘clean-burn’ variant, but the price on ‘normal’ cooking alcohol is not so astronomic, so I use that.
For my modest use; heating water for making tea etc, the fuel consumption has been very, very low. My worry was that it would burn a lot if more serious cooking was planned.
A while ago, the matter of improved alcohol stoves with better combustion was discussed in another topic here. According to my not so deep understanding of combustion, a blue flame is good (full combustion, no soot) while a yellow flame is not so good (incomplete combustion, more soot). This made me curious, so today I went out to see Ingeborg and lit one of the burners. With the curtains closed I could clearly see that on full blast the flame was more yellow than blue. As I turned the flame down, the blue took more and more over from the yellow, and at lowest setting (1) the flame was perfectly blue, with no yellow in it. The heat from the burner was still good, and I know it is enough to keep a pot simmering.
This is my point: At cooking that lasts for a while, i.e. when simmering at lowest setting, the Origo burner is probably as efficient as any alcohol burner of fancier design.
Therefore; since my Origo stove, all stainless, is technically about as simple as an anvil - no fuel under pressure, no valves, pumps or nozzles to fail - I surely will keep mine in Ingeborg, and I am not afraid of recommending it to anyone.
The photos below were taken today.
Cheers, Arne
