Building A Simple Rocket Stove

On Monday night a friend and I decided to experiment with building a really simple rocket stove as we both have ideas to incorporate one into an pizza/bread oven at some point. 

We've both read about rocket stoves, but until you build one and use it you never really cement the knowledge in place.

This one was a simple chimney made out of dry laid bricks. Under the fire was a piece of steel channel so that the air draws under the fire and then through the fuel, creating the rocket affect. 

Channel under the fire

When were first lit the fire we could see that the flames were much higher than our cooking point, meaning that it wasn't at its most efficient, by raising it up another couple of course of bricks it meant the gases were getting burnt as well

Raised up and air control limited so it has to pull the air from under the fire, creating the rocket affect. 

We managed to boil a large kettle of water in no time at all using very little fuel, just a handful of sticks and cardboard really.

Doing this simple experiment  taught us a few things and gave us some things to think about when we're designing our real outdoor cooking areas. Control of fuel and airflow are essential, as is the height of your cooking area. 

A rocket stove would be a great addition to an outdoor cooking area and they don;t take much building, even laid dry like this it would be a useful cooking tool and great in a no power situation (only use outside though!) as it would take less than five minutes to put together.

Who else has made and used a rocket stove? 

Any ideas for improvements?