Alcohol stoves are not very popular thanks to the mainstreaming of propane stoves. Alcohol stoves burn at a cooler temperature, meaning that it takes longer to cook on them as compared to propane. Aside from this small detail, they do burn very cleanly, like propane, and also heat up quickly as well. You can easily start the stove and be cooking in a few minutes as the pan heats up rapidly.
Alcohol comes in two flavors, pressurized and wick. Pressurized alcohol stoves are a fire hazard and should be removed from the boat instantly. They are famous for causing massive flame flare ups that will set your interior ablaze and burn the boat to the waterline every time you use them! Wick alcohol stoves, on the other hand are very tame.
The wick is soaked in alcohol and simply burns through a hole in the stove to reach the pan. The flame can even be blown out by a well directed puff of wind, like blowing out a candle. While the flame is not as hot as propane, so it will take slightly longer to cook, you are cruising and there is no rush! The meals are still prepared and we make dinner this way every night without ever feeling like "it is taking forever".
Along the lines of having multiple fuels available, alcohol stoves are typically filled with Denatured Alcohol, but they can also be filled with paint thinner, as well as many other types of paint solvents that you can find in almost any hardware store. If you absolutely can not find any fuel for the stove, you can always setup a penny stove with diesel and have the flame rise through the hole in the stove to burn against the pan, allowing you the most versatility in cooking fuels around!
Alcohol stoves may not be popular, but they are very simple to operate and maintain, making them a stove that will work well for you on a daily basis without complaints.
