@chemteacherphil · Phil Cook
Saved 2026-05-15 · Posted 2024-03-18 · Status: New
It is surprisingly easy to make your own fuel gel. All you really need are three ingredients: eggshells, vinegar and alcohol. Gel fuels like sterno are useful because they provide a clean burning flame with minimal risk of spilling the fuel. Making a gel fuel requires encapsulating a combustible liquid inside a gelatinous solid. In this case, I make the gel by first creating a solution of calcium acetate, the primary biproduct of the reaction between the calcium carbonate in eggshells and the acetic acid in vinegar. Boiling the liquid concentrates the calcium acetate, which is really soluble in water, but much less soluble in alcohols. So when the alcohol fuel is added, it immediately causes the calcium acetate to precipitate out as a solid, trapping the alcohol in the process, and forming a colorless gel that works really well for toasting marshmallows! #chemistry #chemteacherphil
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Comments (14)
Did you use ethanol or isopropyl?
What about apple cider vinegar?
@greenantlers
After u mixed it with vinegar you lost me. Slow it down some bro
How much alcohol?
Are you on an FBI watch list yet?
Ah...I love this nerdy 🤓 stuff...im so trying this. Thank you from a fellow nerd.
I would’ve paid better attention if my chem teacher made fire more often
What is the materials used?
How do you put it out?
You burned your marshmallow.
Ill let you guys know
And now the marshmallow tastes like hand sanitizer
What type of alcohol is used?