Hoàng Cầm stove

Hoang Cam stove

The Hoàng Cầm stove, named after its inventor, a Viet Minh soldier in 1951, was a stove intake and chimney system which diffused and dissipated smoke from cooking which prevented aerial detection of smoke by American military planes. They were used extensively in the Cu Chi tunnels and other hideouts.^[1][2] Another name for the cooker was the "guitar stove". The system required a deep, covered hole in the ground from which long underground bamboo vents dissipated the smoke.^[3][4]

The inventor of the stove was reportedly born 1916 and died 1996. He was no known relation to either Hoàng Cầm, the general (born 1920) or Hoàng Cầm (born 1922) the poet, both of which are chosen names.

See also

• lò trấu a traditional "rice husk stove" effective in rural energy saving
• List of stoves

References

1. David W. P. Elliott - The Vietnamese War: Revolution and Social Change in the Mekong Volume 1 - Page 249 2003 - "Some people said that the Viet Minh were "almost supernatural" people and could cross rivers without boats and cook without fire (this certainly refers to the famous Hoang Cam stove, named after its Viet Minh inventor, who discovered a way ..."
2. Paul Lucus - Ho Chi Minh Noodles and the Trail Through Vietnam - Page 202 2011 "... so it was important that the extensive network of tunnels could cater for everyone, and people were able to use water from the three water wells and could cook with Hoang Cam stoves. These are a remarkable invention which allows people ..."
3. Michael Lee Lanning, Dan Cragg Inside the VC and the NVA: The Real Story of North Vietnam's Armed Forces. Military History - Vietnam War. 5.5 x 8.5, 354 pp. Pub Date: 07/23/2008 - Page 113 2008 "Food was prepared in the early morning or late evening in an underground cooker called a "guitar" system or Hoang Cam-type stove that prevented aerial detection. The guitar system consisted of a deep, covered hole in the ground with long underground vents made of bamboo to dissipate the smoke. Food preparation was accomplished at the cell or squad level with members alternating as cooks."
4. Jon M. Van Dyke North Vietnam's strategy for survival 1972 "Stoves must be constructed to funnel the heat directly up to the food, and cooking must be timed so that the fire is always in use.82 Stoves must also be specially built so that their burning does not give away the unit's location; the "Hoang Cam" "