How to Make Steam With an Outside Boiler

Spray paint an area of your yard where you will put this boiler. Choose a spot where it will be safe to have fire in this way, certainly away from your house, trees or other fire hazards.

Mix cement in a bucket with the trowel by adding water in the proportion listed on the packaging. Lay down two parallel lines of cinder blocks, three feet apart. Add a layer of cement on the first cinder blocks and add another layer of blocks, pressing the new blocks into the cement. Stagger the new layer so the middle of the new cinder block lies over the seam between the lower two blocks.

Build up these walls on either side of the spray painted area. After the wall gets to about three feet in height, leave out one cinder block from the center. Leave out an additional cinder block each level you rise, creating a U-shaped gap where the tank will rest.

Set the tank on the cinder block wall, one end resting in either U-shaped gap. Fill the tank with water by putting a garden hose into the 2-inch opening. Remove the hose and stoke a fire underneath the tank. Steam will begin to come out of the opening. This steam can be routed with pipes to a generator or be used for cooking.