what do you mean by "cooking food on it?"

The idea behind such a stove is that the stove is used for the sole purpose of boiling water for rehydrating instant meals, and making hot drinks.

For such a use, the tea-light cup shines. It doesn't burn very fast, and my setup generally achieves 2-cup boils in around 8-9 minutes. It would not, however, be of much use for actually "cooking" in the traditional sense, as there is no control over heat output.

Check out my "2 ounce kitchen" thread below for more tealight stove insight.

http://www.backpacking.net/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=134176#Post134176