gel fuel is designed to burn for up to 2 ½ to 3 hours long. If you wish to create a fire for a shorter period, simply extinguish the flame and re-cap the can. Re-use any remaining gel fuel for your next fire. For each fire, you may use one to three cans of gel fuel at a time, depending on the size of fire you wish to create. When compared to cartridge style cans, one can of Real Flame gel fuel costs a fraction of the more expensive cartridge style can.