To prepare the Imu: Dig the hole and keep all the loose dirt 2 feet from the hole, completely surrounding the hole, to be used to cover the edges of the tarps. Cut banana stumps into 3 foot long sections and shred into large piles. You can never get enough because they end up on top of the red hot rocks and provide the steam to cook. Make a huge pile of banana leaves. Keep all of this by the hole with the tarps. Have a water hose ready to wet down the tarps after you load it.
Loading the Imu is as follows: In the bottom of the hole, place the coffee can and put the 6 foot long cardboard tube in the can vertically. Take a wheelbarrow full of rolled up newspapers and pile them around the can and tube. In a criss-cross pattern, put small branches or pallet wood around the cardboard tube and newspaper to support the tube. Next, take smaller Kiawe branches and stack them teepee style around the cardboard tube. It should now look like a teepee stuffed with newspaper. Follow this with larger Kiawe wood out to the edge of the hole.
Rocks are the next item to load. Carefully place the largest rocks in the middle as close to the tube as possible. It is fine to add some more Kiawe wood intermixed with progressively smaller rocks to fill in the gaps. When you are finished, you should have a pile at least 4 feet high and maybe a lot higher. It is now ready to light.
Lighting it is easy: Pour the alcohol down the cardboard tube in the can. Roll up a paper towel and pour a little alcohol on it; roll up a small rock in the towel, light it, and drop it down the tube. Do not under any circumstances use gasoline, paint thinner, or diesel. You will either blow yourself up or the Imu food will taste like a truck stop. (I learned the hard way.) Pretty soon the fire will light up and start getting hot fast. Ideally, you should have enough Kiawe wood to burn for about 5 hours, to get the rocks red hot. Now it is time to get to work on preparing the food to go inside the Imu.