If you're camping, some kind of camping stove is a necessity - unless of course you enjoy cold beans! For the caravanner equipped with a fully-featured cooker and grill, a camping stove is still a useful and fun way of staying out of doors to make the most of summer weather. Maybe it is a psychological thing, but there always seems to be a different taste to food cooked out of doors, and with it a real sense of "getting away from it all".
Of course if you spilled the methylated spirits into the sauce, then the taste difference is a little clearer - in which case it's perhaps best to abandon plans for the night's tea and perhaps find some pub grub where you can enjoy both food and alcohol, but served in different containers!
What kind of stove you choose depends on four main factors
- How many people you will be cooking for
- What kind of meals you will be cooking
- Where will the stove be used and under what conditions
- How you are travelling - what space you have and what weight you can carry
Family camping stoves:
The most commonly used types of stove for family camping are those that operate from gas - campingaz, butane or propane. These come in all sizes from small folding stoves that usually operate from a small gas cartridge, typically with one single ring, or alternatively a grill stove such as the FB GRILL - to double ring and grill units which operate from a larger refillable gas bottle and are more suited to cooking for a family campsite meal. Gas barbecue/grills can be very versatile with different pans, plates and attachments to cook all kinds of hearty meals - not just the burger, sausage and token bit of veg on a cocktail stick kind of barbecue.
Most "family campsite" camping does not necessitate a great degree of portability with the cooking equipment, so unless the stove were to be carried on walks, picnics etc, the cartridge stove is not usually suitable. The largest item when using refillable gas bottles is usually the gas bottle itself - although it is not necessary to carry a huge"torpedo" gas bottle, even the small ones are too bulky to carry around. Most stoves of this kind will operate on either butane, propane or campingaz, although the correct regulator for the type of gas bottle must be fitted.
Either propane or butane are cheaper than campingaz - the 2.75kg butane is a good choice for the camper, not too heavy and bulky to store, whilst the caravanner will probably already carry a 7 or 13kg bottle, thus will simply choose a regulator to suit the gas bottle already carried. In the UK, propane/butane refills are easy to source and reasonably priced. For camping outside the UK however, it is not possible to source UK-style propane/butane bottles - so the trip abroad will necessitate a regulator for campingaz.
In the UK, unless you are camping in conditions below 5 degrees celsius, butane is a good choice. Butane will start to lose it's volatility (often referred to as "freezing" though this is technically incorrect) up at 5 degrees - but for summer camping butane burns slightly hotter than propane and is a little quicker for tasks like boiling the kettle for that urgent morning cup of tea than with the cooler burning propane. However amongst seasoned campers there will be many that agree and just as many that disagree with my choice of gas - it really comes down to a matter of personal preference. Most caravanners or boaters will carry propane simply because there tends to be more caravanners about than tenters when the cold weather draws in, and propane will continue to produce flammable vapours at lower temperatures.
Dual Coleman Fuel/Petroleum burners are available in "family" sizes. Though this fuel is more suited to extreme conditions it is useful to have an easy supply of fuel worldwide. Though Coleman Fuel is safer and cleaner, if planning trips to more remote locations or less developed countries, the availability of fuel makes this a good choice. Use of Coleman Fuel or petrol is recommended for adults only and is not a good choice for children to use even if supervised.
Lightweight camping stoves:
For lighter weight camping or mild expeditioning, summer walking, cycling or camping from a small hatchback, weight and space is at a premium. Certainly the walker or cyclist will not be carrying a refillable gas bottle, and the small car or small tent may not afford sufficient storage space.
For the campers staying at one site where equipment portability after arrival is not an issue, a large gas ring stove operating from self-sealing cartridges is a good choice. Easy to use with a large stable ring top capable of supporting either lightweight camping pans or small household pans, attachments are available to convert the cooking surface to a grill top or a heater for useful versatility. These stoves are economical to buy and small/light enough not to be a burden on car space - buying two stoves is an affordable way of having two gas rings or for variety, the FB grill also uses the same cartridges, as does the Portable Gas Heater
TIP: If buying gas cartridge stoves, it makes sense to buy stoves which share the same kind of cartridge to save buying and carrying different types of cartridge.
For lighter weight and more space-saving, the traditional cartridge stoves consisting of a burner which sits atop the cartridge, either screw-on or piercing, is compact and takes up less space. Though the smaller footprint means that a stable flat surface must be used and extra care taken in use, these kinds of camping stoves have been popular for generations. Easy to use they require minimal maintenance and can give many years of trouble free service. Best used with specific camping pans, this is usually preferred anyway as the user of a compact stove will also require nesting sets of lightweight pans which are - like the stove itself - easy to carry in a backpack or in cycle panniers.
Methylated spirit stoves are a good weight and space-saving option. Almost like not carrying a stove at all, as the burner is a simple meths pot which is carried within the nested pan set. Simplicity itself to use, meths is poured into the burner and the fluid lit. Less explosive than gas or petroleum and burning at a lower temperature, they are a good choice if introducing children (with adult supervision) to outdoor cooking. However the lower burning temperature does mean that food takes much longer to cook which can be a disadvantage - especially when ravenous after a long day's trekking.
Petroleum stoves have one distinct advantage - fuel is available worldwide. Use of Coleman fuel is recommended as it provides cleaner burning, evaporates quickly if spilt and is easily available in the UK and North America. Unleaded petrol is also suitable though it is recommended only where Coleman fuel is unavailable or has run out as it does not burn as cleanly and should be kept WELL away from the tent when using as spills ignite easily. Nevertheless when used with care it is extremely useful when fuel has run out or if travelling in countries where luxuries such as campingaz or Coleman Fuel are simply unavailable.
Liquid fuel such as Coleman fuel provides a strong heat and performs well in most weather conditions including windy weather or at high altitudes. It can also be cheaper due to the rapid heating and cost to heat efficiency in the long term if you plan on using it regularly. The stove and fuel lines must be cleaned regularly - especially if using petrol as unused petrol can gum up the fuel lines in the stove.
Stoves for Backpacking or Trekking:
Portable stoves are part of the Vango range sold at Towsure
Whilst a gas stove weighs less than a liquid stove, when taking into account the weight of the gas cartridges that must be carried, a liquid-burning stove is a lighter-weight option. If wind is expected, a gas burner may be difficult to use and require carrying an extra windshield, blow out easily and be inefficient. Meths stoves with a burner nested inside a pan set are light and only as big as the largest pan. Of course, you may not want to take all the pans. Meths is the coldest-burning choice so whilst the stoves can be light, heating a meal in very cold conditions may take a long time, so make a good choice for light trekking. For more serious use, the rapid heating of a Coleman Fuel/petroleum stove performs best of all three, especially if at high altitudes or in poor weather conditions. In a case where a hot meal can be a survival issue, the last thing needed is a stove which blows out or will not heat up. A small burner ring will be a feature of the backpacker's stove as a basic hot meal is the priority. Gourmet cooking can wait until the end of the expedition
Electric Grills and Teppanyaki
The availability of both small and large teppanyaki grill plates with low-wattage options has made this style of cooking very popular recently among caravanners and campers with electric hook up at their pitch.
These electric flat-surface grills use no liquid or gas fuel but of course are no use if you don't have a power supply. For those who do, this style of grill is really convenient. They cook food quickly and are easy to clean - both of which are really important on the campsite.
The larger units can cook plenty for the whole family
Of course, all the stoves have their uses and the choice of stove should reflect it's intended use to get the best out of it, although each will perform for average campsite use.
Summary:
LARGE GAS STOVE/GRILL ON REFILLABLE BOTTLE:
- Best option for family cooking - possible to cook exciting meals and a variety of meals.
- Needs bulky gas bottle, but no need to carry lots of cartridges or other fuel.
- Other gas appliances can run from the one gas bottle
- Not designed for portability
SMALL GAS BURNER:
- Quite lightweight and portable.
- Cheap and quite economical for occasional camping use.
- Lanterns and heaters often available to take matching cartidges.
- Needs gas cylinders carrying along with the stove.
- Efficiency drops as the pressure in the gas cylinder lowers as the gas is used up.
- Easy to use with minimal maintenance.
- Affected by windy conditions - a wind shield is recommended.
METHS STOVE:
- Lightweight and portable.
- Very safe fuel to use and handle.
- Burns at a low temperature so cooking time is increased
COLEMAN FUEL/PETROL STOVE:
- Performs well in cold, windy or high-altitude conditions.
- Efficient, hot-burning fuel means less volume of fuel to be carried than for gas or meths.
- Coleman Fuel burns cleaner than petrol where it is available.
- Large or small varsions available for backpacking/survival or for family use.
- Fuel easily obtained worldwide.
- Needs regular cleaning especially when used with petrol.
ELECTRIC GRILL / TEPPANYAKI:
- Clean with no liquid or gas fuel
- Cooks quickly
- Easy to clean
- Requires pitch with electricity supply
You can buy camping stoves in our online store
