Best The ideal camping stove
Best Camping Stove
camping stove It's not necessary for a camp stove to be complex to be excellent. It should be quick to cook food and boil water, durable enough to travel in the back of a car, and not use a lot of gasoline. After studying 26 camp stoves, putting 13 through their paces, and dissecting three of them, right down to the soldered burner plates and welded copper tubing, we found that the Coleman Classic Propane Camping Stove is a simple yet excellent camping stove.
Coleman Classic Propane Camping Stove
The top camp stove for a picnic table
This simple, durable two-burner stove cooks meals swiftly and uniformly. And it costs less than half as much as the other stoves we examined.
$50 from Walmart
$50 from Target
The Coleman Classic Propane Camping Stove's dependability is its most significant quality; even after being repeatedly thrown into and out of our cars, it continued to function flawlessly. Additionally, we valued its adaptability because this Coleman model boiled water more quickly than any other stove we tested that cost less than $150 while when turned down low, being soft enough to griddle golden-brown pancakes.
This stove has the bare minimum of parts, making it simple to maintain, and it can cook with both burners on high for about an hour on a single 16-ounce tank of propane. You will need to carry a lighter because this Coleman model lacks a piezo igniter, which is a small red button seen on many stoves, including the Camp Chef Mountaineer, and which ignites the gas. To us, that simply means there will be one less thing to break (and if you're buying a stove for less than $150, the piezo igniters will almost certainly fail).
Coleman Cascade 222 2-Burner Camping Stove
more accuracy
The Cascade stove is comparable to the Classic stove, except it has a handle for carrying convenience and more precise temperature control. But it also costs more.
$170 from REI
$170 from Coleman
The Coleman Cascade 222 2-Burner Camping Stove is the next step up from the Coleman Classic if our top option is out of stock or you'd want a bit more cooking control (and perhaps a little more durability for more regular usage). More control over the entire spectrum of cooking temperatures sets it apart from the Classic (and raises the price).
It provides a moderate flame that allows you to cook meals more delicately than on the Classic while boiling water a little bit more quickly than the Classic (for instance, if you prefer your eggs softly scrambled). Additionally, a piezo ignition is included, which is acceptable as long as you don't expect it to stay indefinitely (none of them do). The Cascade case's built-in handle makes carrying it simpler.
Camp Chef Mountaineer
The ideal camp stove for fine cooking
This two-burner stove is heavier to carry than the Coleman models because of its sturdy build. However, the Mountaineer also has a more potent output, so you can use it to cook just like you would on your own stove.
the thick-gauge, aluminum-only The Camp Chef Mountaineer is constructed to last like the hardy, traditional camping gear that salty old timers or antique gear aficionados rave about. The Mountaineer is more expensive than either of our Coleman recommendations, but if the price difference doesn't bother you, it's a wise investment. It is 4 pounds heavier than the Coleman Classic at just over 16 pounds. However, the Mountaineer allows you to conduct more high-heat cooking than our other selections thanks to its huge, three-way windshield, a connector for a large (5 to 20 pounds) propane bottle, and a 40,000 Btu output (twice that of the Coleman Classic).
For example, you may cook more food in the same amount of time by searing a steak or blistering peppers at a greater heat than on our other recommendations for a darker char. Additionally, the controls provide some impressive nuance. However, controlling them does need some skill—with a stove this potent, it's simpler to burn food than to keep the heat down. The most dedicated auto campers and outdoor gourmets will love this stove, but for most campers, its price and durability are overkill.
Original FireDisc Portable Propane Cooker
An alternative using one pan for large groups
If you frequently prepare large meals for a gathering, the FireDisc's paella-pan design is perfect. For people who don't want to carry extra cookware, this stove is fantastic.
The Original FireDisc Portable Propane Cooker disassembles into three pretty simple-to-carry parts: two supporting trusses and one huge pan. Despite its total weight of 55 pounds, which is the heaviest of any stove we tested, you probably won't be transporting it very far from your car. It has the power and simplicity of something you would anticipate lasting a lifetime (with the proper care).
To put it another way, the FireDisc should outlast its five-year limited guarantee. You may eliminate the typical pots, pans, and sear plates thanks to its single-pan design (similar to a wok or paella pan, however, the FireDisc is most similar to a Mexican discada), which will simplify your cooking station considerably. Using a large griddle plate to cook on the FireDisc is comparable: You can prepare a single large-pot meal, such as a stew or fry-up, or you can create zones for various items, like when making fajitas. In either case, cooking everything at once is inevitable, and there are few options for adjusting the heat.
How we chose and examined
There are a few trustworthy (and less-than-reliable) websites that provide reviews of camp stoves. GearLab, Camping Stove Cookout, HiConsumption, and BestProducts.com were our first stops. These reviews plus our study into Amazon's best sellers helped us identify the top 16 candidates, from which we then selected the eight models for testing. We expanded our selection of cooking tests in 2021 by including two more of the most promising models. We put the Coleman Cascade line of stoves to the test in 2022.
The TOP 9 PORTABLE Camp Stoves for Cooking an Outdoor Meal
The days of carefully balancing an ancient frying pan over a hot fire are long gone. Sure, cooking chili over an open flame produces a smoky flavor that is to die for, but occasionally the ease of a camp stove wins out. A portable stove makes it possible to bring home-style cooking with you wherever you go, makes it easier to prepare meals whether you're gone for several nights or for a big group, can be conveniently stored in your trunk, and can be quickly set up on a picnic table (or rock).
