Gear Review New stove for the back of the truck ..

Sick of the cheap butane stove being such a pain in the rear in cold weather. Looked for a single burner model that would hook to a normal bottle but in looking found this...



$34 delivered. Runs off a $9 disposable propane bottle of 469gms capacity. Factory spec says it burns 104gms per hour. 5000BTU (so not the scorcher some are).

Unpacked it today, comes with a serviceable soft case...



Hooked it up and boiled 1 litre of cold water in a billy with a lid, took 11mins to a rolling boil (so not brilliant) and burned 13gms of gas.

It is just large enough that my usual cast iron pan sits centred and is NOT touching the bottle......



Did myself small vegan lunch to see. ...



....two things from that, needed to give it a little more time to heat the steel and it needs wind protection (no surprise for anyone in that I am sure). Down the side of the house there acts as a natural wind tunnel and today was more windy than usual. I will pack a shield for it. Start to finish that meal used 20gms of gas.

All in all I am happy enough. The test will be cooking early morning in the cold at the times the butane stove is most annoying. I ONLY want this to reside in the back of the TLC for my overnighters. I have smaller stoves for the pack and a larger dual burner jobby that is fine (but larger and heavier) that is great if setting up somewhere for beyond a weekend trip or with a few people. More often than not I am alone. One of those bottles will last a good few trips if the burn rate stays about the same. We shall see.

 

For a guy who now just packs quality peanut butter and honey in his bug-out bag, I have a ton of not quite perfect cooking equipment.

 

I bought the camp chef everest 2x with adapter hose and a 5 gal propane tank. Figure my tailgate, or wherever, will be a good place to put it. Beats choppin wood and don't need to worry about the weather either. I like your setup too.

 

Andy, that looks like a nice slab of vegan there!
Be careful though, I hear the herds are raised on soy.

 

We got the gas one brand that will run on butane cans or the lp cylinders. Works great.
They sell collapsible wind screens on Amazon.

 

I have the Gas One stove too. Works fine.

 

Where did we get the big ass pan at?

 

…..pics make it look larger than it is. But it is from a chain store here (Aldi) and has seasoned up well. Gets lots of use !

 

Have any of you looked at the liquid withdrawal MPG cylinders and the actually safe to refill cylinders. The refillables are the same form factor as the disposable ones but you don't take your life in your hands when you refill them.

 

Thanks for the review, Andy. I keep telling myself I don't need another stove, but they keep showing up.

Looks like we share the same taste in "vegan" cuisine. 1948 Preway Wedge lights off a single match or spark every time.

On the gas stove, and especially in the truck, you might like to try a stamped steel "Cowboy skillet." They season, cook and clean the same as cast iron or heavier carbon steel pans, with a fraction of the weight. They're the only pans I take out of the house. They heat up and cool down much faster than cast iron, but I'm usually done eating before the stove has cooled.

 

…….. I will look at the skillet as weight is always an issue !!!!

…… I probably have five of them (and a box of 20 or 30 bottles). They area great around the house or in warmer months but once it’s cold they are a pain in the arse (as I am sure you are aware). I tend to give them (and a four pack of bottles) to friends here who are “less prepared” and in fully electric homes for when the power goes out at home.

 

I don't have my digital scale here, but it feels like a 50% weight saving when I compare a Wagner cast iron pan to a stamped cowboy Cold Handle skillet that's the same size, and the longer handle makes it more pleasant to cook with. They nest nicely and breed like rabbits. I've cleaned up painted ones and really crusty ones. Nothing survives being shoved down into hot coals. I leave the aluminum handles exposed, but don't imagine they'd be harmed unless you were feeding air to the coals. No worries about carbon steel cracking from heat/cool cycles and if they don't sit flat they can be squared up with a mallet. I think you'll like a cowboy skillet. My fantastic cast iron pans and heavier de Buyer carbon steel pans have resided in my oven since I discover Cold Handle skillets.

 

If you need a stove for cold weather you can't beat a white gas pressure stove. Any of the old military squad stoves or suitcase stoves run just fine in the cold when butane and propane pressures dro to useless levels.

 

Propane stoves work much better than the butane ones…by far. When I just took the butane ones bush I would cycle two bottles when cooking. As the flame shrank and bottle became colder to the rough I would put in one I had in my jacket pocket and start again. Once it was loosing heat in the burn I change again. The one I started this thread with has easily operated at 0degs C. Fine for the truck.