People camp for all sorts of reasons. Some people camp to relax, others just enjoy the outdoors. Many camp because it’s part of a great hunting trip. No matter what your reasoning for camping. You need to eat when camping. Having a camp stove makes cooking easier than using a campfire.
Cooking over a campfire
There is nothing better than S’mores over a campfire. Unfortunately, you can’t live off of S’mores. Getting your coals just right for cooking takes time and work. Carrying a grill top for a campfire gets heavy, and bulky. Plus many campsites don’t allow open fires. The best alternative to wood campfires is a camp stove. They are easily portable, simple to use, not to mention quick to be ready to cook.
Gas Stoves vs Electric Stoves
A good camp stove acts just like a gas stove. Although most people own electric stoves nowadays. Fundamentally there is no difference in cooking on a gas stove compared to an electric stove. Set your heat the way you want it to start cooking. Gas heats up a lot faster and usually gets hotter than electric. Other than that a gas camp is no different than using your electric stove at home.
Camp Stoves are far better than trying to start a campfire waiting for just the right coals and then starting to cook, hoping you don’t burn your food because the coals were too hot. Worse yet burnt on the outside raw on the inside. Camp with a camp stove and cook just like you would on your stove at home.
Types of Camp Stove Fuels
Liquid Fuel
Liquid fuel stoves, use either white gas or unleaded gasoline. With a very few using Alcohol, but those are few and far between, usually specifically for backpacking.
These liquid-fueled stoves must be pumped up to get pressure before you light them. The nice thing about liquid gas is that they are efficient. One gallon of fuel will usually last a full year of camping or better. If you buy a dual fuel camp stove you can burn white gas or straight unleaded gas. While white gas burns cleaner, unleaded gas is cheaper. The only downside to liquid-fueled camp stoves is the potential mess when you spill trying to refill them. One of the most well-known liquid-fueled Camp Stoves is a Coleman Camp Stove.
Gas
Most gas camp stoves use propane. This is because it’s just like cooking on a propane grill, or with natural gas. Most of these use small 1 Lbs propane bottle that is easy transport. While you can buy an adapter and refillable bottles, to refill these small bottles from your 20 LBS or bigger propane bottles. Most people just buy new ones when they run out. The only downfall to these types of stoves is having to carry enough bottles last you for your entire camp out. Most of the time that means just keeping a few extra 1 LBS bottles around. However, you can buy adapters to run these little stoves directly off the bigger 20 LBS propane bottles.
Tips for Using a Camp Stove
Propane Stoves
- Keep your propane bottle above freezing. If the bottle gets too cold the stove won’t work.
- Run stove on high for a few minutes then turn heat down to cook on it
- point the back of the stove towards the wind to protect the flame
- Turn off stove completely before unscrewing the propane bottle
Liquid Fuel Stoves
- Fill your stove’s tank away from where you plan on cooking in case you spill fuel
- Run the stove on high until the flame is good and uniform before turning down to cook
- Use a long grill lighter to light the stove, which you should store in the stove when not in use. So you always have a lighter with the stove.
- Always pump the stove a few more times than you think you need to.
- Light one burner at time and keep the first burner running on high when you light the second burner.
Conclusion
No matter what fuel type or camp stove type you go with, having a camp stove is important. The time saved compared to building a campfire is worth the money.
The time saved to get that first cup of coffee in the morning is worth having one. With a camp stove, you can be making coffee in a matter of seconds. Best yet is you don’t have to worry about wet firewood or a wet bag of charcoal. As long as you have fuel, a camp stove will light and get you cooking in no time. No matter how big or small, what fuel it uses, you will always be glad you have a camp stove.