Hopefully this lovely sunshine we’ve been enjoying will continue through the summer, ready for our annual camping trip to Dorset.
Normally, we’d be cooking over an open fire, though a few times last year this was a little impractical and we’re starting to think about a double burner type system - ideally, something quite powerful (rather than those where even in a light breeze, the heat blows sideways rather than up)!
Is there such a thing like a MSR Pocket Rocket, built into a two-‘ring’ cooking platform or would this sort of thing be a custom build?
I have two pocket rockets, an ultralight stove. It depends if you are car camping or will carry everything? For family camping we use a two ring burner and propane which works well in cold temperatures, but comes in a heavy steel cylinder. Butane or butane/propane mix comes in a blue cylinder, but isn’t so hot, nor will it work so well in the cold. But if your camping is in the summer, then butane is fine. The big stores like GO Outdoors have a wide range of double burners. Calor and Camping Gaz are the main suppliers. Coleman make our butane stove. The more substantial double burners are ideal for family camping with a car. Also if you want to camp in Europe check which kinds of gas are sold there, the systems aren’t interchangeable as there are different regulators and connections.
Thanks @Stokie - this is purely car camping over the summer months - I already have Jetboils and the like for when I go off on my own, this is more for when we go as a family.
I’ve seen those two-ring burners though never been sure of their effectiveness - was wondering if there’s anything that has ‘jetboil’ power, but in a two-ring set-up - I’ve looked so I’m guessing not
There’s more power in propane or propane/butane mix. A windshield is important, either built into the double burner or constructed around it by yourself. Camp Chef Explorer 2x Cooking System - £200 from Cotswold. Propane with windshield and cooking stand. Cheaper elsewhere probably. You need to buy a full cylinder as well, then exchange it when empty.
Coleman Fold N Go 2 Burner Propane Stove - folds up would need a windshield? The disposable cylinders would last 1-2 days, so I would go with a rechargeable cylinder personally. Said to boil in 6 mins or so.
But, yes, jetboil or pocket rockets are fast. Beaten only by Primus if your camping can accommodate that. They need care, especially the petrol ones! Consider running jetboil for tea, and two pocket rockets to cook on?
This type of lightweight stove is great for basic stuff like boiling water fast but they do not spread the heat evenly over the base of a pan so it can be almost impossible to cook food evenly when you need to. It can end up burnt in the middle and uncooked around the edges. It’s worse still with a lightweight pan with a thin base that doesn’t spread the heat. Best to keep this sort of stuff for lightweight camping and use burners with wider rings and heavier pans when you don’t have to carry them.
You can always turn the gas down to simmer, or even use a thicker steel pan or cast iron. But for family camping I’d go with the double burner and windshield.
You certainly need a thicker base to your pans, but some of those lightweight stoves have such a narrow jet, like a bunsen burner, that they still make cooking tricky.
Cadac 2-cook could be an option, but requires gas bottle of some variant. Comes with BBQ cooking plates, but can be used with just the burners. Packs up small. I use the safari chef 2 and it a brilliant bit of kit, good quality with spares availability if ever need (I’ve not needed any)
I’m quite liking Camp Chef mentioned above and it fits the bill quite well - though several reviews say that the wind protection isn’t great. I guess I could either cook inside (it’s quite a large tent) or surround with windbreakers.
I think you would need a supplementary wind break - there are some hinged metal ones to arrange round the stove. Health & safety quite apart from cooking smells suggest cooking inside the tent with a family isn’t a good idea.
I have done it in an awning with the door open for the combusted gases in rain, but prefer a separate cooking area with a canvas windbreak if liked.
Yes that’s right. I have the pocket rocket and dragonfly. The dragonfly is my preference out of the 2 and it boils water so fast. However, for other things, my Coleman is superb and always reliable. I don’t use unleaded in it though, I use Coleman fuel to keep it in tip top condition.
I have always felt that gas cookers of the type sold for camping lack power, and cost a lot to run, compared to the old Primus type paraffin (kerosene) cookers… The Coleman thing above I guess is similar to Primus.
When I did some near-car camping I was so disenchanted with the feeble cookers that were available, that I made my own 2-burner gas cooker with a pair of gas rings fixed through a sheet of aluminium to a plywood board. One long and two shorter pieces of aluminium hinged with ‘gaffer tape’ made a windshield. Taps attached to each burner then rubber gas-approved hose to a regulator to fit a medium size gas bottle (via a y-piece). Not the most elegant, but relatively inexpensive and very effective. You can readily buy gas rings of all sorts of power rating.
Yes, Coleman fuel is the way to go if you have one of these. They make a double burner too, but though you can put unleaded in, always use Coleman fuel to keep it clean.
Coleman Fuel burns as hot as petrol, but does not contain the additives required for a car. It will burn cleaner in Coleman stoves. Primus make a similar Primus liquid fuel for their petrol stoves.
I’m impressed by your construction skills, but I’d be more likely to make an aluminium windshield than follow your DIY gas fitting. There was I cautioning the OP to watch cooking in the tent!
Coleman stove burning special LPG is similar to petrol Primus stove rather than the paraffin (kerosene) one.
That Coleman looks like it uses the same burner as my single one. In that case, it looks very good. I like the variable and gentle, but intense flame, as it’s reliable and doesn’t blow out easy.
I’ve had one of these Campingaz for years and it’s very controllable and reliable, but can be blown out. Plus, it uses gas which can be a pain.
They cook pretty much as well as a home gas hob, pack down nicely and use isobutane from A4 cylinders which are pretty easy to source in the UK or abroad.
They might not be great if you’re trying to cook in a Force 8 halway up a Monroe in January, but in fairly pleasant camping conditions we’ve had no problems.
