If there's already a fire, why cook on a stove?

[ChasingOurTrunks]

Before you pull the trigger on any stoves you should consider your fuel types.

Depending on where you go, propane can be hard to come by. In some places it's just not available, and even in USA / Canada on a busy weekend it can sell out in some places.

It costs a bit more but I really like my Whisperlite Universal. It can run on butane jetboil canisters or with the changing of a jet it'll run on gas or diesel or kerosene.

Managing one kind of fuel is always easier and you save the space and weight of propane. A single 1 liter MSR gas can can burn for quite a while, and if you are already carrying Spare fuel for the rig it's easy to top up.

We've hacked and slashed our kitchen kit this year to maximize the room and got rid of our two burner stove entirely. Managed to free up about 5 cubic feet of storage by changing to the Whisperlite.



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[Arizona Overland]

I've also heard concerns about what people may have burnt in established fire pits at camps sites possibly contaminating food cooked over it.


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Thats a good point.

 

[Arizona Overland]

Rain.

Waking up to a downpour makes cooking breakfast a little tough to do on an open fire... then that can also make lunch and supper difficult if not impossible if your firepit is covered in 3 inches of water... makes it tough to light ;)

Been there done that.

 

[Tim]

Thats a good point.

Wouldn't have thought about it myself but heard mention of it in Ronny Dahl's review of the Snow Peak Firepit

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[caleath]

I also have a whisperlite international...if its flammable it will burn it...I havent used it since my hunting trip to Alaska...I should dig it out and put it in my kit...takes up no real space.

 

[SupermanSkye]

you should check out the solo stove Campfire
https://www.solostove.com/solo-stove-campfire/

 

[ChefboyRD]

I'm a professional chef and all mentioned are great points. If given the choice of fire I will use it, food taste better and less to CLEAN!!!!!! I have a Coleman two burner that uses the one pound bottles. These also run the lantern and heater. I bought a cheap adapter to fill them from a run of the mill propane tank and shy of hiking somewhere it is a good set up for me. Wind can also be a factor with the heat actually not hitting your food or pan and the lid of the Coleman is a wind break. The coffee thing is the biggest plus for a stove IMO.

 

[Jeepney]

I got this off REI's 20% sale, I'm glad i brought it since the fire grill was a mess.




And the cool part is I can set my fire pit wherever

 

[HAAANK]

With summer coming to a close, I thought I'd return and report.
Never did buy a stove, found an old MSR pocket rocket but never bought gas.

Cooking on the fire was okay though I think for next summer I'll have a stove of some sort similar to this:
Link: http://a.co/heG0VlM

cooking over the fire was good for some things not others. the actual meals were kind of a pain for me unless it was a foil dinner. Running away from and huffing smoke, also waiting for a good bed of coals to heat up are my main complaints.

 

[grantwilson]

Better temp control
Burn Bans
Gear whore

 

[Rexplorer]

for a while my camping cookware doubled as my hiking pot. light and efficient, but also non-stick. to save it's life a bit longer, it would be water boiler on the stove. fire and non-stick don;t really mix that well. also cleaner water and faster times. now i have stainless steel i bring overlanding that can go on anything. it's way bigger and heavier.

 

[Tucker Findley]

For me i benefit in having a stove for a few reasons: ive been to parks or places where no open fire is allowed or there's a burn ban, easy to use i dont have to have charcoal or fire wood, I an use a stove anywhere on the side of the road or even at my house in case of emergency. A few other reasons would include that they're fairly low priced so why not get one? They are also easy to light, easy to cook on, easier to control heat, fuel is fairly easy to come by, and also it leaves the fire to be enjoyed more without being covered with food. Now in no way am i saying do away with fire, cause we all love it, but a stove just makes somethings easier and also leaves the fire to be enjoyed. just my 2 cents....

 

[Roxxie]

We have brats for dinner and i was gonna grill it on the firepit. Well i barely got the fire going and it started raining on me. We ate a little bit past dinner time. Do i use it, yeah, but i won't totally rely on it.

I don't stay away from them, always have foil and i make sure the grill is hot/seasoned/clean before i eat the rust off it. My wife wants some cast iron for cooking on the firepit but them are so heavy and i'm trying to get my rolling weight down.

I do have a butane-powered grill (iwatani) which can do most of my grilling needs.

Hey Jeepney--- if your wife gets going on the cast iron, Id love to hear how and what she is doing! Im going to start a thread just on cast iron! I want to see if anyone really uses it (weight)

 

[Roxxie]

Now that I'm convinced I should get a stove I think I'm going to pass on the traditional Coleman dual burner sheet metal set up and do something closer to a turkey fryer base but able to break down like the skottle. I typically bring a cast iron combo cooker, sometimes a dutch oven, sometimes a cast iron comal. the modular fryer approach gives me decent flexibility and truthfully I may even do two...we'll see.

Would love to find out more about your cast iron usage and how it works for you.

 

[Egan]

You can't cook a tri-tip on a stove.

 

[Northernlady]

My personal reason to have a stove is that a fire can take a while to get going in the morning and I need my tea!! Heating the water on the stove is much quicker and easier...once I have my tea I am in a better frame of mind to get a good fire going. A secondary reason is fire bans. This summer much of my province (BC) was under a fire ban as we had extremely dry conditions and the worst fires in history. I was still able to get out and enjoy Beautiful British Columbia!

 

[nomad666]

I will have to take a look at this Whisperlite Universal I like the idea of versatile fuels for a stove right now I have a small single burner that runs on coleman fuel/naptha
I tried propan years ago but it is lacking once the cold weather hits here in BC..
and no I am not following you NL you just beat me to these posts LOL....

 

[Louie559]

either or, usualy when its night time and your just sitting around the fire and get hungry but the stoves put away, usually take a couple hotdogs or whatever i have and wrap them up in tin foil, then ill put them on the side of the fire on coles, and that is perfect for me lol

 

[adventure_is_necessary]

Fires also gunk up cookware from the sap and such.

 

[HAAANK]

Would love to find out more about your cast iron usage and how it works for you.

I use cast iron almost 100% of the time at home and the trail4x4. When dirt biking I leverage the CC (credit card) or I don’t cook: meat stick, cheese, granola, etc.

I have copper cookware(inherited), some heavy bottom triple ply steel / copper / steel pots and pans and I’m always going back to cast iron for three reasons:

Durability
Low fuss
Heat tolerance


I don’t do anything crazy with it on the trail, just scrambles aka breakfast burrito filling warm I tortillas so they roll and baked beans Mac n cheese at dinner. I once did a jambalaya which turned out fantastic. I don’t have much luck with pancakes so I pass on those. Depending on what kind of hurry I’m in and how many people need food I. Their faces I’ll use multiple pieces of cookware.

I drive a kind of built 80 so weight isn’t an issue and they fit real well in my storage drawers.

Hope this helps.


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