Single ring flat camping stoves

I’m looking for a cheap, safe, easy way to fry a couple of burgers whilst away in our campervan.  I’ve looked at loads of different types of cooker as I don’t like the wastage of using those A4 gas cartridges, but I can’t find anything easier, cheaper and more reliable for the occasional fry up.

Space is really limited so carrying a large gas bottle isn’t an option.

So this type of thing.

https://www.halfords.com/camping/cooking-equipment/halfords-portable-gas-stove-532534.html?istCompanyId=b8708c57-7a02-4cf6-b2c0-dc36b54a327e&istFeedId=367c5610-f937-4c81-8609-f84582324cd6&istItemId=pmtptlpal&istBid=t&_$ja=tsid:|cid:17253532456|agid:|tid:|crid:|nw:x|rnd:13736531362824297292|dvc:m|adp:|mt:|loc:1006490&gclid=CjwKCAjwhJukBhBPEiwAniIcNQd0U0pIoVRe119O4qTPnPMxY5RZTjm8wCmMWt3dJO4Dn19Foe59rxoCRpUQAvD_BwE

Are they all the same or are there differences to look out for?

They’re all the same, just with different paint and logos, compare with the Camping Gaz one at £6 more further down the page. Mine works pretty well though it’s not great at low temperatures – the cartridges only come as butane afaik. But at least they’re inexpensive.

If you’re really worried about waste they can be refilled from a bigger bottle but aren’t designed for it so the usual cautions about blowing yourself up or setting yourself on fire apply.

They’re bloody awful stoves.

Have tried, quickly got rid.

No power, especially when cold, also actually pretty big to pack

After trying out multiple different approaches, for convenience we’ve now settled on running everything off screw on gas canisters (c500, 300 and 100) butane/propane mix which is a lot better when cold.

Have various stoves to use the gas on but for car camping we’ve been mainly been using a pair of tripod stoves off Amazon. Pack small, convenient and have lots of power and controllability for cooking different stuff.

Cheers both.

Ideally I’d rather not die or spend the evening on fire, so might not bother with the refill thing.

We have a couple of screw on stoves for wild camping ect, but they aren’t generally that nice to cook something half decent on.

I’m looking for something cheap and low faff for sitting outside the van on a balmy evening and knocking up a stir fry, burger, bit of pasta, when the only pub stops serving food at 2pm on a Sunday and doesn’t open the kitchen until Wednesday evening.

I wondered if the flame control/cleanability/ human candlemaking/carrycasing was all the same or if Jamie Oliver basically uses a £10 job.

Do you have a link for the tripod thingy?

They’re bloody awful stoves.

Nonsense. Me and the mates car camping stove. Good for all types of sausages, steaks and boiling water.Easy to use, controllable,stable, and wide enough for even the biggest pans. A failing many tripod type have- trying to balance large pots of water or frying pans on them.

A failing many tripod type have- trying to balance large pots of water or frying pans on them

Absolutely. Far and away better than any tripod type for stability. It’s really just horses for courses, I wouldn’t want to carry one far and they’re bulky but imo they’re ideal for occasional use car camping.

So this type of thing.

They’re shit. They look good, but they’re gutless and absolutely devour gas. Get a couple of regular camping stoves.

What about something like this?

https://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/16233483/campingaz-camping-cook-cv-double-burner-camping-stove-16233483

Still gives a flat cooking surface but has the benefit of double burners and also uses (I think) screw on canisters.

Eldest picked up a double burner and 3kg gas bottle off Gumtree for £20. And the bottle was half full… Much less waste and a proper decent (Coleman?) stove. Bigger, but better.

I’ve never had a problem with the cheap suitcase stoves, unless using in the wind without a shield.

They are awful. As in they are gutless and quite frustrating to use.

But that’s based on me doing alot of cooking regularly rocking a double burner petrol stove and a Weber go anywhere cooking up a feast.

From the perspective of of pulling a stove out occasionally plonking on a Normal sized pan and cooking like you are at home. I would go as far to say as there are no alternatives that come even close. A cheap cast iron frying or griddle pan really helps keep some of the feeble heat where you want it. And a windshield helps alot too.

But if you are cooking burger… Get a bucket barbeque and live a little. Fried burger have no place in a camping experience.

Will you have electric hook-up or is electric possible? Opens up many more options e.g.:

Electric hob

After numerous recommendations on here I got a trangia 25 stainless. It’s great! Cooks everything we want to cook, packs up small and very cheap to run. I’ve also got the gas burner for it and a trangia triangle which packs down even smaller

For all those saying that they’re awful, I have to disagree. We used two for all our cooking for about six months after the old gas stove in our old house got condemned, and they were perfectly fine.

Yes but cooking in a house is a far cry from cooking outside which has a habit of moving air about.

Yes but cooking in a house is a far cry from cooking outside which has a habit of moving air about.

Yep, you need a windshield, then they work just fine.

Space is really limited so carrying a large gas bottle isn’t an option.

How big is your camper van? I used to cart a double burner/grill thing and a big canister in my Fiesta on camping/climbing trips. Used to cook under the tailgate with the car pointing into the wind. Great windshield.

I’ve never had a problem with ours but I’d spend the extra few quid on a Campingaz one.

Little heatshield like this fits in the case and helps if there’s any wind: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Windshield-Windscreen-Aluminum-Lightweight-Drawstring/dp/B093PZ4RKQ/

Main danger is using too big a pan so the cannister overheats. No big frying pans.

As others said, they’re perfectly fine, just as powerful as the normal hob at home. Ok, so it’s not the special frying pan hob, or the special wok burner hob, but it’s as good as the other three. Yes like any outdoor cooking you’re probably going to need a windshield.

Yes it lacks the gazillion watts of a ceramic lined charcoal BBQ, but it takes seconds to set it up and be cooking, not half an hour waiting for the flames to die down.

Yes the bottles don’t last forever, you’re driving around the countryside in a 3.5t van propelled by 80kg of partially decomposed prehistoric previously sequestered carbon in the tank. The gas bottle is not the straw that broke the camels back here.

Eldest’s ran off these things – they really are not that big.

And the stove was basically one of these:

Other than that, if you want small and simple, just stick with this and a windshield and suck up the financial costs of the gas cannisters (buy the 500g ones) :

Ok, so basically get one with a windshield and have realistic expectations.  How big a pan is too big Simon?

Thank you to the rest of you but we already have a jet boil and a primus and they are great for what they are good at but need constant supervision and don’t provide an even heat.

We also have a bbq and a pizza oven. And they are also great in their own way but end up becoming the focus of the evening rather than a quick easy way to make dinner. And they take up loads of room.

I’m fed up with faff and just want something easy.

I used to have one of those stoves in my van (before it was converted). They’re passable in use but lose power very quickly once the gas cartridge is less than half full. You’ll either get fed up waiting for things to cook or you’ll end up with a stack of partly-full cartridges.

We have one of these that we take camping https://www.colemanuk.co.uk/stoves-fuel/camping-stoves/unleaded-2-burner-stove/SAP_3000000396.html

Falls down on the cheap requirement though, they are getting on for double what we paid about 8 years ago. You might be able to find one secondhand.

I’ve been using the flat bed type ones for years and they’re really very good and ridiculously cheap. As has been noted, they don’t work as well in the cold or wind, but rarely too much of a problem in this country. Yes, you have to swap canisters around when they get near empty, but it takes about 5 seconds to swap a canister and ignite again.

When we had the kitchen done, I got a proper double burner one with a 2.7kg bottle, which was much more user-friendly, but now the bottle is empty and the refill cost is insane: at least £30, whereas the 12 equivalent tall cans will cost you about half that if you buy them when you see them cheap.

We have one of these that we take camping https://www.colemanuk.co.uk/stoves-fuel/camping-stoves/unleaded-2-burner-stove/SAP_3000000396.html

Falls down on the cheap requirement though, they are getting on for double what we paid about 8 years ago. You might be able to find one secondhand.

Hadn’t considered petrol, thought that was obsolete technology except maybe for high altitude/wilderness stuff. How efficient is it with fuel? How do you store it? Would be a bit worried about leaving a bottle of petrol in the car when it’s hot (I realise there are risks with gas canisters too, but the safety margin is pretty high, and can attest to this having seen plenty on fires at Leeds Festival over the years!).

@matt_outandabout Yes that’s more or less the outfit I use when car camping (and used in my old Fiesta as above). Doesn’t take up much boot space in transit. I have multiple lightweight options but don’t see the point if weight isn’t an issue.

https://www.colemanuk.co.uk/stoves-fuel/camping-stoves/unleaded-2-burner-stove/SAP_3000000396.html

What I have to.

Thenorthewind that tank is a pressurised container let the pressure out after use. Shut it up and you are good to go. Then follow the same procedure as a gas canister. It runs on petrol just fine but I tend to use Coleman fuel when I can find it as it doesn’t stink so much. The tank stores away inside for transport which means alot less room than a big tank and you can take as much fuel as you need (from a litre of stove fuel to multiple jerry cans if you are feeling overlandy.

Some people don’t get on with the second burner feeding off the first (you have to adjust both burners every time you adjust one) but it’s grand other than that. I love it, I have strapped it to a frame pack and deluxe bothied with it a few times for a laugh.

I half considered attempting to fit the working in my barbecue for an all in one package…

So what’s the best way to heat up water for a post ride/walk brew for 2 in the back of van?

Thanks @joshvegas, useful to get some real world insight. Think I’ll put one of these on my list. Had been considering whether to get a different gas bottle for the double burner, but apparently the next size up (5kg?) are being discontinued by Calor, and they’re too big anyway. This sounds like it’d have other advantages too. Does it need to be pressurised or primed at all, or just open the valve and go? Lack of an ignitor seems a bit silly (my gas stove doesn’t have one either) but easily rectified.

@bikerevivesheffield kettle (e.g. Trangia – apparently not supposed to be used on gas, but I always have) and literally any gas stove. Jetboil or similar if you’re buying purely for that purpose.

Matt out and about nails it.

So what’s the best way to heat up water for a post ride/walk brew for 2 in the back of van?

Probably a kettle and whatever stove you’ve already got.

Or you could buy one of those handy flat burners from Halfords.

Coleman double petrol stove FTW

https://www.colemanuk.co.uk/stoves-fuel/camping-stoves/unleaded-2-burner-stove/SP_1814310.html

/thread

My flat burner from Halfords has been no bother and has boiled plenty of water post-ride / swim / surf over the past few years.  I have a two ring stove that runs off a gas bottle but for a quick cuppa the flat stove does the job fine and takes up less room.

I also have one of those Coleman stoves that Matt linked to that hasn’t seen the light of day in years.  I must dig it out and see if it still works.

So what’s the best way to heat up water for a post ride/walk brew for 2 in the back of van?

JetBoil or similar. Basically a quick, efficient way of heating water. But a waste to buy just for brews.

As for the OP, pretty much anything, or if you want posh, some form of remote canister, folding tripod stove will be more compact, reasonably stable and give you a choice of fuel mixes if you want to use it in cold weather – in short a butane/propane mix burns better than just butane at low temperatures.

We have a 2 ring camping gaz stove that uses an external bottle. It works fine but was little used for years as we had a van with fitted stove.

Due to the large amount of space that a calor gas bottle takes up we used a ‘picnic’ stove like the Halfords one and a meths trangia last year on our hols to save space.

The picnic stove works fine but needs a windshield (an cheap foil type one is fine) but then the 2 ring stove needed one too. The nominal power of the stoves is the same (about 2kW). The picnic stove does slow down for the last 1/3 of the gas bottle (less of an issue in summer) and it does feel wasteful binning all those cans. The cans are very (worryingly) cheap, making it significantly cheaper to run than a butane propane mix stove.

To save space with separate bottles the smaller (904 size?) camping gaz bottles are much smaller than Calor.

Calor do sell a single ring burner: https://appliances.calor.co.uk/outdoor-living/gas-boiling-rings/foker-cast-iron-single-burner-gas-boiling-ring-fk003010.html
Also other more powerful ones. Paella ring anyone: https://appliances.calor.co.uk/outdoor-living/gas-boiling-rings.html

TLDR – picnic stove is fine and cheap to run but cans are wasteful. If using a lot then definitely go for a refillable camping gaz or Calor bottle stove.

For quick cups of tea – jetboil or copy (planetx, Alpkit or ebay) is quick but is a one trick pony. It boils water but less good for cooking.

For slow but cheap to run meths trangia is great for relaxed camping.

We also have a bbq and a pizza oven

Well obviously we have an ooni, we’re not paupers.

Coleman double petrol stove FTW

https://www.colemanuk.co.uk/stoves-fuel/camping-stoves/unleaded-2-burner-stove/SP_1814310.html

/thread

Keep up fella there are two thread ending posts before yours.

Does it need to be pressurised or primed at all, or just open the valve and go?

Yes it needs pressurised but not primed like a primus/Optimus (which I love) you just pump it up and light **** up and hope to shit your eyebrows survive. Not really it’s quite tame it’s abit more complicated than that but very easy.

You can flood it if you really try hard but I have only done that once and that’s more of a “burns yellow,cold and smokey” rather than “save the sleeping bags call the fire brigade”

I’m sure a double burner pressurised petrol Coleman stove is a lovely thing but the original brief was for “a cheap, safe, easy way to fry a couple of burgers” and “Space is really limited”.
But this is stw after all so here we are.

What have you got to lose with trying out a picnic stove and some gas?

About a tenner.

We’ve got all types of stoves, gas, wood, meths, petrol, double burners, jetboil. But if going away for a night or 2 in the car we’d normally just throw in our camping gaz flat stove/picnic stove whatever its called. Gas is cheap and easy to find. Stable enough for larger pans.

Even use mine to melt my putoline.