'Wander Woman' Phoebe Smith tests this year's best camping stoves, from portable backpacker stoves to big camping gas cookers for families
Whether safe on a campsite or wild camping in mountains, moors or forests, the outdoors is the best place in the world to make a meal. Food just tastes better in the wild, maybe because of the effort required to cook on a camping stove, away from the mod-cons of our kitchens.
Just think about it: the scent of the fire, the feeling of mud between your toes, a river babbling in the background and the feeling of relief as you relax into your camping chair and taste your first bite. I maintain that even a cheap hotdog tastes like a Michelin starred meal when eaten under the stars. You just have to have the best camping stove for the job.
There are three basic types and it’s worth understanding their pros and cons.
Camping gas stoves, powered by screw-on or snap-on pressurised gas cylinders (usually a butane/propane mix) are available to buy from all camping shops and even supermarkets. These are very efficient to use and lightweight, with the ability to control the flame from low to high. But in cold weather they can be temperamental and it’s tricky to gauge how much gas you have left.
Liquid fuel stoves – such as the Trangia that many of us used in Scouts or on Duke of Edinburgh expeditions – use methylated spirits, paraffin and even petrol. They ignite easily, work in all weathers and the fuel is easy to source worldwide. But they don’t burn as hot as other fuels, so can take longer to cook on.
Multi-fuel stoves, like the original Kelly Kettle invented in the 1890s, can use wood and twigs, dry grass, paper, cardboard and even dry animal dung. Basically, if it burns you can use it. They allow all the fun of a campfire but don’t scorch the ground, so are great for the environment. The only problem is that the flame can’t be turned up or down. (And, of course, if you can’t find anything to to use as fuel, you go hungry.)
All of these come in a range of sizes and weights. The smallest and lightest are backpacking stoves like the MSR Pocket Rocket. At the other end of the scale are camping cookers with multiple hobs, a grill and other extras, which are best for family camping trips by car. And if the kids (or you) are reliant on having a charged phone, you can even get a stove that charges devices via USB as it cooks.
Read on for this year’s best stoves in all the above categories, as well as some hints on how to use a camping stove. And if you’re heading off on an outdoor adventure, check out my guides to the best tents and the best sleeping bags before you go.
I love outdoor cooking so much that I wrote The Wilderness Cookbook about it. Over the last 14 years, I’ve used every type of stove out there and I’ve watched the trends change and fuel sources improve. For this review, I tested the very latest offerings from all the top stove manufacturers, from full-on cookers to pocket-sized, go-anywhere multi-fuel options. Read this and, no matter where you find yourself, you’ll be able to cook up a storm. Which is always preferable to camping in one.
Read on for the reviews in full
We like: Compact design and year-round versatility. It’s also frying pan friendly
Primus made the stoves that Amundsen took to the South Pole and Hilary took up Everest and are pretty much synonymous with camping gas burners. The Lite+ is their smallest ever, sold not just as a stove but a ‘complete stove system’ – which simply means it comes with a pot as well as a burner.
The pot, burner and gas canister all lock together with a twist and there’s an inbuilt spark lighter so you don’t need matches. A single large control knob changes the flame from a simmer, for slowly heating up food, to hot enough to boil half a litre of water in less than three minutes.
Given the pot’s small capacity it’s best suited to one or two backpackers who want to make hot drinks, soup or dehydrated camping meals. That said, thanks to the nifty trio of removable metal pegs that make up part of the handle, and screw easily into the stove base, it can also safely take a frying pan or saucepan. Indeed, I cooked a pasta meal for four on the Lite+.
Further clever design features make it my number one pick: the handle can be repositioned to make it a hanging stove (using a supplied string) for when there’s no even ground; the eco-friendly cork lined sleeve insulates the contents and has an inbuilt pocket to store a spoon; the pot has handy measuring lines inside it and a pouring spout as well as an inbuilt wind-protected heat exchanger, making it ideal for use even in windy and cold weather; and the lid (made from sustainable bio-plastic) doubles up as a cup, a small bowl and a liquid drainer.
Not bad when you think this all packs in on itself, Russian doll style, to the size of a small thermos.
We like: the foldaway, flatpack design and additional grill
What is the best camping stove for families? Try this. In my opinion, when campsite cooking for more than two people you need at least two burners. You’ll want to make drinks and food at the same time and not be limited to one-pot meals. There are many double hob options available, but this one from budget brand Campingaz takes it to the next level with the added bonus of a downward burner to simultaneously grill toast too.
It’s powered by snap-on CV470 gas canisters – which are readily available worldwide and at a reasonable price (currently a pack of 4 that last for around an hour and 20 mins worth of cooking each are available from Argos for £23). Igniters are all built in for each burner, meaning you don’t need to worry about remembering matches. The control knobs are easy-to-use and control the flame making it ideal for boiling (takes around 4-5 mins), frying and cooking.
It is easy to wipe clean, though getting inside the base to do a thorough job can be a little fiddly. When not using it, the whole things folds into its own suitcase-style carry case and takes up surprisingly little room in the car (folded size 59.5 cm x 32.5cm x 8.5mm), similar to that of a pillow. While it will never be one for backpackers or lightweight enthusiasts, hitting the scale at 4.4kg, it will be favoured among campsite cooks and fans of the fry-up breakfast.
We like: Campfire cooking the responsible way, entertainment value for kids
As efficient as gas is, cooking over a real fire appeals to an ancient part of us, the crackling flames a social hub for campsite conversations. However, open campfires on the ground can unwittingly wreck fragile ecosystems, not to mention inadvertently get out of hand, which is why many campsites don’t allow them. That is why the Kelly Kettle is such a fantastic invention.
Manufactured by a family firm in Ireland since the 1890s, when the great grandfather of the current directors decided he needed something reliable for his fishing trips, it’s effectively a double walled chimney with the flame from running through the centre. Water added through the spout hole is heated within these hollow walls. Because the internal surface area is so large, it boils within three to five minutes.
This is a true multi-fuel stove. You can use wood, sticks, pine cones, dry grass – even dry animal dung to get it burning in the base. Once alight, you simply feed the fire from the top of the chimney. It’s primarily good for boiling water but with the purchase of an £11 hobo stove accessory you can use the base as a traditional wood-fired campstove, a bit like a portable barbecue. I’ve also bought a £6.95 pot support, which enables you to cook food in a pan on top of the chimney while the water is boiling.
I find the Kelly Kettle great, both in the wilds to enjoy a responsible campfire and on a proper campsite for toasting marshmallows. Even better, having kids search for burnable fuel for it is a great way to keep them busy.
We like: Tiny size and weight, perfect as a ‘just in case’ option or for backpacking
Ten years ago when MSR’s Pocket Rocket first burst onto the scene, lightweight aficionados went crazy for its fast boil time (3.5 minutes) and tiny weight of 85g. Overnight it became the definitive canister-top stove (meaning it simply screws into the gas canister and is ready to use) for backpackers.
So it’s impressive to see that the latest iteration still folds down small enough to fit inside a camping mug and boils water just as quickly, but weighs even less at just 73g. That’s less than a deck of cards. Impressively, it also has a built-in wind shield that sees it perform well even in blustery weather, sturdy fold out pot supports and a large control knob. Given its size there is no built-in lighter, so you will need to remember matches, but for those who are watching the scales, this really is worth the weight.
We like: fool-proof operation and low weight for such a complete cooking system
The Jetboil is a light, easy-to-use stove and pot combination whose launch paved the way for many other ‘complete cooking systems’ over the last two decades. The main selling points are the quick boil time of 2.5 minutes – still the fastest out there – and the way the stove and gas canister pack away inside the pot, saving space. In my experience they’re virtually foolproof to use.
The latest model is the Stash, which is 40% lighter than previous versions at 200g (230g if you include a small gas canister). Impressive when you look at the features: a pot that doubles as a bowl and measuring jug, a lid with a pour spout/liquid drainer and a Flux Ring heat exchanger base, which not only offers wind protection but also conducts heat more efficiently, meaning you use less gas.
Like the Pocket Rocket it lacks an igniter, so matches are essential, and it would be tricky to cook on this for more than one or two people. But for backpackers like me, it’s simply perfect.
We like: fun to use, powers your device while cooking and has an innovative flame control
When Biolite first emerged on the scene 10 years ago it seemed like a bit of a marketing gimmick; a wood-powered, smokeless stove that uses a thermoelectric generator to simultaneously charge your smartphone. But they have caught on, not just as quirky stoves for outdoor lovers, but also to create safe, clean and sustainable cooking systems for those living in energy poverty across the world. Where four million premature deaths per year are caused by fumes from open fires, the Biolite burns fuel much more cleanly and efficiently by injecting air into its mini-furnace. (This also gives you more control over the flame for cooking.)
The latest version of this environmentally-friendly stove packs down into the size and weight of a one-litre water bottle and boils water in about 4.5 minutes. For fuel it can use small branches, twigs, pine cones or biomass pellets (£7.50), each bag of which delivers two hours of cooking time.
The orange battery pack on the side delivers three Watts at full capacity, enough to charge most phones, albeit not very quickly. I could get around 10-15% each 30 minutes. It’s also enough to power a small light (included).
Its weight means it’s more suited for car camping than multi-day backpacking. I’m not sure I’d use it to cook for a whole family – although there are accessories in the form of grills and coffee pots to tempt you.
Not quite as practical as it seems, then, but the Biolite’s sustainable credentials, plus the phone-charging capabilities, are a great selling point.
Best camping cooker for families
We like: the option of cooking a roast dinner al fresco (also easy to clean)
What can you cook on a camping stove? What about vegetable kebabs – or an entire chicken? Maybe you want to bake a loaf of bread while camping? For those not satisfied with the basic one-pot meals that most stoves offer, there is this behemoth from Cobb.
The company originally designed electric-free cookers for rural Africa which were powered by corn cobs – hence the name – so they’re not designed to be carried around much. As big as a footstool and weighing the same as a sack of potatoes, this one is best transported in the back of a car.
The Cobb is essentially a compact, gas-powered barbecue, but one whose flame can be very precisely controlled, so that it can be used to cook pretty much anything. It’s billed as a ‘cooker in a box’. It’s all very easy to use and I was also very impressed with how easy it was to clean, thanks to a drip catcher (which also means healthier cooking).
We like: Easy to use and pack away, a lightweight classic
Anyone who has done a DofE award will be familiar with this camping classic, which has been used for decades. Fuelled by methylated spirit, which is easy to get hold of from most hardware stores and supermarkets and has a distinctive smell, you simply fill the burner with the liquid and light it with a match.
The Swedish-made Trangia comes in a nest of pots and pans to enable you to cook pretty much anything you like, but the main drawback is the speed – boiling water can take around 9-10 minutes. You can adjust the flame to a degree with the simmer ring and with a circular cover for the burner that restricts the flow of air, but this is tricky once it’s lit.
Another mark against it is the bulk. It’s not horrendously heavy, but it does take up a lot of room at the bottom of the rucksack if you’re hiking. Still, for those who want a taste of nostalgia (in every sense), you can’t beat a Trangia.
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