Camping is great, you get to do all the outdoor activities that you love and enjoy mother nature. After a while, you will need to eat, and nothing beats a good hot meal when you are hungry. Cooking outside is a huge part of camping.
There are lots of ways to cook your meal while camping and sometimes you will need an alternative way to cook when campfires are ban or sometimes, they could even ban fire in general in the area. When that happens, you will need some type of camping stove to cook your meals.
We’ll be going over all the types of camping stoves that you will end up getting. Depending on the type of camping you plan on doing, you can get a solo camping stove or a normal camping stove that can cook for a family or a large number of people.
1. Butane Camping Stoves
The butane camping stoves runs on small cans of butane which you can buy it in bulk. These stoves are less expensive compare to the propane camping stoves.
These are great for camping at a campsite where you still have access to your car where you may have extra butane cans. These stoves are not meant for camping in temperatures below freezing. If you insist on using this type of stove for backpacking then you need to get cans that are labeled as four seasons mixture, it has the mixture of both butane and propane.
These stoves are great for car camping and emergency stove for your house because having to carry extra cans of fuel is a hassle and not efficient. If are planning on using this stove on the trail or camping at a cold place you will need a mixture of butane and propane.
2. Propane Camping Stoves
These stoves are the easiest to find and use. Its also easy to refuel when you run out of propane. You get to fully control the consistent flame output. Because these stoves run on propane you can use it in colder weather than other stoves out there.
Propane camping stoves are great for winter camping because the propane vaporizes at a very low temperature of -43℉ which is very cold. Do not plan on using this to keep warm though because propane will run out quickly.
Propane camping stoves are big so it’s perfect for car camping and campers that stay in one spot. Its not for the backpackers that would cook on the trail.
3. Butane And Propane Mixture
If you are going on a camping trip this mixture is a must for your camping stove. The positives of this mixture are that it doesn’t weigh a lot, but the canister does take up space when you pack a few extra ones for your trip.
The positive and negative of owning this type of stove that use this mixture is that the stove is cheap, but the butane and propane mixture is pricey plus you will have to buy multiple of the canisters when you run out.
Another thing, it is kind of hard to tell how much is left in the canister. Plus, when you are done using one can you have to properly recycle the can. This means you will have to still carry the empty can once you are done with it on the trail. Last thing these types of canisters are not good for high altitudes and cold weather camping or backpacking.
4. Wood Camping Stoves
There is a wide range of wood camping stoves that you can get from cheap to expensive ones. The cheap ones can fold up while the expensive ones are sturdier.
In some camping and trails area, you won’t be able to use this type of stove because the flames can’t be shutdown with a push of a button. If you plan on camping or backpacking during a fire advisory, then you should get another type of stove that can shut the flames with a button.
The huge positive side of a wood camping stove is that you don’t need to buy fuel you can just use woods found in nature to start your fire. If you can’t find woods in the area, then you should bring some wood sticks with you. Another positive thing about this stove is that it’s very eco-friendly.
5. White Gas Stoves
This kind of stove is amazing because it takes on a liquid fuel and turn it into gas which means you can use many liquid fuels to fuel your stove. Great for backpacking up high elevated mountains and other extreme cold weather places. Its also amazing to have it as an emergency stove at your house just incase you might need it.
The positive thing about this stove is that it’s a bit more eco friendly compare to the butane and propane camping stoves. It’s a bit more eco friendly because you can get a wide variety of liquid fuel to work with the stove compare to the butane/ propane stove. When you are out of fuel you can refill the liquid while the butane/propane canister must be recycled, and you must get a new canister.
The negative thing about the white gas stove is that you must carry around the liquid fuel and it needs time to be primed. That means longer cooking time.
6. Alcohol camping stoves
This type of camping stoves is the weaking in terms of heating. It is generally used for boiling water to make your coffee, tea or instant noodles. Since this type of stove is meant for boiling water only, you won’t find a big alcohol camping stove to cook a big meal.
One of the positive things about this type of stove is that the price is low. Even if you buy the fancy looking one it would be under $20 bucks. Another thing positive about it is that its great for backpacking because its small, ultralight weight, compact and designed to be used for one person.
The type of alcohol fuel that you use for this type of stove can be found mostly at any store. Heet, denatured alcohol, everclear or grain alcohol, isopropyl alcohol are the types of alcohol fuel that are used with these stoves.
7. Electric Camping Stoves
These electric camping stoves are only great if you have access to electricity at your campsite. These stoves are great at making large meals for a whole group and its quick and easy to start cooking right away. You do not have to worry about have to carry along fuel or have fuel running out on you.
You can start and stop the heat with a push of a button so you can use it even at a fire advisory area.
The negative side of having this is that you must be at a campsite with electricity or bring your own power generator. Depending on what you cook it may take a lot of electricity.
8. Flameless Heaters – Premade Food
These are packs filled with chemicals and when you add water it starts to heat up so that you can cook or heat up your food.
These are great for making meals for one person. You can take these to almost anywhere and they would still work, and you don’t have to worry about flames. It can be used indoors safely.
You can find these flameless heaters in dehydrated meals and MREs but there is other companies that made the flameless heater by itself.
9. Fuel Cube Stoves
These type of stoves runs on fuel tablets. These tablets are easy to light up and can be put out and be reused.
The fuel cube stoves are great for backpacking more than camping with a big crowd. It is mostly for making meals for one person, boiling water, or heat up pre-cooked meals. Its not good for big crowd because the stove is too small and inefficient.
The fuel cube stoves are great for backpacking because its small and compact which means it doesn’t take a lot of space in your backpack.
10. Cooking Over The Firepit
One of the best ways to cook while camping is cooking over an open fire. Cooking over the firepit is one thing that most people look forward to when going camping. If you are planning to cook over the firepit then you should make sure that you are in a campsite that allow to you to use the firepit because some areas will have fire advisory which typically means you can’t have an open fire at your campsite because it may lead to a forest fire.
One of the best ways to cook over the firepit is to put your meat and/ or vegetables on to a stick like a kabob and hold it over the fire to cook. This method is best for cooking small meat like hotdogs. You shouldn’t do this if you plan on cooking a huge piece of steak because you will be tired of holding the stick and it wouldn’t cook evenly which will ruin the good piece of steak.
If you want to cook big pieces of meat over the firepit then you should get a campfire grill. Campfire grill comes in different sizes and the cost will vary. You should get one that is big enough to cook multiple food at once so that you don’t have to cook one thing at a time.
One thing about cooking over the firepit is that you have to know how to get the fire started and ready which includes having dry woods and chopping it into small pieces if necessary, fanning the fire, controlling the fire, know when to add more dry wood to keep the fire going, and proper way to put out the fire when you are done.
Questions People Asks:
1. How much fuel should I bring for the camping stove?
This depends on what type of food you are planning to cook, what type of fuel you are using, and how many meals and days are you planning to cook for while you are camping or backpacking. The only way to find out is to test it at home before you go on your trip. That means try cooking with it until you run out of one canister of fuel so that you know how long one canister last. If you don’t want to test it, you can look at the manual and it will give to a rough estimate of how long it will last.
2. Can you cook with your camping stove inside a tent?
Some stoves are designed to cook inside the tent, but you must have a tent that allows you to cook with a stove. For the most part you shouldn’t cook inside just to be on the safe side of thing because the last thing you need is your tent catching on fire.
An alternative is to use the fuel cubes to cook or warm up your meals in your tent. This way you don’t run a risk of burning down your tent or damaging your tent.
Conclusion
You should get one of these stoves to cook while camping so you have at least a backup way of cooking food when you can’t cook over the open firepit. Try cooking over a firepit first so that you don’t waste fuel. Also, think about bring food that doesn’t need to be cook just in case if everything fails you will still have something to eat.