For the second test, we boil 1 liter of water in the absence of wind. For the windy test, the Classic boiled water in 6 minutes 15 seconds, and in the wind-less test, it boiled water in 4 minutes 45 seconds. Part of why it did well in the windy boil test is due to the innovative design of the windscreen. The windscreen
on this stove can provide near total protection from a side wind, which effectively protected the burner from our fan-generated breeze. In the field, this allowed it to remain relatively consistent through all manner of weather variations. Despite just 10,000 BTUs per burner, the compact design packs a little punch.
It’s a very minor detail, but the stove isn’t moving with a rotary ignitor. Trailspace’s community of gear reviewers has field-tested and rated the top liquid fuel stoves. I’ve used these single burner stoves by Coleman since 1980.
That said, if you’ll be doing a lot of four-season camping, liquid fuel is the most reliable choice and can come in the form of white gas, unleaded gasoline, jet fuel, kerosene, or diesel. White gas is one of the best choices for backpacking and basecamping in extreme conditions, but there aren’t a whole lot of options in a full-size camping stove style. If you’re a hardcore adventurer, consider a stove like the Coleman Guide Series Dual Fuel (not listed here), which can run on either white gas or unleaded gasoline. Liquid-fuel stoves cost more than propane models and don’t offer any performance benefits in mild conditions, so for most folks, propane remains the best option. Two burners are sufficient for most campers, but aspiring camp chefs or those who typically head out with larger groups might want to step up to a three-burner stove.
The Classic consumed an average of 5.18% of a green Coleman fuel can or 0.8 ounces of fuel during each test. During the windy test, it consumed 1 ounce of fuel, and in the wind-less test, it used 0.6 ounces of fuel. Out of all our tested stoves, this one ranked in the upper third of the windy fuel test. This stove is likely more fuel efficient owing to the lower output 10,000 BTU burners and the snug windscreens. If conserving fuel (and saving money!) matters more than a quick boil time, this could be an ideal stove for you. While the Coleman Classic isn’t fancy or feature-rich, it does everything you need a stove to do in a timely and proficient manner.
Wind is an unfortunate reality when camping, and we wanted to know how well these stoves held up to it. We timed how long each stove took to boil one liter of water while being blasted with a box fan from about two feet away. After boiling water on each stove, we let it cool to 195 degrees, then tested
how easily we could hold the water between 195 and 200 F for 5 minutes. We counted how many times the temperature went over or under as well as how many times the stove went out. The Gas One GS-3000 is a simple, inexpensive single-burner camp stove that really surprised us with its functionality.
The TemboTusk Adjustable Leg Skottle Grill Kit has the lightweight, cobbled-together charm of good adventure gear. However, for the price ($395), we’ve concluded that most people are better served
by our discada-style pick, the FireDisc. The TemboTusk—with three legs instead of the four of the FireDisc and a smaller overall cooking area—seems unstable and limited for family cooking.
Initially, to get a baseline for each stove’s general performance, we focused on how quickly they could boil water (similar to the process of many of the sites listed above). For the three that couldn’t, we stopped the test at 15 minutes and recorded the temperature of the water. Stoves with 9,000 to 15,000 BTUs will get the job done, but you’ll notice slower boil times and a drop in cooking performance.
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The burners are coated in black paint that burned off in the first few uses, producing a pretty awful smell and staining the bottoms of the pots we were using. It wasn’t a major long-term issue, but it was definitely an unpleasant surprise the first couple times we fired up the stove. While we loved the ability to cook over extremely high heat and fine tune the heat settings, this stove has a hard time maintaining a good simmer. It was the most powerful of our tabletop stoves, with two 25,000 BTU end burners and one 10,000 BTU central burner. While it couldn’t match the performance of our other award winners, it’s durable.
Both times, I was able to keep the dials on a low simmer if need be, even with wind. The 12,000-each BTU burners, combined with what I consider much improved dials compared to previous Colemans, contributed to this success. I used this stove once with a dwindling (less than half-full) canister of fuel and then once again with a full canister. As soon as I got to using this stove, I noticed how many possibilities there are. It’s not only a durable stove for outdoor use while camping, but it offers lots of versatility in ways to cook. Some people have also reported that the dials on their stoves can feel sticky or unresponsive.