This Model 521 military heating unit has a 5000BTU burner and is dated ’45 A. The steel can fits over the burner when not in use; it was borrowed from a ’43 stove for this image. The extra generator parts (lower image) can be cleaned for reuse.
We could easily dial it down to a low setting without it accidentally shutting off. We needed to make only minimal adjustments during our simmer test. Overall, Coleman delivers a very good build quality throughout — definitely competitive with other stoves in its price range. However, you do have to remember to oil the pump gaskets every 6 months or so, or else they’ll dry up and then the stove won’t pressurize.
It’s heavier (17 pounds, versus the Coleman Classic’s 11 pounds). And it offers way more heat output (40,000 Btu, versus the Coleman Classic’s 20,000 Btu). As a result, Camp Chef assumes that you’re not running 1-pound propane bottles with a stove like this and defaults to a hose for a larger propane tank.
It doesn’t have the highest BTUs or boiling times, but it has solid performance in terms of fuel efficiency. For the price, this little gem can satisfy a lot of campers. When
you’re using larger pots and pans, a neat feature of this stove is that the lid can lie completely flat, which creates more stovetop room (unlike on the Coleman FyreCadet).
The Cascade is the upgraded version of this stove, and may replace it completely at some point. If money is less of an object, we recommend checking out the Kovea Twin Slim. It performed admirably across all metrics and is one of the most portable stoves
in our review. If you aren’t convinced that you need to splurge, we recommend checking out the Gas One GS-3000. It ranks lower in terms of boil time and fuel efficiency, but this single-burner butane stove gets it done for a fraction of the price.
Free-Standing – Free-standing stoves are a great option if tabletop space is limited. They also tend to be better suited for large groups than smaller tabletop stoves. Free-standing stoves typically use large propane tanks, so be prepared for these to take up a lot of space. When it came to any serious cooking, though, we preferred
the functionality and control of traditional camping stoves. The Stansport Outfitter Series Propane Stove is an interesting addition to the camping stove world and was our Runner-up. Although it lags slightly behind the Everest in performance, its design features (including a unique three-burner construction) make it stand out.
The Coleman Peak1™ 2-Burner Stove elevates your cooking by bringing the benefits of cast iron to the stove itself. The cast iron burner is more durable than your average stove, and it’s easy to clean too. Extra burner holes make for more even cooking and a rotary ignition means you can leave the lighter at home. At the end of the trip, pack the stove in the foam carrying case and squeeze it into the smallest spaces thanks to its slim design. Most of the best camping stoves are in the 20,000 to 30,000 BTU range. That gives you plenty of power for quick boil times and high-heat cooking while staying compact and fuel efficient.
Like we mentioned above when discussing the Cascade Camping Stove BTU output, we rarely need this kind of power, but if you do, the Camp Chef Everest 2X Camp Stove is for you. Just love it and can usually find replacement parts if necessary. I like that I don’t need to connect a braided fuel hose to a fuel canister. The Coleman Eventemp 3 burner camp stove has all of the features you would expect on a camping stove from Coleman. The small size and weight of the Triton stove made for easy storage and carrying.