A wood-burning camping stove is not as fast or convenient as gas-fueled stoves. That being said, we were impressed with how well the BioLite CampStove worked and how fun it was to use. We omitted this stove from our simmer test because it was impossible to have any real temperature control or coleman stove simmer function. With the fan on low, the flames do drop down considerably, but not nearly enough to hold water just below boiling. We think the difference is partly due to our fuel being extremely dry and light wood, which often required lifting the pot to add more fuel during the test.
Add in a few items like insulated tumblers, water jugs and Coleman butane fuel lighters to complete your outdoor setup. The griddle is great for cooking that big morning breakfast and fits perfectly onto the stove. The case is purely just a convenient way to store and travel with your Coleman stove. GearLab is founded on the principle of honest, objective, reviews. Our experts test thousands of products each year using thoughtful test plans that bring out key performance differences between competing products. And, to assure complete independence, we buy all the products we test ourselves.
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. Read on for our full camping stove reviews, as well as advice on how to choose the right stove for your next camping feast. Take your outdoor adventures to the next level with top quality camping gear, fuel and more from Coleman.
Free-Standing – Free-standing stoves are a great option if tabletop space is limited. They also tend to be better suited for large groups coleman stove than smaller tabletop stoves. Free-standing stoves typically use large propane tanks, so be prepared for these to take up a lot of space.
For straightforward camp meals and smaller groups, this stove is a great budget option. Weighing 9.8 pounds with dimensions of 21 x 13 x 3.5 inches, this is a compact stove that can easily fit in all kinds of vehicles. The Classic performs well in terms of simmering, although maintaining a low and consistent flame presents a minor challenge, especially on windy coleman propane stove days. The Classic has windscreens that can adjust wider to accommodate larger cookware – a small feature that is quite useful. I couldn’t perform a proper boil test, as the weather kept changing, but it took roughly 4 minutes and 30 seconds to bring 4 cups (~1 L) of water to a full boil. Wirecutter is the product recommendation service from The New York Times.
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.
Wind resistance is an important part of having good temperature control, as even a light breeze can snuff out a low flame without good windscreens. The Triton’s sleek profile.Unfortunately, it was by far the worst in our test when it came to wind resistance. The Coleman Classic, which was second to last, had the temperature up to 184. We never thought we’d describe a camping stove as “fun,” but that’s exactly what the BioLite is.