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See why.Car Camping Stoves
Wilderness cooking doesn’t have to be all instant noodles and oatmeal from a packet; a camp stove lets you have all the cooking comforts of home wherever you are—that is, if you buy the right one.
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What You Need To Know
Ah, the great outdoors! While fresh air, exercise, and communing with nature all have their benefits, if you’re like me, the best part of camping is the food. Sure, food is a survival necessity, but there’s nothing quite like chowing down on a bowl of chili near the fire or waking up to mountain views and the smell of freshly made pancakes. However, unless you’re adept at live-fire cooking, you can’t enjoy camp food without a camp stove.
The Difference Between Backcountry Stoves and Car Camping Stoves
Camping stoves fall into two categories: backcountry stoves and car camping stoves (also called “base camp” stoves). Backcountry stoves, which need to be extremely light and compact because they’re meant for carrying with you while hiking, are usually small apparatuses that sit on top of a fuel container and can hold one small pot. While you can cook meals on backcountry stoves with some finesse, they’re primarily meant for boiling water to add to ready-to-eat foods. Car camping stoves, referred to as such since you take them in your car to your campsite, are heavier than backcountry stoves and have one to three burners. For this testing, we focused on car camping stoves because they’re more versatile for campers interested in cooking. We tested eight models, priced from about $45 to about $240, and used them to boil water, make Easy Ground Beef Chili, prepare Perfect Scrambled Eggs, cook 1 pound of bacon, and make pancakes. Since it was also essential to see how the stoves performed in the wild, we also asked testers to take the stoves with them to camp sites around New England.
Unpacking and Lighting Camp Stoves
Most camp stoves operate using a small fuel canister that you purchase separately. Many of the models we tested use propane, just like a gas grill, but in smaller containers. One stove required isopropane-butane (a mixture of different fuels usually sold in canisters at outdoor stores such as REI), and another could be operated with either propane or butane. We also included one camp stove fueled by wood; we were intrigued by its innovative design that uses heat from the fire to power a battery that can charge your phone or power a USB light.
Butane and fuel mixtures such as isopropane-butane are often preferred for backcountry stoves because the cans are lighter to carry, but for car camping, where the weight of your gear doesn’t matter as much, propane is the most versatile option. Unlike butane, propane works at high altitudes and in temperatures below freezing. While we didn’t base our ratings on the type of fuel a stove required, it’s worth noting that 1-pound propane tanks for camping are much e...
Everything We Tested
Highly Recommended
- Cleanup: 3 stars out of 3.
- Heating: 3 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use: 3 stars out of 3.
With the highest heat output of any of the products we tested—20,000 BTU per burner—this stove got ripping hot and boiled water in just 4 minutes. The two burners were controlled by clearly labeled knobs, and it was easy to turn down the heat to a gentle simmer for cooking chili and pancakes. Its cooking surface was roomy enough to accommodate two skillets at a time, and its built-in windscreen and backsplash helped contain splatters and protect the flames from the elements. It was effortless to set up, lights easily with an automatic igniter, and folds up compactly for easy carrying.
Recommended
- Cleanup: 3 stars out of 3.
- Heating: 2.5 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use: 2.5 stars out of 3.
The most expensive model we tested, this stove looks like two hot plates and was very light and compact; its two burners fold up neatly into a circular package with a 10-inch diameter, and it weighs only 6 pounds. It was relatively speedy at boiling, and its simple design without walls or a backsplash easily accommodated multiple pans of any size at the same time. Though it takes multiple rotations to turn the heat from off to high, the burners were responsive and slowly tightened as you turned the heat down, so we never accidentally turned off the gas. Testers who brought this model camping found it easy to use, set up, clean, and store. However, it wasn’t quite as fast or responsive as our favorite camp stove, and accessories such as a windscreen have to be purchased separately.
- Cleanup: 3 stars out of 3.
- Heating: 1.5 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use: 2.5 stars out of 3.
Recommended with reservations
- Cleanup: 2.5 stars out of 3.
- Heating: 1 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use: 2 stars out of 3.
- Cleanup: 2 stars out of 3.
- Heating: 1 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use: 2 stars out of 3.
Not Recommended
- Cleanup: 2 stars out of 3.
- Heating: 2 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use: 1 stars out of 3.
- Cleanup: 1 stars out of 3.
- Heating: 1 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use: 1.5 stars out of 3.
- Cleanup: 1 stars out of 3.
- Heating: 1 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use: 1 stars out of 3.
Reviews you can trust
Reviews you can trust
The mission of America’s Test Kitchen Reviews is to find the best equipment and ingredients for the home cook through rigorous, hands-on testing. We stand behind our winners so much that we even put our seal of approval on them.
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