An extra burner comes in handy, but which style—gas, electric, or induction—is the best choice?
Published Dec. 7, 2022.
We tested electric- and gas-powered portable burners to learn the pros and cons of each style and compared them to our winning and Best Buy portable induction burners. Our top-rated gas burner, the Grill Boss 90057 Dual Fuel Camp Stove, offers the flexibility of using either butane or propane. Powerful and easy to use and clean, it aced every cooking test. (Note: Gas burners should be used outdoors or in a well-ventilated area.) Our top-rated electric burner, the IMUSA USA GAU-80305 Electric Single Burner 1100-Watts is inexpensive and tiny and got the job done. It was simple to operate and maintain. If you can’t have a gas burner in your space and want even more power at your disposal than our winning electric burner has to offer, an induction burner is a great choice.
A portable burner is useful as a spare stove on holidays and during power outages, when traveling in an RV, for cooking tableside or outdoors—even just for messy frying projects in the backyard. They can be perfect in tiny kitchens or for access to a different technology (gas, induction, electric) than what’s installed in your kitchen.
We’ve previously tested and recommend portable induction burners. This time, we’re branching out to include gas and electric models, which are often less expensive and offer different advantages. The models in our lineup were priced from about $12 to about $110. On our wish list: plenty of cooking power, excellent temperature control, simple operation, and easy maintenance.
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.
Lisa is an executive editor for ATK Reviews, cohost of Gear Heads on YouTube, and gadget expert on TV's America's Test Kitchen.