Campingaz Camp Bistro Stove, 1 burner, camping stove, 2200-watt capacity, compact outdoor cooker, includes carry case for easy transport

Product Information

The gas regulators on these stoves were small and didn't take much turning to adjust the power of the stove significantly. A slight touch made the flame go from powerful to very powerful. We put 500ml water in our camping kettle and timed how long it took each camping stove to boil it. We found that there wasn't much difference in most of the times we recorded. Campingaz make the Bistro. And there are lots of other brands that are nigh-on identical. There are also a lot of very cheap and potentially dangerous variants. The side-tables take a bit of fixing into place with wing-nuts and we wouldn’t trust them with anything very heavy – certainly not a large saucepan of food.

And please do read the warning that follows. Some cheaper versions of these stoves can explode or set on fire. We’ve been getting a stream of scary stories from readers since posting Jim’s warning (see next).On your cooker at home, you'll usually have a selection of different-sized burners, and you'll select the one best suited to the size of your cooking pot. Choosing a small burner for a large pot runs the risk of the heat being concentrated in the centre, leaving the edges of your food undercooked. The stove has raised feet which lift it away from the surface it is sitting on, allowing additional ventilation. We compared the brands’ published boil times with our own experiences and generally, as we suspected, the cheaper the design, the longer it took to reach temperature. The testing of stoves also happened to coincide nicely with our testing of the best camping food – we ate thousands of calories so that you don’t have to. Advice varies on how much gas hobs cost to use, and it does depend on the size hob ring you use and the heat level you set your hob to. We've seen prices ranging from 20p per hour to 66p per hour. At the time of publishing, a typical 250ml gas bottle for a portable gas stove will cost around 95p per hour to use, and only last three hours.

The fabric shelf needs to be fitted as it adds stability to the legs. There’s still quite a bit of wobble, though. This applies to camping stoves, too, although you're unlikely to find many stoves that have different-sized burners. Propane is easy to get hold of and burns well but liquid fuel performs better at low temperatures. Liquid fuel canisters are usually connected via a hose to the stove and are refillable. We like stoves that feature a Piezo-igniter (a push-button starter) as it’s useful if you forget to bring matches along. Once lit, some stoves burn with a blue light while others make a roaring noise.

The best camping stoves you can buy in 2023

Although you can get standard gas hob-style flames, there are camping stoves available that have welding-style flames with intense heat and an audible roar. The stoves we tested with this type of flame burnt the hottest, were great at heating up pans and proved much more resistant to wind interference than standard burners. In addition to being extremely portable and easy to use, this updated model of the Campingaz® Camp’Bistro stove has many additional safety features ensuring it now conforms to the latest European Safety Standards for all flat bed stoves. You can, but as you're dealing with an open gas-powered flame, you should ensure there's a good amount of ventilation before you use one to cook. There are exceptions, however. The Campingaz Camp Bistro 2 and the Kemper Camping Stove Xtra Smart are medium-sized but only have a single burner – so they're a compromise between the portability of the compact stove and the familiar cooking experience of a larger one.

Steer clear of the double-canister Popamazing stoves – a fault on the connection could make them dangerous. Also, don’t bother with the Campingaz Bistro 300 – very low on gas power and the plastic parts melt far too easily. Buy more fuel refills than you think you’ll need, and if you’re heading abroad on a car camping trip it’s worth taking as much as you’ll use for the entire camping trip, as it might not be available at your destination. You can also buy hose adaptors that let you connect gas stoves to big, refillable propane tanks, which is a more eco-friendly and economical way to cook than regularly replacing smaller canisters.How many people will I be cooking for? If you're a large party and only have one cooker, you'll probably need more than one burner. This means a compact stove won't be much use as they rarely have more than one burner. Plus you might struggle to cook using big pots. Although it's convenient to have a speedy stove, you'll likely find most camping stoves heat at a similar pace once the flames get going. Using a camping stove instead of your main gas cooker to save money isn't a good idea, as a camping stove is highly unlikely to be cheaper. Will my meals require more than one burner? Even if you're camping solo, you should think through the meals you'll want to cook and how many burners you normally use at home. If you aren't keen on one-pot meals, you'll probably need a stove with at least two burners. There were one or two slow models, but most of the stoves got the kettle whistling after around five minutes.

It takes plenty of twigs and you need to add more twigs every few minutes but keep the fire roaring and, if you fill the red pouch on the side with water, as it heats the built-in thermoelectric generator with USB connector can turn the heat into electricity and top up your phone as you boil your supper. Ideal for festivals and best suited for one-pot cooking recipes, you can take everything in a very compact, surprisingly light case without compromising on cooking performance.

Do I have room for a gas canister? It can be easy to only focus on the camping stove itself and forget the fuel you'll need to burn with it. If you've got a larger stove, you'll probably need a large canister to go with it, which means even more bulk and weight in your vehicle. There was also a trend in how long it took the stoves to heat our pan to 200°C. Although there were a couple of rapid outliers that heated the pan in a minute or less, most took around two minutes to heat. 5) Burner size matters Larger, heavier camping stoves with several burners and a design that's more similar to your home cooker. The best camping stoves you can buy in 2023 1. Campingaz Party Grill 200 Stove: Best for larger groups (4-6 people) An update to the traditional alcohol burner style all-in-one camping stove, this stylish, super light design from Primus comes with a small but mighty 2000W piezo controlled gas burner that can boil a litre of water in just four minutes.