People cooking food whilst out camping can fall into many categories. There’s those who love to BBQ and tend to take any chance they can to bang out some snags on the campfire or grill.
Likewise there’s the baker who likes to use a camp oven to churn out loaves of bread, stews and pot roasts, impressing their fellow campers along the way.
But what about when you want to recreate an easy meal from home with minimal fuss and no cumbersome and unpredictable cooking over campfires? In this case, a portable camping stove can fit the bill. They run on gas, so turn on and heat up instantly, come in different sizes and can come with multiple burners.
Cooking on a gas stove is the closest experience you will have to your home kitchen, whether you are cooking a stir-fry, a pasta sauce along with some spaghetti, a batch of rice or some boiled or steamed vegetables – gas camping stoves are easy and will produce the results you are after quickly. So read on as we break down the best camping stoves on offer in Australia right now.
| Coleman Hyperflame FyreKnight 2 Burner Stove | Companion 2 Burner High Output Stove | Coleman 3 Burner Eventemp Stove | 360 Degrees Furno Stove and Pot Set | Primus Mimer Stove |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
best multi burner | Best single burner | ||||
62L x 45D x 39H cm | 63L x 36D x 37H cm | 64L x 48D x 45H cm | Combined 21L x 13W x 14.5H cm | 5.5 x 12.5 x 12.5 | |
Steel with corner bumpers | Powder Coated Cabinet, Stainless Steel Drip Tray | Steel, Non-stick Aluminium Griddle | Hard Anodised Aluminium, Stainless Steel | Hard Anodised Aluminium, Stainless Steel | |
LPG | LPG | LPG | LPG | LPG | |
2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | |
Piezo | Piezo | Piezo | Manual | Manual | |
7.1 kg | 5 kg | 8.6 kg | 0.358 kg | 0.227 kg | |
3 years | 3 Years | 5 years | 1 Year | ?? |
Best Portable Camping Stoves
Coleman Hyperflame FyreKnight 2 Burner Stove
Honourable Mention
The Coleman Hyperflame FyreKnight 2 Burner Stove is an impressive looking stove with its own carry case, quality materials and simplistic usage. However, it tends to fall a little short of the other camping stoves when it comes to actually using this to cook food.
The turndown on the burners is quite poor, with minimal adjustment available on the knobs. This means that the burners tend to blast out a lot of heat, making fine-tuning of your temperatures a pretty big issue.
This is fine if you like to boil water or cook on a super-hot fry pan or wok, but if you are trying to simmer foods then you may have problems.
Customer reviews are very mixed with the majority of people happy with this stove, but for those that are not happy – it’s a pretty sharp contrast.
Reports of the knobs breaking off within the first few uses, the piezo lighter stopping working, the temperature control issue and a gas regulator issue that causes the stove to stop working completely has left a small, but loud contingent of reviewers not recommending this product.
These appear to be design and manufacturing issues that a stove costing over $200 should not have. While we like the look of this stove, it’s hard for us to recommend it.
Companion 2 Burner High Output Stove
Best Value 2 Burner Stove
A very similar model to the Coleman FyreKnight, the Companion 2 Burner High Output stove is a solid performer offering the same two-burner setup inside its own carry case. Unlike the FyreKnight, the Companion stove has great temperature control which means you can cook with a range of heats from simmer to a fast boil with no fuss.
It comes in at almost $100 cheaper, is a couple of kilos lighter and doesn’t have any of the reported issues of the Coleman FyreKnight – making this a solid two-burner stove that won't disappoint the camping cooks.
It’s not perfect, however, and while the majority of the reviews are 5 stars and super happy with this stove, there appear to be some manufacturing issues affecting some units.
Dented lids, flimsy side wind protection that you have to bend a little to make it sit correctly and a grill that can warp when heated too long at max temp have all been reported.
These are all covered by warranty, but they are something to take into consideration. When it comes to cooking on a two-burner stove, the Companion High Output is a solid performer but by no means perfect.
Coleman 3 Burner Eventemp Stove
Best For Large Groups
This 3 burner camping stove is the biggest, heaviest and most expensive stove on this list and maybe the best camping stove in terms of overall usage.
The 3 burners can all be used independently so you can use a frying pan, a large pot and a small pot all at the same time. Conversely, it comes with a large tray that sits over all three burners so you can use them all at the same time to cook up a large meal easily too.
It’s a solid portable stove that will keep most camp cooks happy and the food flowing reliably.
Like its two-burner cousin, the FyreKnight, the Coleman Eventemp stove has a reported temperature control issue. Unlike its two-burner cousin, the Eventemp’s knobs don’t fall off, but rather need a few turns to reduce some stiffness and then tend to work well after that.
If you like to cook for your family, like making meals with many ingredients and steps, or just want a simple and functions gas camping stove, we can recommend this product over Coleman FyreKnight and it's only $20 more.
It appears to be better made, more functional and with fewer issues, putting it firmly in front.
360 Degrees Furno Stove and Pot Set
Our Pick