gas camping stove

[SlimJimBra]

i have no idea where to start, what do I need to know about gas stoves? stove recommendations as well as idiot proof instructions please before I buy the most rubbish one available!

We have a Camping Gaz double burner with a grill (for toast...mmmm). It's very easy to use - very similar to a gas BBQ.

I have a Trangia stove too (from DoE) days which we sometimes use. It is very simple to use - methylated spirits & a match!

i def want a gas one - reading reviews on amazon suggest you can use eg calor gas with a campingaz stove but need a dif regulator? what is the basic set up I need? can't seem to find a idiots guide online anywhere

Yes, you can use Calor gas. The stove doesn't come with a regulator so just buy the one that suits. It's pretty simple. You get the stove and a hose which you connect, buy a regulator and connect it to the hose then connect to the gas as you need it.

We bought the stove in the sale from Millets and the regulator on Amazon. We use the Camping Gaz gas, and regulator, as our local Tiso store refills them.

Yes, you can use Calor gas. The stove doesn't come with a regulator so just buy the one that suits. It's pretty simple. You get the stove and a hose which you connect, buy a regulator and connect it to the hose then connect to the gas as you need it.

We bought the stove in the sale from Millets and the regulator on Amazon. We use the Camping Gaz gas, and regulator, as our local Tiso store refills them.

So the regulator has to match the gas make not the stove make? Sorry to sound so thick !

SlimJim - yes, that is correct. It depends whether the gas is Propane or butane and what pressure. CampingGaz and Calor have different regulators, I think.

I have this gas bottle with this regulator and this stove

The cylinder refills are readily available at DIY shops and camping shops and some garages. Lots of outlest advertising themsleves as Calor Gas suppliers, too.

Personally I like this size of gas bottle, it lasts a long time but is not too massive.

If you are just setting up I would get the ones which run off tins of gas that look like WD40 - the stoves usually cost £10-15. I have 3, of two different makes, and I also use them at guides.

They are easy to use, and cook fairly quickly. They are also pretty stable with a pan on them

Yes, I have one of those - 'briefcase stoves' - to use on lightweight trips, but have been put off since a poster on here said she had seen 2 burst into flames. A quick google leads you here and here -also problems with those stoves or the cannisters used

Nothing is foolproof though. I have used mine dozens of times without incident.

The worst ones were the ones where you had to pierce the tins when you screwed the cooking part on. They seem to have phased out a bit now.

thanks blu - thats the one we're looking at as its cheap in the sale at the mo. I know we'll want a grill, we're toast fiends in our family!

Ah well toast is a tricky subject on the camping boards! I seem to remember a folding toast grill thing being unanimously voted the most useless gadget ever. But there is a newer box shaped model I have seen in Halfords that looks better than the old sort, and they work over a gas ring. Or not.

The grill on that stove will do a slice at a time somewhat unevenly, some posters have suggested that toast shown in marketing photos is modeled by a body double from Dualit. But there is no stove with a better grill. I sometimes take our Diablo stove top toastie maker, which is fab on a camping stove and even on a modest camp fire.

There are some that say that toast is not for campers, oh no, campers live on bread alone.

BREAD ALONE??

[only joking]

I have one of those folding box toasters from Halfords. It does a great job at making toast. 30 secs each side and it's done. My home grill still does a better job though.

We've got the Diablo stove top thing. It does work really well but the toasties are small and you waste lots of bread. We got a square one that takes up a whole slice and is much better and I'd like another one of those so we can do relays on the two gas rings but can't seem to find one. I'm sure it came from Betterware but they don't seem to do them now.

Pixel this is what you need!

I wnat the double pie iron.

We asked in camping store the advice was you want a large burner lots of family stoves have small burners so hot middle of pan only. We bought one with large burners and larger grill than the camping gas ones not bad.

Thank you Blu
Although I can't see how the double one is doing two sandwiches at a time, it still looks like two slices of bread in there but cut in half. Maybe it's just the picture. However this is just what I wanted.

I get all ambitious hankering after a pie iron and imagine knocking up an apple pie in one, using ready made pastry...

The only thing is they don't appear to clamp the edges of the bread together like the Diablo does...but that, of course, is what causes the bread wastage...

I am not going to be able to manage another year's camping without buying one, I know!

Those Campingaz ones are a good stove. You just have to keep moving the bread about to get reasonable toast.

I think all those stoves have small, hot burners - just be careful with ultra-thin camping saucepans, things can easily burn. I killed a thin frying pan on first use, I take a thickbased aluminium one from the kitchen now.