What Butane Stove?

H

hardee

New member
What Butane Stove?

Hey, don’t get your hopes up, I am not cooking on the boat - - - yet. But, I may have company on the boat with me for a few days and would like the option of at least making hot coffee, and hot water for bath and shampoo time. So . . .

I am looking at the butane stoves, and there are at least a couple dozen available. So, not really being much of an internet buyer, (I’m thinking REI not amazion), what brands are reliable, how’s your luck with them, and what brands are not.

REI has 2 that look pretty much the same, (some small differences), Eureka, Iwatani.

Yes, I know there are all those reviews, but I trust them about as far as I can throw them. I trust this place way more than 100 reviews from amaizion.


Harvey
SleepyC:moon

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In addition to the Wallace stove that we use most mornings I carry two butane stoves with me. I carry a butane Jet Boil with a pot combo for that quick cup of coffee. The second stove that I carry is a Korean butane table stove that I bought at an Asian Supermarket. They sell for $20-30, have their own case and the butane when purchased at the supermarket is much cheaper than at the camping store. They work very well, and are cost effective. I do most of my cooking in the cockpit with the stove on top of the picnic cooler, but sometimes it comes inside. I like to cook outside since the excess humidity and cooking smells do not accumulate in the cabin. I use the Wallace in the mornings because it warms the cabin and I tend to have more time to make coffee, cook breakfast and fill a couple of thermos bottles with boiled water. The Wallace is not the stove for a quick cup of coffee, hence the thermos bottles and the Jet Boil.
 
When my Kenyon stove gave up (bad seals), I got two butane stoves, a large one and a smaller one. I can use them in the galley or in the cockpit (have a table that can be installed across the splashwell for cooking). I can use the big one, the small one, or both as the cooking situation demands. They can also be used on shore if needed (e.g. on the beach).

There are no shortage of stoves to choose from, but you want one (IMO) that is wind resistant so you can cook at low settings.

The bigger one I have is Iwatani and cost about $85 (at the time). The smaller one was about half that, but I don't recall the brand.

One thing to keep in mind is that the boiling point of butane is around 38 deg F. If you want to cook with butane in low temps you may have problems keeping the stove lit. On cold mornings I've had to put the butane canister under my shirt to get it warm enough to light the stove. As you pull fuel from it, it will cool off. On occasion I've had to alternate canisters until the stove is warm enough to keep the butane boiling.

If you want to cook in colder temps, a propane stove of some sort might be a better choice. Coleman makes a number of portable propane camping stoves.
 
hardee":3bd2q53a said:
What Butane Stove?
...company with me for a few days and would like the option of at least making hot coffee, and hot water for bath and shampoo time. So . . .
I am looking at the butane stoves, and there are at least a couple dozen available. So, not really being much of an internet buyer, (I’m thinking REI not amazion), what brands are reliable, how’s your luck with them, and what brands are not.
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From backpacking, canoe and car camping and camping for work over 50 years, I have way too many stoves, starting with a classic SVEA 123 gasoline stove when I was 12. Most of the older ones are gasoline or diesel, but I wouldn't advise them unless you are planning on flying and then buying fuel in remote locations. For primarily heating water, you can't miss with a Jetboil. You can get a base that makes it very stable, and the "pots" lock to the stove, making the whole thing a single unit. You can also hang this stove to swivel under really rough conditions, like when you anchor and the wind picks up and shifts. I've used it climbing when camping hanging on a cliff. It is great. The heat-transfer fins let it boil faster than nearly any other stove. If you want a bit more capacity, quick boiling and stability, the MSR "Reactor" system, though expensive, is similar and will boil 2 quarts at a time. In my C-Dory, I cook mostly on an induction stove, but boil water on my MSR Reactor. In fact, the MSR Reactor is what I use almost exclusively canoe, kayak or car camping because it is fast to start and boil. I use an MSR "Pocket Rocket" for backpacking, but definitely won't recommend it for your C-Dory due to stability issues. The second thing to think about is getting fuel. Isobutane cylinders are now readily available, as are the 1 lb prop propane cylinders. Each will boil a lot of water. I highly recommend a stove that uses either.
 
ssobol":2p0c48h9 said:
There are no shortage of stoves to choose from, but you want one (IMO) that is wind resistant so you can cook at low settings.
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After spending too much time devising wind breaks that usually didn't work anyway and burning potentially good food on high I spent a few extra $ and got a Martin 404 infrared and love it. Not only doesn't blow out but I find the infrared burner holds and distributes the heat better.

http://www.c-brats.com/modules.php?set_ ... _album.php

Coffee - for years we used a SS stove top perk and still use it at home but on the boat we got tired of keeping it clean and disposing of the grounds. Started using a Kureg and find it much simpler and easy to dispose of the pods.

Regards,

Rob
 
Robert H. Wilkinson":skvxne5a said:
... Coffee - for years we used a SS stove top perk and still use it at home but on the boat we got tired of keeping it clean and disposing of the grounds. Started using a Kureg and find it much simpler and easy to dispose of the pods. ...
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Grounds can be dumped or buried (depending on where you're making your coffee). Doing the same K-cups would be littering.
 
If you have a US Chef's Store close to you (originally United Grocers, then Cash & Carry, then Smart Foodservice, now US Chef's Store) they have the things for around thirty bucks along with fuel canisters. I have two of them and they always work. The flame gets lower as the can empties and freezes on the outside and by the time it is half empty it won't boil water, but for the first fifteen minutes or so it heats really good.

Or, and I hate to say it, Walmart has them for 20 bucks.

Better still, if you have to go a ways to find one just drive on down here and I will give you two of the things and a bunch of fuel cans. Or, if you only need one I will keep one and a couple cans of butane and you can have the rest. Might even throw in some jars of smoke/canned sturgeon and canned salmon.
 
WOW Mike, your the best! And it might just fit in a saddlebag.

Tom, REI :roll: Yes, but if you are careful not so much, and they stand behind their products.

I'm looking at Colman or Eureka probably. Not up to electric cooking yet.

Thanks all for the tips. Glad to hear from experience.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon
 
ssobol":1nmfg343 said:
Doing the same K-cups would be littering.
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I agree - the single use K-cups produce a lot of waste. At home we compost the grounds from the perk but our 20' boat has no water tankage or usable sink. Disposing of the loose grounds and keeping the perk clean made using the pods an attractive alternative in a confined space. If we were anchoring out for extended periods I would rethink this - those pods are not cheap!

Rob
 
Thanks for bringing this up, Harvey. I am redoing some of the drip irrigation in my little greenhouse and it is easier to shove the little plastic fittings into the little plastic tubes if I dip the tube end in almost boiling water. I usually use the propane torch and a metal can and have to stop to reheat the water pretty often. But using the little butane stove instead works great!

Thanks for the inspiration and I will be keeping one of them along with a couple of the fuel cans. You can still have the others.
 
TyBoo":1g7n2bt7 said:
The flame gets lower as the can empties and freezes on the outside and by the time it is half empty it won't boil water, but for the first fifteen minutes or so it heats really good.
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As propane or isobutane (or anything else) goes from a liquid to a gas state it absorbs heat from the environment. It can freeze the remaining liquid in the canister....this is actually the way refrigeration systems work. Two ways to get around this on a practical basis: 1) sleep with your canister and water container in your sleeping bag so they start warm, and 2) use the first increment of heat to heat some water, then pour in a pan and set the canister in. Works in high altitude and arctic environments at minus-a-lot. You can also pour warm water (not hot) on larger propane cylinders, like the 20-lb ones, or set them in warm (not hot) water.
 
Harvey,

Get a simple Asian butane stove for $30 or so and be done with it (they come with a very effective storage case too). They work great and don't fail. Note that they can only handle 1 pot at a time. The "freezing problem" is a non-issue if you are cooking inside the cabin at normal temperatures. They come in stainless steel for a somewhat higher price. If I were you, I'd get the SS one (they clean up great). Note the butane cylinders (look like paint spray cans) can be purchased anywhere from ~$3 per can to $9 per can depending on where you go (not so long ago they could be had for $1.50). Amazon is almost as cheap as a hole-in-the-wall Asian supermarket, and these days they will ship them. You'll need a lot since 1 cylinder lasts maybe 3 days cooking all meals for 2 people. (P.S. For boiling lots of water for pasta or crab etc, I cook in the cockpit and use another small stove that takes the far more economical propane 1 pound cylinders.)
 
When the can ices up I just swap it out with a warm one and use up the rest of it later. It is only frustrating when the flame dies down while the coffee is perking. I don't use one of the butane jobs on the boat anymore so it's no problem. It sure is working good for the greenhouse plumbing.

The frost on the outside of a propane tank is what tells me how much is left in the 100 pounder when running the crab cooker.

I like the comment about refrigeration systems working that way. When I was 18 and just starting on my job at the mill there was an old timer (probably mid 30s but he looked old to me) working on a cooling unit. I asked him about how a propane refer worked with a flame making things cold. He explained all of it to me and I understood it then, but the one lasting point he made was telling me there is no such thing as cold - only the absence of heat. Cold is just a word.

Now that Harvey is going to Walmart for the stove I figured I could eat his smoked fish and sidetrack this thread.
 
No, not yet, I'm coming, really. Maybe when the roads are dry and the temps aren't hovering in the 40's. Would like to be thawed enough to at least have a proper visit -- in biker that means being about to get off the bike and stand up.
8)

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

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