Enlighten me about camping cookers

[korolev]

In the next few months we are going to be having work done to our house and will need to move out.
One possibility is to move into the garage (it's a double garage and I've been converting the back half of it into a garden room/summer house/pub).
So with that in mind I'm looking into a camping cooking setup but I have zero knowledge of them, hence my questions :
Propane or Butane ?
Can you get a stove that runs off a standard gas bottle rather than the little cannisters ?
Any recommendations ?

[Yorkshire Andy]

If work on the house why not get an electronic hotplate either ceramic or induction plug into a 13a socket and away you go?

Unless your after a prep in that case a camping Gaz 2 burner with grill

Propane is good for winter use

Butane summer

Most house insurance won't like propane in a dwelling

CGI stoves usually come with hose pre fitted then you buy the regulator to match the bottle

[Yorkshire Andy]

https://www.bchcamping.co.uk/Camping/Ca ... w8QAvD_BwE



https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/household ... lsrc=aw.ds


https://www.argos.co.uk/product/9147782 ... lsrc=aw.ds

[Yorkshire Andy]

Oh and Mr calor won't let you take a new rental out on his bottles at the moment look on Facebook selling site for an empty one

I'd go for 7kg butane unless it's going to be cold...

https://shop.calor.co.uk/7kg-butane-gas-bottle.html

What they don't make overly common knowledge is you can exchange and swap sizes and types

https://www.calor.co.uk/gas-bottles/adv ... e-exchange

This is the regulator to suit calor 7 and 15kg butane
https://www.amazon.co.uk/CALOR-GAS-Regu ... 6996&psc=1

[jansman]

I’ll second the induction hobs. We use them at work.

[GillyBee]

Go for a plug in induction hob if you have access to electricity. We used one for a year when we first moved into our current location. It made life far easier than the old camping stove we originally planned to use. It is now kept in case the cooker plays up and was loaned to a friend for that purpose too.

Add a big thermos or thermal cooker and you can cook the rice/pasta in that while working on the rest of the meal.

If no electricity then the little "briefcase" gaz cookers are a dream to use but can be heavy on cartridges. good for power cuts and short term use.

And if you are dead set on using a traditional butane/propane stove with a refillable bottle, try talking to friends/family neighbours to see if they have an old bottle you can have/borrow. One of ours has just dumped her old gas BBQ and gave us the butane cylinder. (She was planning to dump it. We said "yes please" very quickly. It is still pretty much full too)

[grenfell]

In my early days on building sites we would have what was dubbed a "motorbike" which was in effect a crude burner with a mesh covering which helped heat the shed and a platform on top to take a kettle or pan. It made a noise that sounded a bit like a motorbike hence the nickname and it ran on propane, normally something like a 32lb bottle . Probably cheapness was a governing factor on sites without power. Later on when the sheds became "canteens" and were wired up most had a microwave and a couple even had a small tabletop cooker come oven. I'd say the electric option is by far the easiest , cleanest and probably the cheapest option. There is also the option of using a generator. The small butane breifcase cookers are easy to use although i have seen the occasional problem with the cans not seating properly and gas escaping and burning in the wrong place!

[Yorkshire Andy]

I’ll second the induction hobs. We use them at work.

I bought a double one earlier this year for when camping on electric hook up

Efficient wind proof and safe for little fingers (it's cool enough to touch 30 seconds or so after removing the pan

Plus I can still use the campers gas hob with the pans
if the electric goes off I only Cary a small camping Gaz bottle now just got emergency use


And a microwave grill oven you can get most things cooking...

A halogen oven means you can do a decent roast

Keep your eyes open on Facebook selling sites for stuff like halogen ovens they pop up from time to time...

I'm considering a Vango scran too looks good for £30!

[Yorkshire Andy]

Few links to building up a gas hose / regulator

https://youtu.be/jZWCM81UPQg



You'll generally find butane works on 28 mbar and propane 37mbar

Patio gas is propane in a overpriced guise hence 37mbar


There's a newer standard which fits in the middle of the pressures iirc butane is 30mb very small difference...



If you go ,"Industrial propane" you'll need a bottle spanner or big adjustable and remember it's a reverse thread so fit anti clockwise remove clockwise... Same with the 4.5kg threaded butane

Oh and I found out recently b&q don't do "red gas" aka propane ...


Between wild camping / camping / caravans / industrial gas use I've used most so any questions I'll do my best to advise


If you plan on storing a couple of bottles make sure there's low level ventilation as butane / propane is heavier than air so don't store in basements etc as it pools

[Medusa]

We use a double burner with grill which runs off butane. We have been able to swap an empty bottle for a refill but have not been able to buy an additional bottle which we wanted as a spare due to shortages which someone else has already mentioned. I really do not like using the small cannister briefcase style cookers as there appears to have been a run of unsafe ones recently. For boiling water for a brew I still find that my MSR pocket rocket 2 boils a billy can of water faster than my butane stove can