My friend Greg from gadmachine, who’s an avid home and camp chef, pulled out this cool little camping stove on a trip last summer. It’s a Iwatani butane-powered, single-burner stove. This particular one (Model ZA-3HP) puts out 12,000 BTUs and costs about $35. They make another version (Model 35FW) that puts out 15,000 BTUs that costs about $80. For comparison a standard, propane Coleman camp stove will produce 10,000 BTUs per burner.
That extra heat is great for searing steaks. You can even use it indoors, so it can do both camp and home kitchen duty. Greg says they’ve been making them forever in Asia and really have the design nailed down. People seem to love them.
They both come with carrying cases and might make great gifts.
Links:
Iwatani 12,000 BTU stove on Amazon, and Central Restaurant Products
Iwatani 15,000 BTU stove on Amazon, and Central Restaurant Products
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Nice! So far I’ve been impressed by the Iwatani. Though larger than typical camp stoves, the tabletop stove makes up for it by providing more stability (particularly when using cast iron cookware), higher btu output with great modulation (ideal for slow simmering) and an inexpensive fuel source (about $2 at Asian stores and hardware stores for butane canisters).
The caveat? Overkill if your camp-cuisine requires nothing more than “l’eau bouillie” =)
Ah, thanks for weighing in, Greg!