The best camping stoves you can buy

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The Insider Pick:

• A reliable camp stove is a great way to enjoy a warm meal and a hot cup of coffee when you're out in the field. It can also be must-have for purifying water and safely cooking food.

• The Snow Peak LiteMax Titanium Camp Stove is our top pick because it's reliable, easy to use, and weighs less than two ounces.

There really is nothing like a hot cup of coffee on a cold mountain morning. Except maybe a hot meal on a cold mountain evening. Or some fresh fish cooked up minutes after it was pulled from the stream. Or a mug of hot cocoa sipped by the campfire as snowflakes dance beneath the winter stars.

With a good camp stove, you can enjoy a bit of creature comfort even when you're a multi-day hike away from the comforts of home. In my woodland wanderings, I've used three or four stoves of my own and I've cooked and/or boiled water using easily a dozen stoves owned by fellow mountaineers. I've used camp stoves to cook up multiple course meals during leisurely afternoons at well-established campsites and I've used them to melt snow and ice just so I had enough water to drink in order to rehydrate after an exhausting climb. Mostly, though, like all campers, I've used them to boil water.

In fact, it's worth noting that, more than any other use, a camp stove will be used to boil water, not for actual cooking, per say. This is so both for purifying water and because so many ready-made camp meals simply require the addition of heated H2O. So along with that camp stove, make sure you also get a decent pot for boiling.

Any decent stove will produce plenty of heat and will resist the elements, but beyond that, there are all sorts of differences between various brands and models of stove that make a given unit ideal for one user but a poor choice for others. In discussing the five camp stoves on this list, I'll cover not only each option's inherent qualities but will also talk through why each model is well suited to specific activities, as well as why a given stove may be a poor choice for other scenarios.

Each of these camp stoves is unique in several ways, but a few factors must be universally considered with backpacking stoves. These are weight, fuel source, and boil time, which is tantamount to considering BTU output. Beyond that, go ahead and let personal preference help inform your choice of the best camp stove. After all, you're the chef who'll be using it out there in the field.

Here are the best camp stoves you can buy:

• Best camp stove overall: Snow Peak LiteMax Titanium Stove
• Best propane camp stove: Coleman Bottle Top Propane Stove
• Best high-powered camp stove: Mr. Steak 1-Burner Infrared Portable Grill
• Best wood burning camp stove: Ohuhu Portable Wood Burning Camping Stove
• Best high-tech camp stove: BioLite CampStove 2

Updated on 08/21/2018 by Steven John: Added a high-tech stove and a new high-powered pick. Updated prices and formatting.

Read on in the slides below to check out our top picks.

The best camp stove overall

Why you'll love it: The Snow Peak LiteMax Titanium stove achieves a maximum heat output rated at more than 11,000 BTUs, but the stove weighs only 1.9 ounces and folds down smaller than a pack of playing cards.

Full disclosure: I own and use a Snow Peak LiteMax Titanium stove. Don't worry, they're not paying me to write about it nor am I expecting any free canisters of fuel to arrive wrapped up with a bow. Rather my top choice for best camp stove is also the camp stove I primarily use because I've been through enough other stoves to know when I've found a good one.

Folded up, the LiteMax Titanium is small enough to fit in the palm of your hand. It tucks away into a pack without taking up any space worth noting, and the stove adds a mere 1.9 ounces to your overall gear weight. The standard canister of fuel used with a Snow Peak stove weighs only a little more than half a pound and is smaller than a softball, so no concerns over weight or size there, either. 

Setting up this diminutive little stove takes about five seconds. You flip open its three legs, fold down the valve control rod, screw it onto the fuel canister, and you're ready to cook.

In most conditions, the Snow Peak LiteMax Titanium stove can bring a smaller pot of water to boil in about 50 minutes, and with its standard fuel canister it should offer up to 50 minutes of burn time. The only real complaint I have about this stove is one to be expected from such a small device: It's rather unstable. You need to be sure you center a pot or pan on those three little legs and make sure to place the fuel canister on as flat and solid a surface as possible. If you're not careful, you will end up with spilled water or, worse, a spilled dinner.

The Snow Peak LiteMax Titanium is a favorite of many Amazon customers, with average ratings above four stars. A LiteMax owner named Robert put it best when he said it's "small and compact, lightweight, [and] high build-quality. What's not to like?"

A writer with Trailspace Outdoor Gear Reviews notes how the stove "sets up in seconds" and praises its "excellent flame control." And like we've done here, the folks at Backpacker.com also called the LiteMax Titanium the Best All-Around camp stove, calling it the "lightest of lightweights."

Pros: Very lightweight, excellent flame intensity control, easy setup

Cons: Not very stable, can be extinguished by gusty wind

Buy the Snow Peak LiteMax Titanium Stove on Amazon for $54.38 (originally $59.95)

The best affordable camp stove

Why you'll love it: The Coleman Bottle Top Propane Stove acts like a standard stovetop burner, and it's powerful, rugged, and well priced.

You know how the razor companies get you by selling the handles cheap but then pricing the blade cartridges at astronomical rates? It can be like that with camp stove fuel, too. But the best field stove in the world is just a paperweight without fuel, so buy it you will, regardless of the price. With the Coleman Bottle Top Propane Stove, those canisters of propane fuel are surprisingly low-priced — you can often get a 16-ounce fuel cylinder for just ten bucks, in fact, and one such tank will burn for two hours at full blast and as long as eight or nine hours on a low setting. So if you want to make campsite risotto, go for it. Oh, and the stove itself is affordable, too.

Flame control is remarkably easy with this stove, just twist that large plastic knob all the way open for a roaring 10,000 BTU output or dial it back for hours of simmering. And thanks to the deep bowl shape and generous wind baffles, this stove will maintain a consistent burn in all but the most powerful gusts of wind. The burner is large and stable enough to accommodate an 8-inch pan or pot, so you really can almost treat it like a standard stovetop.

I used one of these stoves for several years and still keep one on hand in case the stove in my house ever has a problem or for some sort of apocalyptic nightmare during which I still wanted to cook pasta. But you'll probably never see me bringing this stove along for another hike or climb. Why? Weight and size. This stove weighs more than two pounds, with the canister adding another three pounds or more when filled. That's heavier than some tents and sleeping pads combined. So while I highly recommend this stove for car campers or emergency preparedness, it's a poor choice for climbers or trekkers.

That said, the Coleman Bottle Top Propane Stove currently enjoys a 4.6 out of five-star rating on Amazon. If there's one thing many people singled out about their Coleman stove, it's reliability. The best evidence of that comes from a reviewer who bought her stove years before Amazon even existed! She says: "I purchased this [stove] in 1992 and use it regularly while camping today." 25 years and still going strong!

Video reviewer Brandon Boss noted the stove's ease of start-up and flame control, while a writer at Anne's Travels called the Coleman stove "great for a large pot" and "fuel efficient."

Pros: Low price point, long burn time, easy flame output adjustment

Cons: Very heavy and bulky

Buy the Coleman Bottle Top Propane Stove on Amazon for $19.95+

The best high-powered camp stove

Why you'll love it: The Mr. Steak 1-Burner Infrared Portable Grill cranks out 14,000 BTUs and can heat up to an astounding 1,000° Fahrenheit.

If you're pushing for the summit of Denali or the Eiger, then it's probably best to leave the Mr. Steak 1-Burner Infrared Portable Grill back at base camp. At around 30 pounds and measuring 25 by 16 by 16 inches, this is most definitely a car camping grill. But with that size comes 165 square inches of cooking space, below which an immensely powerful ceramic infrared burner can heat up to as much as 1,000 degrees. Not that you will need that much heat most of the time, but hey, it's there for you.

The Mr. Steak 1-Burner Infrared Portable Grill works with a standard one-pound propane cylinder (the squat green ones, like the Coleman stove uses as well) and has an electronic ignition system. When you're not using the grill, you can fold its legs up for easier storage or transport, and when you are using it, you'll appreciate the cool-to-the-touch silicone cover on the handle and a latch that can hold the cover open while you're flipping burgers.

A Mr. Steak grill owner named Jon said he "never would have thought [he] could personally grill steakhouse quality steak on a light weight, portable grill like this one," also adding that it is "super easy to transport." A gentleman named Frederick was even more on the nose, calling this plucky little grill "the best of the best."

And having owned on myself, I might add that Jon and Frederick aren't just full of hot air. But this grill sure is. (Yes, that was an amazing pun, thank you.)

Pros: Amazing heat output, large cook surface, electric ignition system

Cons: Expensive, too large for hiking

Buy the Mr. Steak 1-Burner Infrared Portable Grill from BassPro for $230

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