camping cooking question

[quetzal2000]

I am just starting up camping with my daughter and trying to understand the pros and cons of different cookers, and more importantly the fuel they use. Can anyone advise on the comparative economics, and environmental implications of the small cartridge type of fuel and the bigger refillable bottles. We are generally camping with a car, but still not keen to lug more weight around then necessary. I'm thinking two burners - but it could be 2 of those little light weight jobs - or a two burner 'chef' type stove. Any advice gratefully received.

[Boris]

We use two petrol stoves when we go away as a family. As a gas stove user I must admit as to being sceptical about petrol stoves but once I used them there is no going back. The advantage for me of two stoves is when I go away on my own I only need take one of them.

[ngovgroup]

My mother bought a Camp Chef double burner stove two years ago for our camping trips and I have used it and traveled with it. I can say that it is a geat sturdy stove that is easy to transport, clean, and use.

[BigAl]

I use a 2 burner gas cooker and it has the advantage of being able to connect to whatever gas bottle you care to choose. There are plenty around, its just a matter of finding what your happy with.

[LittleSkink]

We use CampingGaz Bistro (suitcase stove) and the more old fashioned pierced canister CampingGaz stoves too. Never used a gas bottle powered cooker, mostly becuase of the bulk

We find the pierced canister stove ok, but a little short of power and stability - 190gm canisters (about £1ea) last us about 2 days of endless kettle boiling but gather the canisters are to be phased out soon. It is ok for back pack or motorbike camping but stuff like Trangia and MSR would serve better

Our suitcase stove is a lot more powerful and uses resealing canisters (can be had for £5 for 4 at Towsure or sometimes cheaper), again maybe 2 days of kettle boiling, but quick kettle boiling. We know people who use two of these in preference to a big bottle powered twin ring cooker. At this time of year the stoves and canisters can be had pretty cheaply - just make sure the canisters have a good weight of gas, CampingGaz CP250 is 250gm, Gelert/Towsure ones tend to be 220-230gm but some brands can be a lot less than 200gm

In terms of running costs, we camp maybe 3 to 4 weeks a year and get through maybe a dozen canisters, so compared to our other camping costs the expense is minimal. Just got 16 Gelert canisters from B&Q clearance for less than £15, so we are sorted for at least a year now