How to Cook With a Backpacking Stove
After a long hike, the first thing on your mind might be warming up and sating the appetite with a hot meal. Backpacking stoves provides a convenient way to cook foods quickly and efficiently by using less fuel in a lightweight appliance. Most stoves designed for backpacking use butane or propane cartridges or canisters, which are easy to transport and readily available. Follow these steps to cook with your backpacking stove.
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Instructions
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Set up the stove for cooking and connect the fuel canister on a level, non-flammable surface away from your campfire.
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Light a match or lighter and turn on the fuel knob to ignite the stove. Never turn on the gas before lighting the match.
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Adjust the burner control knob to set the flame at the desired height.
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Use a teaspoon of cooking oil or melt two pads of margarine in your saucepan to keep foods from sticking and make the cleanup go faster.
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Cook easy-to-prepare foods on the backpacking stove. One-pot meals work best for single-burner backpacking stoves. Such recipes include beef stew, beans and franks, and roasted potatoes with a pinch of rosemary and garlic (see tips section on camp seasonings). One-pot dinners can be supplemented by grilling hot dogs on sticks or perhaps shrimp on bamboo skewers over the campfire.
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Shut off the burner control knob completely when finished cooking and disconnect the fuel canister from the stove after it cools.
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Tips & Warnings
Pack small quantities of herbs and spices in resealable plastic snack bags to add flavor to camp foods without adding weight to your backpack. Use your camp stove at least once at home by cooking a meal on the patio or deck to familiarize yourself with the stove's operation and capabilities and, if nothing else, to verify that it works. Trying out new equipment for the first time in the field is a recipe for trouble.
Don't use the backpacking stove or store fuel near the campfire or any other heat source. Don't use your stove inside the tent or any indoor space.
