Butane stoves?

[Grant Lamontagne]

I was at a flea market yesterday and picked up a very lightly used butane stove for $15.  I've never used a butane stove but I am pretty psyched about it.  I'll post photos shortly because I think it's  pretty cool, but it looks like pretty well any other butane stove on the market- black plastic case, inverted cooking surface for portability and a butane cannister compartment on the right.

Maybe a butane stove for $15 wasn't as great as deal as last year's $10 Whisperlite find (https://forum.multitool.org/index.php/topic,66549.0.html), but I'm happy with it so far, and, more importantly we are keeping the tradition of buying stoves at this particular yard sale alive!

Def

[Kev D]

Like this?


I've got 2 like that, they are great stoves.

[Grant Lamontagne]

Very similar to that, yes.  Mine isn't a Coleman, and it's black instead of blue, but essentially yes, that's the machine I have.  I'm glad to hear that you like it.  It's bigger/bulkier than all of my other stoves, except of course for my two burner propane Coleman stove.  They had two of them and I am kind of kicking myself for not grabbing both of them.

I also saw old Coleman stoves, but the guy wanted way too much for them- he called them "mint condition" but it looked to me like someone had beaten the mint out of them.

Def

[AimlessWanderer]

I've had a couple of those stoves too, and they were excellent. I kept mine on the boat in case I ran out of fuel for the Origo stove and it was too hot to fire up the wood stove, but they had a lot of use car camping too.

[Grant Lamontagne]

I have read that it is safe to cook indoors with butane. Does anyone know if that is true?

Def

[AimlessWanderer]

If you're thinking in terms of byproducts, both produce carbon monoxide. Use in a well ventilated area like with other stoves. One thing to note with butane, is it doesn't like cold conditions.

This may be useful.... https://www.enkivillage.org/butane-vs-propane.html

[Kev D]

Very similar to that, yes.  Mine isn't a Coleman, and it's black instead of blue, but essentially yes, that's the machine I have.

Mine aren't Coleman either. That was just a photo I found online. Mine are black no name ones that were cheap, but they have always been good.  You can use the case as a windbreak to.

[Smashie]

I've got one of those as well which I mainly use at home for Chinese hotpot, always used with windows open. Cheap and reliable, can't go wrong 

[Grant Lamontagne]

If you're thinking in terms of byproducts, both produce carbon monoxide. Use in a well ventilated area like with other stoves. One thing to note with butane, is it doesn't like cold conditions.

This may be useful.... https://www.enkivillage.org/butane-vs-propane.html

Thanks for the link- I know Butane is cheaper since I was doing some looking online yesterday and found a three pack of butane cans for $10, which I thought was pretty darned good.

Def

[Smashie]

If you're thinking in terms of byproducts, both produce carbon monoxide. Use in a well ventilated area like with other stoves. One thing to note with butane, is it doesn't like cold conditions.

This may be useful.... https://www.enkivillage.org/butane-vs-propane.html

Thanks for the link- I know Butane is cheaper since I was doing some looking online yesterday and found a three pack of butane cans for $10, which I thought was pretty darned good.

Def

I don't know about Canada but Amazon in the UK has a 28 pack of butane canisters for £30 or $51.82 CAD

[Grant Lamontagne]

Sweet.  I don't think I'm ready to stockpile quite that much butane just yet though!  I think I'll find out if this thing even works first!

The group I bought it from runs a tool rental service in Ottawa and, while it looks like it was only used once or twice, it's hard to tell if the people that used it once or twice had any idea what they were doing. 

Def

[jzmtl]

Try T&T or other Asian store, you should be able to find 4 pack canisters for $5.

[Grant Lamontagne]

Thanks Jie- I live right next to Chinatown in Ottawa so if the rain lets up I'll go for a walk and see what I can find.

Def

[TazzieRob]

There was a national recall on these types of stoves some years back in Aus. People weren't following the instructions  and putting far loo large pots and bbq plates on them, reflecting heat back to the butane canister and kaboom!
In this case, it is best to RTFM 

[Grant Lamontagne]

Well, the good news is that it didn't explode while I was taking photos....



If nothing else, at least it comes in a nice case. 



Opening up the case shows the stove itself, which is cool because that's really how a stove is supposed to work.  There's no melted bits in it, so in the few times this one has been used it seems like someone at least had the sense to take the stove out before using it. 



There's not a lot of setup with this thing- just pull it out of the case, flip the cover over the burner to expose the pot holders and it is ready.... except for the fuel of course, but as I haven't picked any up yet that part will have to wait.



The instructions are clear and readable, which is handy as I have never actually used one of these stoves and even before Rob's comments and I'd really rather not get all blowed up... again.... but that's another story....



Inside it looks pretty complex, like there's a lot going on when really there isn't.  Basically there's a lever that locks the butane canister in place when in use and releases it when not so the can seals itself.  It's a simple design, but seems like it would be effective.



On the front is a dial that controls the heat level and supposedly also ignites the butane, but without fuel I can't tell you whether it works or not.  I can say though that it is dirty- you can see where I'd wiped away some of the dust on the front.   

And speaking of wiping things off....





No idea how long that has been on there so I will probably have my work cut out for me trying to clean it off.  Once I give it a good cleaning I think it will look great.  If it works as good as it looks, I think we have a winner. 

Def

[jzmtl]

Oh yeah make sure the pot holder is right side up, I actually knew someone who tried to boil water the other way and wondered why the water wouldn't boil and the whole room smelled like burnt paint. 

[AimlessWanderer]

Oh yeah make sure the pot holder is right side up, I actually knew someone who tried to boil water the other way and wondered why the water wouldn't boil and the whole room smelled like burnt paint. 

 

 

[Grant Lamontagne]

Yeah, that was the first thing I looked at when I checked it out at the flea market.  Since it was a rental unit I wanted to know if it had been abused or misused before I bought it.  No bad burned spots, just the drippage issues and a slight smell of methlequine....   

Def

[Kev D]

They have those stoves for a tenner in our local Asda at the mo

[Grant Lamontagne]

They certainly do appear to be the cheapest of the outdoor cooking stoves.  I was looking at one today at a store called Princess Auto, famous for having the weirdest selection of stuff you can find in a store.  I can't recall the price, but it was a double burner version, with a butane canister slot at either end- almost like they took two singles and bolted them together.



It looked pretty cool, but as I haven't even managed to give the one I have a try yet, I was loathe to pick up another.  Plus I have enough stoves to crush Gordon Ramsey already...

Def

[Kev D]

I've never seen a double burner version. It'd be easier to have 2 singles I would have thought.

[Grant Lamontagne]

Or two burners feeding off one canister.   

I think I would rather have two singles than one double that is just two singles stuck together.  It seems kind of pointless, and like it would be much more awkward to lug around than two singles.

Def

[IvanDrago]

I never use butane stoves. On the contrary to isobutane and propane, butan gas does not evaporate in low temperatures. As a result, when air temperature is below 10 or 5 deg Celsius, the power output is tragically low. That's why I prefer Jetboil cartriges containing propane, isobutane and just a tiny of butane. Coleman and Primus also have too much butane for my purposes.

[Grant Lamontagne]

That's good to know.

I have yet to get any butane for this stove to give it a try.

Def

[MadPlumbarian]

I never use butane stoves. On the contrary to isobutane and propane, butan gas does not evaporate in low temperatures. As a result, when air temperature is below 10 or 5 deg Celsius, the power output is tragically low. That's why I prefer Jetboil cartriges containing propane, isobutane and just a tiny of butane. Coleman and Primus also have too much butane for my purposes.

I guess then it wasn't to good cooking with one in the kitchen during a power outage in the middle of winter, at least I had a curtain closing it off to where we were bunkered down, although that room had a the butane heater going..
JR

[Alan K.]

I keep seeing these stoves in thrift stores but I have yet to buy one of them.  I'm pretty well invested in Coleman camp stoves at the moment. One of them, purchased several years ago, came with about 20 of the one pound propane cans and I still have half of them so I'm not ready to get into another fuel type.

[Grant Lamontagne]

So far I have stoves that are powered by:

Wood
Propane
Isobutane
Butane
Naptha/white gas/Coleman Stove Fuel
Alcohol
Solid fuel cubes (what is that stuff that is in Esbit tablets?  )

And at least one of them (Whisperlite International) can also be powered by propane, gasoline etc.

Def

[MadPlumbarian]

So far I have stoves that are powered by:

Wood
Propane
Isobutane
Butane
Naptha/white gas/Coleman Stove Fuel
Alcohol
Solid fuel cubes (what is that stuff that is in Esbit tablets?  )

And at least one of them (Whisperlite International) can also be powered by propane, gasoline etc.

Def

What no charcoal? A grills kinda a stove, lol
JR

[TazzieRob]

So far I have stoves that are powered by:

Wood
Propane
Isobutane
Butane
Naptha/white gas/Coleman Stove Fuel
Alcohol
Solid fuel cubes (what is that stuff that is in Esbit tablets?  )

And at least one of them (Whisperlite International) can also be powered by propane, gasoline etc.

Def

I think you meant kerosene or diesel, not propane for the Whisperlite International?

[Spork, Lord of Lime Jello!]

Or two burners feeding off one canister.   

I think I would rather have two singles than one double that is just two singles stuck together.  It seems kind of pointless, and like it would be much more awkward to lug around than two singles.

Def

You should try this! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfxkrrndtMQ