I am currently a cook without a kitchen. We are in the middle of a major house remodel, and while I drool over thoughts of what our new kitchen will be like, I stand shivering in the garage with my camp stove. I figured it was a good time to talk about how AWESOME it is and how grateful I am to have a husband who searches out sweet stuff like this.
We outfitted this rig in Summer of 2014 for our honeymoon. It was a glorious trip, slow, mellow, beautiful - we camped almost exclusively off-road on BLM land all over Colorado, Arizona, Utah and Nevada. I had never before realized the scope of our public land system in this country, nor the feeling of freedom of not being tied to any campground or designated area, just whichever piece of land was flat enough and large enough and sometimes scenic enough for a night's stay.
Following that trip we did two major upgrades to our system - moved the plug-in fridge down to fit underneath the shelving as opposed to on top of it, making it easier for me to fish out snacks, and bought a new camp stove. Thank you old Coleman for the years of service, but god damn you are flimsy and your little canisters are just plain dinky. After much time spent trolling 4x4 forums, Nick decided to go with the Cook Partner propane stove, hand made in Pocatello, Idaho.
The first thing I do when I show anyone this stove is point out the welding lines. See, I say, this was made by an actual person, with their hands! To say it is well made is a massive understatement; this thing may be able to withstand a hurricane. Every piece is strong and heavy. In simplicity and solidity I find it to be perfectly constructed. The only improvement would be if it automatically cleaned the grease splatters and sauce drippings off the bottom for you.
Now how does it cook? Nick chose this model, the 22", so that we could fit two larger pans on at once. The spaciousness is luxurious for a camp stove. I can even push one small pot off to the side and cram three pots on at once. But at the end of the day, it all comes down to firepower. That is where this baby really shines. I can sear and brown the heck out of anything we decide to drag into the wilderness with us, be it a zucchini or a sausage. I'm not sure what the BTU rating is but it is similar to the power that comes from a home stove. Coffee has become a much quicker process in the morning (I lie, we also got a hand grinder this year so it is in fact a million times slower), the water boils in about half the time as with our old stove.
Man and rig. Also check the crafty tripod stove table he made for this trip...
I fully recommend this stove. For this type of travel and a traveler who enjoys spending time at camp preparing their food, I cannot imagine a better cook stove. Or for the home remodeler who doesn't own a microwave and loves to cook, this stove is the best friend you can have (in addition to the ones who invite you over for dinner). Thank you Partner Steel.