What type of out door cook stove is best?

[Zaria]

I am new to full time RVing and want to purchase some type of outdoor stove. I am heading to AZ this winter and doing some boondocking. What type of outdoor cooking stove would you recommend? I appreciate any suggestions you may offer. Thanks

 

[Kevin Means]

I still use the same two-burner Coleman propane stove that I've used for more than 35 years - works great. If you mean bar-b-cues, we've gone through several over the years... Weber, Olympic, Coleman and now a Brinkmann. I'm a lousy cook but I do enjoy bar-b-cueing outdoors when we're camping. They all had their strengths and weaknesses but I think the Brinkmann is my favorite. It's robust, easy to clean and has no hot spots. My only advice would be, if you know you're going to use it a lot, get one that will hold up well. Some are made from pretty thin gauge metal and don't last very long.

Kev

 

[Oscar Mike]

I really like the Volcano that I bought this year. It will accept wood, charcoal, or propane as a fuel source, and it cooks evenly.

 

[Big D 83]

We use a two burner propane for our cooking and a small weber grill for the barbequing. Our two burner is some off brand not a coleman but it works great.

 

[Zaria]

Thank you Kevin and Oscar for your responses. Kevin I looked up the Volcano and really liked what I saw. I noticed the prices really varied from 134.00 to 199.00.  If I go with this one I will have to shop carefully...lol.

 

[(Chip)]

Camp Chef Explorer for a 2 burner stove... I have had mine for 5 years and don't know how i would live with out it. I use it at home quite often too.

 

[gkas]

Thank you Kevin and Oscar for your responses. Kevin I looked up the Volcano and really liked what I saw. I noticed the prices really varied from 134.00 to 199.00.  If I go with this one I will have to shop carefully...lol.

The Volcano Lid is a fantastic accessory. I cook with my Dutch Oven on the Volcano. Adding the lid turns it into a great oven, even on windy days. It adds heat to the top of the Dutch Oven, so no coals required. I almost always use my Volcano with propane.  I have the small cast iron trivet from Lodge that I put in the Dutch Oven. Then I bake biscuits on a small round pan in the oven. No burned bottoms.

 

[Wigpro]

If you want the most versatile and one of the best for a full outdoor kitchen with a ton of things you can add on then you should look at Camp Chef - look at a two burner explorer model then add the BBQ and the one burner griddle and you have an ideal set up.

You will need to add a propane tank and utensils and you will be ready to cook anything you may want. Add a charcoal starter and it will make your dutch oven cooking so much easier...

I love my Camp Chef....this is my buddies set up he has the 3 burner model  - I have the 2 burner which is more than adequate!

Jim

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

I would have to ask what you like to cook outdoors?  Burgers and dogs are easy and most anything works. Steaks and chops like higher heat (for searing), so a charcoal or ultra high temp gas grill works best. Will you sometimes need a griddle for outdoor breakfasts? If so, something like a Coleman Road trip grill, which is both a stove and grill, might be a good choice.

Another factor is using portable bottles (the little 1 lb type) vs large tanks or the RV's own onboard tank. The grills that use the little portable bottles have their own built-in LP regulator, so cannot easily be hooked to the RV's tank system (unless it is teed before the RV's regulator). If you want to hook to the RV's LP system, best to choose a grill that relies on an external regulator.

Last, how big a cooking area and how portable does it need to be? A backyard BBQ grill is great for the RV site but you need a pick-up truck to carry it.

 

[Tom Hoffman]

I recently won a Small Holland "Companion"  BBQ,  they are what I would call an out door Oven.  Since the flame is never in direct contact with grease, they will not flare up.  I have not used it yet.  We are taking it to Yuma for the winter and leaving our Coleman Road Trip at home as it is heavy and it a bear to clean and does flare up and there is no room under the lid.

Companion  http://www.hollandgrill.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/products.detail/prodID/2/index.htm

 

[cadee2c]

I have a Coleman Road trip Grill that I got a couple of years ago when we were tent camping. It works better than my campstove because it has its own stand and it has a larger cooking area. There are several different accessories to make it more versatile, griddle, grill, and stovetop, and it has a carrying case. One negative to it is that it really goes through the gas faster than my old campstove. I think because of the larger jets.


Caryl

 

[PancakeBill]

I have a 2burner similar to the Camp Chef, bought at Sams about 15 years or more ago.  Still love it, only had to replace the propane hose about 8 years ago.  Along with that a stainless propane grill plus an ECO-Que. 

Recently added a Coleman 2 burner, when I do the big pancake breakfast, need the extra butners for coffee bacon and sausage.

 

[Mopar1973Man]

I've got a old school Coleman liquid fuel stove under the kitchen sink. Then I've got my Brinkmann BBQ I typically put in the bed of the truck when I take off camping. Personally I would rather cook outside that heat up the RV on a hot summer afternoon. Maybe in the cooler fall of the year its not so bad cooking indoors for morning and evening.

 

[ksbowman]

I have two Coleman Road Trips. One for the 5th wheel and one for the boat. They work great and cook fast. Something that comes in handy with 5-6 grandkids chirping! I've cooked burgers, brats, dogs, steaks and pork chops and all cooked great.

 

[billmac]

I have a Coleman Road Trip grill that is only a few months old and has already had a problem.  It may have been used 10 times.  The regulator would not let gas through and I am not the only one with this problem.  With extra burner grills and extended hose, I have over $3 bills in this grill.

My investigation revealed the extension hose to run a remote lp tank has a shrader valve that pushes against a small screen in the regulator.  Not wise.  The tiny screen will blocked partly and eventually fatigue/plug up.  I looked on line and found Coleman does not stock the regulator for my Road Trip Grill.  I found others are having the same problem as me and searching for the same regulator.  I finally found a regulator for $60, that use to cost less than $30 on the Coleman website.  Instead I removed the hose shrader and the regulator screen.

So No.  I would not buy another road trip.  It is also very heavy to haul around.



     

 

[Tom Hoffman]

I have a Coleman Road Trip grill that is only a few months old and has already had a problem.  It may have been used 10 times.  The regulator would not let gas through and I am not the only one with this problem.  With extra burner grills and extended hose, I have over $3 bills in this grill.

My investigation revealed the extension hose to run a remote lp tank has a shrader valve that pushes against a small screen in the regulator.  Not wise.  The tiny screen will blocked partly and eventually fatigue/plug up.  I looked on line and found Coleman does not stock the regulator for my Road Trip Grill.  I found others are having the same problem as me and searching for the same regulator.  I finally found a regulator for $60, that use to cost less than $30 on the Coleman website.  Instead I removed the hose shrader and the regulator screen.

So No.  I would not buy another road trip.  It is also very heavy to haul around.

You may be correct in diagnosing your problem, however I believe I know what the problem really is.  It is most likely not your regulator, but a safety feature built into the valve on the tank.  If you are using 1 lb cylinders, then I stand corrected, however if you use a hose to connect to a 20 lb cylinder it is the safety built into the tank valve.  I experienced just exactly the same symptoms you describe after I tried to light my grill the second time,  first time was fine, from then on I cussed that grill and never could get it to light more than a feeble flame.  I took the tank into a Hardware store to see if it was empty,  luckily for me he was reputable and just weighed the tank and it showed full.  He told me about the built in check valve in the head. 

Solution:  You must keep the burner valves turned off once the hose is connected to the tank, then just barely crack the tank valve and let it seep into the hose very slowly  until full pressure in the tank is reached in the hose, that will release the check valve in the valve head.  Now you can go ahead and light, you may have to repeat a couple of times.  I learned that once pressure was equal, I never close the tank valve unless I am going to break the grill down for transport. 

i normally walk away and do something else as the hose come up to pressure.  It takes a while.

 

[billmac]

You may be correct in diagnosing your problem, however I believe I know what the problem really is.  It is most likely not your regulator, but a safety feature built into the valve on the tank.  If you are using 1 lb cylinders, then I stand corrected, however if you use a hose to connect to a 20 lb cylinder it is the safety built into the tank valve.  I experienced just exactly the same symptoms you describe after I tried to light my grill the second time,  first time was fine, from then on I cussed that grill and never could get it to light more than a feeble flame.  I took the tank into a Hardware store to see if it was empty,  luckily for me he was reputable and just weighed the tank and it showed full.  He told me about the built in check valve in the head. 

Solution:  You must keep the burner valves turned off once the hose is connected to the tank, then just barely crack the tank valve and let it seep into the hose very slowly  until full pressure in the tank is reached in the hose, that will release the check valve in the valve head.  Now you can go ahead and light, you may have to repeat a couple of times.  I learned that once pressure was equal, I never close the tank valve unless I am going to break the grill down for transport. 

i normally walk away and do something else as the hose come up to pressure.  It takes a while.

Thanks for the info Tom.  You could be right.  I will certainly adopt your technique of gently allowing the propane to enter the Coleman line.  I am familiar with tank valves.  I use a lot of propane and fill my own tanks.  My big tank at my shop has a valve that will close if I try to fill my empty rv tanks too quickly.

BTW, when I was searching for a regulator, I found many on-line posts of people trying to find the same regulator.  It is strange to have so many bad regulators.  And the regulator is apparently discontinued by Coleman.  It is a poor design to have the hose valve pushing on the little screen to open the hose.

Thanks again for suggesting I consider the tank valve.