Reviews…
A multirole cooker for the minimalist traveller
THE BIOLITE CAMPSTOVE is a handy doo-dah for car campers who like cooking over a fire. Fill the device with twigs, light it and there you go. Time to break out the marshmellows.
THE BIOLITE CAMPSTOVE is a practical and useful blend of traditional wood-fired cooking and modern technology. A hybrid device, it not only cooks your food, it generates electrical power.
How it works
Drop a handful of twigs or pellets into the combustion chamber, light them, and watch the First Law of Thermodyamics get to work, the Law of Conservation of Energy. The law says that energy can be neither created nor destroyed, only converted from one form into another — like the way the CampStove’s thermoelectric generator converts heat energy into electrical energy that powers a fan which forces air through the burning twigs to invigorate the fire and to produce, once it gets going, largely smokeless combustion.
The generator has a USB A connector that takes the current from the thermoelectric generator to recharge your phone. We find this it works as a top-up, but a full recharge would take some time.
The CampStove burns any suitable biomass, commercially-available pellets and twigs being the most practical.
Simple to use
To use the device:
- snap twigs to a size that fits into the combustion chamber
- deploy the legs to stabilise the CampStove
- attach the thermoelectric generator
- put the twigs into the combustion chamber and light; there will be some smoke until the fire gets going and the generator boots up to force air through the chamber
- place your cook pot or pan on the device
- if needed, refill the combustion chamber by dropping trigs into the top.
A complete cook kit, and more
The CampStove consists of:
- a stainlesss steel combustion chamber encased in a stainless steel mesh to keep fingers away from the hot chamber
- a thermoelectric generator charging a 3200 mAh battery with USB A three watt connector enclosed in a durable plastic casing that clips to the side of the mesh casing and connects the generator to the combustion chamber
- a pot/pan holder capable of supporting most common sizes of cooking vessels
- legs that unfold from the bottom of the device to provide stability.
Optional attachments expand the possibilities of the CampStove:
- a 1.5l stainless steel kettle-pot with a removable plastic lid with a pouring spout; the kettle-pot doubles as a hard-carry case for the CampStove with the thermoelectric generator packed inside the combustion chamber; included is a plunger that turns the kettle-pot into a french-press for brewing coffee
- Biolite’s optional 100 lumen LED light on a long, flexible stem that connects to the thermoelectric generator’s USB A connection enables you to see what you are cooking at night
- a device to snap twigs for fuel
- a grill tray
- a coffee plunger that goes into the kettle-pot.
At 945g and dimensions of 127mm x 201mm, the device is too heavy to carry for bushwalking. It’s fine for car or motorcycle camping.
Our experience
We purchased the optional 1.5l pot that doubles as a carry case, the grilling tray and Biolite’s little twig snapper. Our intention was to use it when camping by our van as an alternative to the single burner butane stove in our VanEssa kitchen box that was installed by Kombilife Campbelltown, NSW. We make use of the device only when staying at a campsite for more than a single overnight because the butane stove is less time consuming to use. Twigs have to be found for the Biolite, the stove set up and lit, extinguished after use and stowed.
The cookset works well. The only malfunction we have encountered is the optional LED stem light. Ours does not make a firm connection to the thermoelectric generator’s USB port, making the light intermittent.
Our overall experience with the CampStove, kettle-pot, grill tray and twig snapper has been positive.
Tip: Collect twigs before you go camping, put them in a bag and bring them with you so that you do not have to scrounge around for fuelwood at your campsite.
Caution: Note that you might not be able to use the device during times of high bushfire danger when campfires are disallowed. There is differing opinion on this because the device is a contained fire (gas camping stoves are permitted). In a social media comment someone wrote that they asked about this and were told that it was okay to use it during fire bans.
Alternative uses
The CampStove has alternative uses:
- as a household backup for cooking food and topping up phones during electrical/mains gas outages; keep a supply of twigs ready
- as a grab-and-go cookset in case of evacuation to escape flooding or other threat
- as a substitute, contained campfire to sit around
- as a home barbecue.
Additional thoughts
A plus for people who travel in a small van or other vehicle is the compactness of the Biolite CampStove. It is easy to stow although taking the grill tray will add a little more bulk, although not all that much.
As a biomass burner it can use pellets, however twigs are free for the collection. Collect them before camping in national parks as parks authorities prefer that people not to take the vegetation.
I thought the BioLite twig snapper a dubious acquisition until I used it. It works, and beats trying to snap twigs by hand.
We have used a variety of camp cooking devices over the years including the Jetboil MimiMo iso-propane stove, Trangia Stormcooker and the BioLIte CampStove. All have their advantages and disadvantages:
- the Jetboil MiniMo iso-propane stove is efficient, compact and lightweight; we use it for making a quick brew while travelling but we use it mainly for what it is intended as—a bushwalkers’ stove
- the Swedish Trangia Stormcooker is an efficient cookset that uses methylated spirits (new models have a propane burner as an add-on); metho burns at a lower temperature than propane, so boiling and cooking times are longer (but who is in a hurry?); the Trangia cookset is made of aluminium, is available in two sizes and includes stand, windproof enclosure, two pots, brass burner, frypan lid and pot lifter
- the BioLite CampStove differs from the others in that fuel is freely available for the collection; with its optional components it makes an effective cookset that does something the others cannot do—topping up your phone.
