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Media Coverage from Gear Junkie: The Best Camping Stoves of 2024
We turned up the heat on stoves from all of the top brands to determine the best camping stoves for 2024. Whether you're a car camping pro or just getting started, we've got you covered.
Camping and food go hand in hand, especially when car camping affords you the luxury of a two-burner stove. This year, we tested a few new stoves and retested many previous top picks. With years of combined experience with camp cooking, we used our collective knowledge to narrow down the best camping stoves available today.
A good camp stove should fire up quickly, provide a steady stream of heat to get things rolling, and be able to dial it back for precision work like simmering or sauteing. There are other details about your camp cuisine to consider as well, such as the number of hungry hikers you’re looking to feed, and whether you’ll only need a raw flame or the sizzle of a griddle to whip up some chow.
For each stove in this comprehensive review, we considered design, ease of use, BTUs, windy weather performance, simmer control, weight, cost, and boil time. On the surface, these stoves all have a lot in common, but each has unique features that stand out for specific uses. We’ve been testing this camp cookware for multiple seasons, and to date have fired up nearly 20 different stoves in order to sniff out the best for your next camping trip.
Primus Kinjia
Specs
- Number of burners Two
- BTU output 10,200 BTUs per burner
- Boil time 6:40 min. per L
- Fuel type Propane
- Weight 8 lbs., 3.2 oz.
Pros
- Compact packed size slides into tight storage spots
- Fine simmer control
- Black, brass, and wood details make for a classy look
Cons
- No windscreens
- Gas bottle stand is easy to misplace
Small but powerful — the Primus Kinjia Camping Stove ($210) brings a light footprint to your camp kitchen and is perfect for those who want a capable stove but don’t want to renovate their campsite in the process.
With a base area of 19” x 12”, the Kinjia slides into spots where other stoves in our testing simply couldn’t, and isn’t much the lesser of a stove for it. The twin 10,200 BTU burner heads are sized more similarly to those on backpacking stoves but still performed admirably in our cooking tests.
Where the Kinjia really shines, we found, was in the detail work.
Simmering is a breeze with this stove, and making more delicate dishes like omelets, fish, or crêpes can be whipped up with ease. There’s no ignoring that this is just one good-looking stove, too. The black stove body is accented with brass rivets and topped off with a wood-trimmed handle that adds a bit of class to your next cookout.
When it comes to fueling, the Kinjia takes an interesting approach with a metal propane canister stand that stands alone from the rest of the stove. This holds the fuel bottle at what we imagine is the optimal angle, but in reality, it was just another loose piece we feared losing track of. We also lamented over the lack of windscreens, but have gotten pretty good at building up DIY walls instead.
It’s tough to deny the packed size of the Kinjia, however, and if you don’t need the overbuilt quality of something like the Camp Chef Everest 2X, the Primus Kinjia is an excellent solution.
Read Review: Smaller Than the Best, Lighter Than the Rest: Primus Kinjia Camp Stove Review
Primus Profile 2-Burner Stove
Specs
- Number of burners Two
- BTU output 12,000 BTUs per burner
- Boil time 8:00 min. per L
- Fuel type Propane
- Weight 11 lbs., 8 oz.
Pros
- Ideal for steady, low-heat cooking
- Dial is accurate and slow to turn
Cons
- Lacks adequate wind protection
- A bit pricey
The Primus Profile 2-Burner Stove ($140) has a clean design and classic appearance. With a moderate heat output of 12,000 BTUs per burner, it works great for almost any meal you can conjure.
The piezo ignition striker is easy to use, and it has a slightly larger cooking area than other stoves we tested. This allows you to get larger pans on it, though the larger the surface area, the longer it takes to generate adequate heat.
While it performs well in almost all facets of cooking, our flames blew out multiple times while testing, which means it’s not ideal for windy climates. The dials function well enough to simmer, and it’s also on the lighter side for two-burner stoves, weighing in at under 12 pounds.
This is another stove that works great, but simply doesn’t stand out in any specific category. The Profile is an all-around performer with no frills, and would work well for anyone who wants a little extra cooking space in a classic design.
