New stove

Lucky me! I happened to be in the right place at the right time to get a free Coleman butane stove. Only used once, complete with case, manual and a partial can of fuel.

I had been thinking of getting one of these. My propane stove has worked exactly as it should, but “as it should” includes things I don’t like. The main one is that it has only three settings: off, too hot, and burned. But I put up with that because I could connect it to a bulk propane tank, to which I could also connect my heater. But I don’t use the heater anymore. It’s just as easy to warm the Rolling Steel Tent with a stove. Bye-bye heater. One less appliance taking up space. And if I swapped the propane stove for a butane one, I could also let the bulk tank go, freeing more space.

Using a butane stove is just like using a natural gas range. It lights with a piezoelectric sparker and the flame actually responds to adjustments. Imagine that. Welcome to the 20th Century.

The down side? Needing to keep a stock of butane canisters. But it’s not like I’m a heavy user of stoves. I don’t boil a lot of water or try to make tough meats edible. My menu cooks quickly. So my fuel will probably last long enough to not be inconvenient or an onerous expense. Besides, it was free.