Sterno Single Burner Folding Stove - 50002

I love this little stove! I have used this stove from camping, to a hot lunch on a remote jobsite in the mountains of Colorado. Couple this stove with an inexpensive mess kit, a can opener and some canned foods, and you have a backpack-able solution to your food cooking problems. The design of this stove must surely date back to the 1930's, or even before, yet the functionality cannot be surpassed. Sure, a WhisperLite is trendy, and might heat water and food a little more quickly than sterno, but the tradeout is carrying around those bulky gas canisters, which are only useful for the stove itself. Sterno, on the other hand, has many other uses while outward bound, and much easier to tote around with you than those canisters, believe me. I originally purchased my first Sterno stove in 1995 when I learned to flyfish after moving to Colorado. I needed something inexpensive, and easy to backpack, as I used to take off and spend two to three days fishing different rivers throughout the state. My whole system was easy enough to use to prepare some hot food after braving a frigid river on a November morning was a great morale booster. Whipping this out at a jobsite 10 miles from the closest Wendy's, Subway or any food outlet made my fellow workers envious as I enjoyed a can of hot chili and crackers while they mulled through their bologna sandwiches or other such lunchfare. I was asked numerous times where I had purchased my stove, and after returning to work over the next few days, noticed a few other little stoves had popped up on the site. I gave it away to a couple of hippie kids who were 'traveling' through Colorado one day, and, can only imagine that once they landed on their feet, that little stove has been passed on to another soul who can put it to good use. I am back to buy another to stick in my "Grab and Go" bag, just in case I ever need to head for the hills, due to some sort of disaster.

Haven’t cooked on it yet, but did assemble it. Easy enough. Seemed pretty sturdy. Giving it 5 stars for quality build.

Durability: It’s an ok stove. It didn’t do well when it was left overnight outside in light rain. It had little rust spots all over the black metal frame pieces. Performance: The Sterno takes a long time to heat water up (I’d guess about 15 minutes). It’s awkward to put the fuel into the holding area, and saving the Sterno for later is difficult. My fuel dried out and was unusable a few months after resealing, so that was a shame. Reliability: I think this stove is more reliable than a wood-burning stove for cooking because you don’t need to rely on finding dry kindling and wood that will stay hot enough to burn and cook with. Overall: Overall, I guess this would make an ok emergency stove, since the fuel and stove are pretty light. They take up I’d say an average amount of space for a stove. I have a bunch of different stoves.

Although this stove is obviously designed to work with Sterno or similar fuels, it will actually work with pretty much anything that burns. You can even build a wood fire in it, as shown in several online videos. This makes it much more versatile than camp stoves that only run on one type of fuel. For the backpacker who wants to travel light, this stove is a good option. The stove itself is very light and folds into a compact package. Sterno fuel doesn't weigh much either. If you really want to go light, skip the Sterno fuel and just gather wood at the campsite. Butane/propane camp stoves will cook much faster and the fuel is cheaper, but they are much heavier and take up more space. For more casual camping close to a car or camping trailer, however, space and weight are not really an issue and the gas powered stoves are actually a better option.. For use in a power outage or emergency, the gas powered stoves will also work better in the short term...until you run out of fuel. In case of a longer outage, it might be a good idea to have one of these folding stoves around, even if it's just as a backup. Unlike folding stoves from other companies that are coated in dark paint that absorbs heat, the Sterno stove uses reflective aluminum. The top surface is about 6 3/8" x 6 3/8", big enough for a good sized pan. It also has a flat, grill-like top instead of the raised opening on the competitors. You could probably put a piece of meat right on it if you wanted to. If you do actually use Sterno fuel, there is a wire support for the can. The can does sit a little low, however. If you can find a way to raise it a little higher, it should cook faster. Although this stove might not be the best choice for all circumstances, it does work well and I'm quite pleased with my purchase.

I bought this so that I would have a way to make coffee or heat soup etc. during a power outage. Living in the Northeast, blizzards and winter storms have been known to cause widespread power outages. I love the simple sturdy design. I tested it using some chafing dish fuel that I had in the house. (I'm not sure of the brand but it uses a wick instead of lighting the gel) and the Granite Ware 6006-1 3-Quart Coffee Boiler. Assembly is simple and it makes a sturdy stand to rest a pot on. I filled the pot about half full with cold water (1 1/2 quarts) and set it on the burner. It took a little better than 25 minutes to heat the water to a low boil. This setup is not going to work as well as your kitchen stove. If you expect that you will be disappointed. It will boil water or heat soup etc. in an emergency. It is a safe and effective design. When you are in an emergency situation you want to conserve your fuel so only heat as much water as you need at one time. (This is why I tested it with the pot half full) I also use the wick type chafing fuel because it has a much longer burn time than the type where you light the gel. You get more usable heat in a smaller storage space that way. You can pick up a case of fuel at a big box store for under $30 and you will have enough to see you through most emergencies. Bottom line, I think this little sterno stove can be a lifesaver and I'll be buying a few more to keep in the trunk of the car and to give as gifts to family members.

Sirve a su función, facil de instalar.

For warming up a can of soup (takes 8 minutes with no wind), boiling water for rehydrating a Mountain House meal (18 minutes), or other cooking tasks while on the go this stove is hard to beat. It is very light, folds up flat to take up minimal space in a back pack, has a built-in wind break (suitable for light breezes), cools in just a minute or two for repacking after use and is very clean. The only downside is that it takes longer to cook than gas fired cook stoves. It is, however, much more stable a surface for your pot than most small gas cook stoves and the Sterno fuel cans each last a long time and are pretty light weight as well. If you are taking a truck all the way to your campsite, then all means bring a large gas stove. For back packing, though, or for an emergency source of portable cooking, this is great. The price is hard to beat, too. For about $25 you could carry fuel and a stove that are light weight, clean and portable and would allow you to cook for a couple of weeks on the move.

The pros are that this is a cheap, sturdy, wide and stable cooking platform that can use several different fuels such as fuel tablets (placed on a can or piece of foil), sterno or other similar canned fuel, a couple of charcoal pieces, or even small pieces of gathered wood. The fuel is well protected from the wind if setup with a corner into the wind, placing a flat side toward a gusty wind causes buffeting of the flame as the wind swirls over the top. The wire grill top surface can be used directly to grill without a pot or pan and the whole thing can be sand-scrubbed in a creek or thrown in a dishwasher back home. It does has several drawbacks for a backpacker. The stove+fuel is heavier than other backpacking alternatives, and it has sharp edges that can damage other packed items. It also will not stay folded and when packed after use will transfer sooty residues to other packed items. Placing the stove in a sturdy bag will protect the rest of your pack and keep it closed at the expense of a bit more weight. I've used it and it works fine, but then again I've left it behind and used a couple of rocks and coals from the campfire to do the same job. The best use I found for this item was while working with younger campers, because the wide surface makes for a safer cooking platform than traditional backpacking stoves. I thought the grill top would appeal to them also, but it's not nearly as "kid-cool" as a hotdog on a stick over the campfire. This was also a convenient item to have during dry conditions when open fires were too dangerous and were prohibited. So it's low-tech, easy to use, easy to clean, fuel flexible, cheap, stable, and sturdy but heavy with sharp edges and won't stay folded. For the price it's really hard to complain about this stove. It's crude and not perfect, but it's definately "good enough" for a budget conscious camper or weekend hiker.

Great product. Folds up nice and small. Excellent customer service. Highly recommended.

It was simple to fold and hassle free Wish it came with the fuel, but still works well and can be used indoor.