duel fuel stove

DARRIN. BROUGHT A 2 BURNER STOVE ABOUT A YEAR AGO & WOULDNT GO BACK TO ANYTHING ELSE.STOVE TAKES A BIT OF GETTING USED TO FIRING UP BUT ONCE YOU GET THE HANG OF IT,IT DOES EVERYTHING VERY WELL.IT WOULD BE MONEY WELL SPENT.

definately worth every cent.

I have to agree with the other gents, I have had one for 3 years now and as previously stated, they take a bit of getting used to but I would never go back.

Darrin

I notice no-one actually answered your question. I have only recently converted to absorbtion method of cooking rice from using a rice cooker all my life and am revelling in the capacity to incorporate stocks etc.

Anyhow, i understand where you are coming from and do not own a dual fuel stove only cause they are so expensive, though i cannot rave enough about my dual fuel lantern which even after being knocked over and drowned by a salt water wave started up again straight away, but anyhow i reckon take a litre of unleaded fuel into a camping shop and ask for a demonstration - for a $200 product if they refuse to demonstrate try another store, someone will.

And let us know about the simmer rate. By the way i have just renovated my kitchen and after many years finally got my Tudor (made in Melbourne) gas stove top - the mid burners have the capacity to be reduced to the lowest gas flame on the market, amazing, like equivalent to about putting four match heads together.

cheers

Darrin the Coleman dual fuel stoves will not simmer at all well. They require constant fiddling and pumping to get anything like a reasonable simmer on just the main burner. If you fire up the second burner the first burner needs to be nearly fully on high to enable the stove to generate sufficient fuel evaporation to make the pressurised gas for the second burner. You just have to look at the design of the stove to see that it would be impossible for the stove to simmer properly on the second burner. For example if you want to do a pot roast or use a pressure cooker and vegetables in another pot at the same time it is just not possible on a Coleman dual fuel stove. My next door neighbour has a near new still in the box Coleman dual fuel stove for sale $120 freight paid anywhere in Australia if you are interested. A neighbour a few doors away also has a Coleman dual fuel stove for sale. The reason why they are selling them is that they go like hell on one burner, mediocre on two burners and they cannot be set to simmer. You will also need to buy new generators for the Coleman dual fuel stove and should carry a spare one with you as they can go any time and the stove will not work when they fail. Overall a dual fuel stove is not a viable proposition if you like to cook and eat well when camping. One company I used to work for had a gas stove and a dual fuel stove as a second stove/back-up and know only to well how tempremental and how much pumping and filling they take. You need to watch and tend to the dual fuel stoves all the time. If you try to simmer the stove there is not sufficient heat after a short time and the next thing you will have large yellow flames and black smoke.

The Coleman two burner gas stove is the best performing and functioning camping gas stove available with sufficiently sized burners of 10,000 BTU. The electronic ignition works well, and the gas controls have 2.5 turns from off to full on and can be set and left to simmer perfectly on both burners. The Coleman gas stove does not have jets that can block like other gas stoves. Many of the other brands of camping gas stoves have burners of 5,500 BTU or 8,000 BTU which are next to useless.

I am a chef for bus touring companies around Australia and use two Coleman 3 burner gas stoves called the Guide Series to cook on. These stoves do a lot of work and do not fail.

Darrin,

It depends on what and how you cook. We seem to have forgotten how to cook over an open fire.

Your question was: can you simmer on both burners 1 & 2.

The answer is simply: no.

The Coleman has a primary burner off which is fed the secondary burner. If both burners are running and you adjust the primary burner up or down then the secondary burner changes in sympathy requiring adjustment of the secondary burner. I regard the secondary burner as the simmer burner and the primary as the cooking burner.

So what does this mean at the end of a long day on the road?

Change your cooking techniques and recipes.

I chose the DF because I can power both the DF stove and and my DF lantern with UL petrol from a 5l jerry can for considerable periods with out worrying about finding a gas refilling station and packing a 9kg tank.

There in lies the choice for me. Each to their own.

Mahn

I'll add a voice to the support of dual fuel.

I use mine to cook meals for large groups and whack the rice on first, then move it to simmer, while cooking the rest on the primary burner.

In my experience once you go to DF (and learn how to use it) you don't go back to gas.

My thoughts
I must admitt I have never used a dual fuel stove but !! - regardless of the cooking abilities, I have always been a little concerned about having petrol and naked flame together in a camp situation. I have used a 2 burner gas stove for, Hmmm, about 30 years without any troubles with cooking or blocked jets etc. I use 2 1kg bottle, one for the frig and one for the stove. The 1 kg bottles pack easy in a Subaru where space is scarce and haven't run out of gas in the usual 3 week trip. In regard to cooking - I find my mothers old presure cooker (must be 50 years old) to be very handy, especially cooking veges, just like a microwave!

We originally had a two burner stove and after some teething problems it all worked well. We changed to two single dual fuel stoves and generally use one for most meals with the back-up of the second. Reason easier to store, less room, more flexibility and from memory they were cheaper to buy than the two burner type. As for cooking, we use a good quality stainless steel saucepan that you spin the lid to seal the saucepan and you don't require any more heat to complete the cooking.
We gave the original to myson to help encourage him to get out into the bush a bit more.

Where have I been all this time? I have dual fuel, swear by it, cook brilliant rice and curries (abosorbtion) and have never (r) never had a temperature problem (until now!). Other gourmet dishes not a problem.
Certainly one needs to train oneself and realise that changing one knob affects the other's setting.
Judging by the threads this is an emotive issue and all our responses will only confuse!
Mike

I'd like to speak in favour of the Coleman Duel Fuel stoves and lanterns. I won't repeat everything already said on the subject, but will make two observations.
First, when lighting, light your match BEFORE opening the fuel valve. This will prevent flooding and the resultant yellow flame with poor combustion.
Second, try using Coleman Fuel, available from Camping Stores and some Hardware shops in 4 Litre square tins. Or, try Shellite, available from some Servos or Hardware Shops in round 4 Litre tins or 1 Litre plastic bottles.
Both of these fuels burn much cleaner than petrol and give more heat for the same fuel quantity.

Trev