Portable Bottletop Propane Camp Stove

After researching, experimenting, and eventually succeeding at home roasting, I thought I'd offer a little advice here as a means of encouraging rookies. You DO NOT need to make a huge investment or be a culinary genius. You can home roast inexpensively and without fancypants equipment.Acquire the following:Whirley Pop popcorn makerColeman "One Burner" propane stovea colandergreen coffeePart 1 - setup This process produces A LOT of smoke. You'll need to either roast outside or mount an industrial strength vacuum hose directly above your range; your kitchen fan won't cut it. Therefore, I recommend some sort of outside heat source. I tried the Whirley Pop on my grill at first and even at full blast it didn't provide enough heat (the beans would brown but never reach the "cracking" stage). Pick up a single burner Coleman propane stove ($20-$30); I use the upright model but the other models would probably work as well.Part 2 - process Green coffee beans expand to at least twice their size once roasted, so plan accordingly. I tried roasting a handful of beans at first but have had more success with larger quantities - say, a cup or two of green beans. Set your Coleman stove on its lowest setting and light it. Even on low, it's hotter than the grill. Note that you DO NOT need a thermometer despite online advice to the contrary. (People roasted coffee for roughly 1,000 years before household thermometers came along. You'll be just fine without one.) Dump your beans into the Whirley Pop and begin turning the crank lever; you'll be turning the entire time, but it doesn't need to be too fast - just enough to keep the beans moving. After a few minutes, depending on the heat, you'll see smoke. Crank until you hear the "first crack," a distinctive popping sound that lasts 30 seconds or so, depending on quantity of beans. At the first crack you should take note of the time, since timing after this point is crucial. I've found that roasting for 5-7 minutes after the first crack produces a good roast. I've also read about a "second crack," which isn't nearly as easy to hear as the first crack. Therefore, note the time from the first crack and establish the right amount of time for you. You can try to judge the roast level by looking at the beans, but this is problematic because it's hard to see through the smoke into the bottom of the Whirley Pop, and the beans will continue to roast after you remove them. When you do decide that they've roasted enough, pour them into the colander. You'll want to blow on them to get the chaff out of the beans - the stuff goes everywhere, another argument for doing this outside.Part 3 - degassing Let the beans cool and degas for at least 12 hours. In our case, the beans really didn't smell like coffee beans until after they'd sat overnight. At this point you're ready to grind, drink, and gloat.Good luck!

I love this stove. I've had mine four years now, and it still works like new. I recently loaned it to a friend who says he is now going to buy one, so I thought I'd see if still carries it and I read some reviews. I was shocked by some of the critical comments I read.This stove heats water very quickly, even at high altitudes (though water will not heat as quickly at 10,000 feet as it will at sea level with any stove!) Compared to a white gas stove or a Jetboil, this stove does heat slightly more slowly, but the difference is negligible and not worth the $100+ difference in price and putting up with the delicate craftsmanship of the others. This Coleman is solid and durable.The head has many small holes, or jets for the flame to ensure a regular, evenly-distributed level, adjustable with clicks on the dial from high to very low simmering to off, with a couple more stops in between. The design of the burner shields the flame from any wind, so in all but the most windy conditions it works fine without any additional shielding. Mine simmers perfectly, with a very small flame. Some reviewers here complained that the simmer is too strong, so they may have a defective unit. If I were to design a stove, I would design the flame control as utilitarian as this one is.The burner easily separates from the tank and base to split up the load for hiking. The tanks can be found for just a few dollars, and Coleman claims a tank will last for more than two hours on high or nine hours on low, which is plenty to cook many meals and heat water for cleanup. I've used it to prepare all meals for a three-day backpacking trip for six people at 9,000 feet, and I didn't use up a single tank. I suggest starting with a full tank (or two, depending on length of trip) backpacking, and keeping partial tanks to use on camping trips, where having extra tanks is not an issue.For the price, this is a steal. It's a very good stove for backpacking and for camping, though a little heavy for the hiker. Not a problem for a group, however, to distribute the load. Remember, when you're a couple days in at 10,000 feet, you want a good, reliable and durable stove like this - and not a finicky white gas or special-canister, overpriced butane stove.

We take a couple of these stoves into the boundary waters every year and never have a problem. We accidentally left one out in a rain storm all day and the burner filled with water. Turned it over to drain out the majority of the water and fired it up. Only about half of the burner was lit at first, but it quickly burned off the rest of the water and was back to its old self. I love this stove!BTW, I could have bought it cheaper locally if I'd know where to find it. Shop around.

This is a great product. I was shocked when I saw someone gave it only 1 star, I just couldn't imagine why. Then I read the review and the gripe was they didn't know it didn't come with a fuel tank. My god is this what we as a society are coming to? Doesn't anyone read anymore. Right in the product details, "This stove operates on one 16.4-ounce cylinder of Coleman propane (not included)". Not included means you have to buy it. I sure hope that reviewer doesn't vote. Anyway, rant aside, this is a great stove, easy to pack and carry and lasts for a while unless you have it on high at all times. I have had mine fishing, camping, out on the ice for ice fishing, I have even put cans of soup right on the burner while out ice fishing, great way to warm up.

I got this in a pinch for camping with the kids. Use a heavy pan, not a cheap lightweight one. I used a stainless pan but a skillet would probably be even better. It takes a little practice to get the heat just right but I was able to whip together a pound of bacon, hash browns, eggs and pancakes at the picnic table before the wife and kids dragged themselves out of the tent.This is probably one of the best space saving camping tools. Even if you need two burners, 2 of these are cheaper, easier and more compact than almost any worthwhile campstove.