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 Topic: Couple of questions
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11/4/2010 at 5:39pm
Location: Glossop - Gateway to the Dark Peak
Outfit: KAMPA Frinton 5 Outwell Nevada S
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YOu will find a review on the Campingaz double burner with grill below. Briefly, I believe the grill to be superfluous and whatever you intend to use it for you can achieve the same or better results by other methods.
Untill recently this was the top of the range camping stove available from Campingaz. The obvious attraction of this cooker is the grill. This grill is a ceramic radiant burner so, in theory, although the burner area is smaller than grills on other stoves it is more efficient at radiating the heat over a wider area. In theory. Both burners and grill are opperated by "child safe" knobs - not that you would allow your children anywhere near the cooker, of course! Don't forget your matches as there is no automatic/piezo ignition.
The rated power of the stove is 2,300W for each burner (no other Campingaz burner is more powerful) and 800w for the grill.
Don't forget that, just because it is a Campingaz product, you don't have to use Campingaz gas which is more expensive than Calor (though if you are intending to camp on the continent remember that you can't get refils for Calor).
The lower section which houses the grill is designed to collapse. This means that it packs away to a smaller size than it would otherwise do but, as a result, setting up and packing away the cooker involves more faff and on mine the "plate" on which the grill pan stands never lies flat. Also, the legs that come down have no rubberised feet; as a result it does not sit as securely on the camp kitchen - it is liable to slip. Those raised sides do not offer total protection from the wind. Finally, compared to some designs, including other Campingaz burners, it's not the easiest to clean.
The performance of the burners is quite adequate - it is rated just slightly more powerful than the popular and cheap "suitcase" burners. To get significantly more power you would have to get those big, cast iron burners. But the grill was a disappointment. As I mentioned above it can be a fuss to clean, especially with splashed greased/oil. As a result I've ended up using the grill only for toast and fry my sausages instead. But don't let the publicity photos fool you: if you place two slices of bread under the grill only the inside/joining sides will toast. So you will have to turn them round before you flip them over to toast the other side and then turn them around again. Given that you can cheaply buy stove-top attachments to toast your bread I wonder whether that's the way to go.
If you see a Campingaz Camping Chef Stove and Grill on sale that does not come with a free carry bag then do that most un-English of things: barter. The bag is needed.
During the early and main part of the camping season you can expect to pay £40-45 for the Campingaz Camping Chef Stove and Grill. Later in the season prices can come down and/or the bag is thrown in for free.
I said that this used to be the top of the range. Its position has, in effect, been supplanted by the Camping Chef Plus Camping Stove which has the same burners, grill and basic design but with a built-in adjustable stand. This negates the need for a separate camp kitchen, is more stable and still collapses down to a more convenient size for travel. But expect to pay an extra £35 or so.
So, should you get one? The Campingaz Camping Chef Stove and Grill is not bad; in many respects it's good. But it's not perfect and I'm amazed that Campingaz have not tweaked it more, especially by including rubberised feet. The Camping Chef Plus may seem extravagently expensive but you wouldn't have to buy a separate kitchen/stand; so maybe you should consider that - but do check the height of the stand in case it's too low. Many have gone down the route of the suitcase burners. These come with their own, if not particularly robust case, have automatic ignition, are pretty-much as powerful and can be very inexpensive (for parts of last year Go Outdoors had them on sale for about £5) - but the gas can be expensive.
You pays your money and you makes your choice.
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