New Camp Chef Lightweight Mountain Series Stoves

[Corey]

Been thinking of getting a new stove to replace my old Sears two burner propane one.

Camp Chef came out with a new series of stoves for 2010, here is the page and videos.
http://www.campchef.com/store/category/113/mountain_series_stoves_and_lanterns.htmls

I like the Denali one.
http://www.campchef.com/store/item/414/MS3G_denali_3_burner_grill_stove_combo.html

Two regular burners is enough for most of what I cook, and having the grille in the middle will come in handy.

It also has a piezo ignition, same as my Sears stove.
I really like those not having to mess with a match or lighter.

Anyone else been looking at this line of stoves?
They are very similar to the new orange colored Bruntons, and I would suspect they are made in the same factory in China.

 

[007]

I think its way too much to spend on a stove made in China.

It has exposed knobs that will get bent, and the grate is too broken up for large skillets or pots.

I'm guessing it doesn't have the best fuel consumption either.

 

[Christophe Noel]

According to our Camp Chef rep, the Camp Chef, Coleman, Primus, Brunton and Texport stoves are all made on the same line in a factory in China. The various labels get to somewhat select what materials they want to use. Let me restate that. They're given choice A, B and C with the nicer versions using stainless (pretty low grade at that) for the portions of metal below the burner. The burners are all the same if I recall.

So, it's almost a matter of picking who you want to support and who you think might best support you if it goes belly up. Coleman's support is as poor as it's been in years. Texport? Just don't buy Texport. Primus and Brunton have about the same level of support. Camp Chef is currently an unknown to me as they've recently swung the door wide open on their distribution. They were once distributed through specialty retailers, but now they've flooded various Costcos, Sam's Clubs and other mass discounters with stoves. Not sure what that spells out for their service standards.

 

[calamaridog]

Just saw this model at the 2010 SHOT show. Looks like it is fairly well made.

I believe Camp Chef is somehow related to the Browning brands? They were in the same row as all the other Browning licensees.

 

[Corey]

Well I have been tossing this stove and the 18" two burner Partner Steel one with windscreens back and forth.

The latter is more than twice the money, and I realize that you can throw it out of your boat or off the top of a roof top tent and not hurt it, but I am leaning towards the cheaper Denali one.

I take great care of all of my gear, and I will never be tossing a stove around, so I may take a chance on the cheaper one.
Heck, my old Sears one of 15 or so years is in perfect condition, so this Denali one should last a long time.

Exposed knobs mean nothing to me since the Sears one has them, and they are still in perfect condition.
Whatever stove I get though, the Sears one will be passed along to one of my sons to take on trips with their friends.

 

[mk4]

How about a cook partner rip-off. Steel body vs. aluminum.



http://www.dealerease.net/catalog/product.asp?ret_id=943830&pid=69654

 

[Corey]

Before I left for work this morning, I bought the Camp Chef and Denali via Amazon.
A little more than $20 cheaper than via Camp Chef.
Camp Chef Mountain Series 3 Burner Camping Stove

Notice it says one left in stock, I got the next to the last one this morning.
I am an Amazon Prime customer with free two day shipping, but for $3 more I got next day delivery, so it will show up Friday.

I will try and teat it out this weekend, then on my first camping trip this year, I will throw up a review of it in my camping gear review thread.

I choose this over the Partner Steel stove as it is more than 50% less, and the way I take care of my equipment, this should last for years.
Plus I really like the piezo starters.

 

[Corey]

Firing up the new stove for the first time.

New 2010 Camp Chef Denali camp stove on Vimeo

Also cooked a big dog on the grille part for part of my dinner, it worked great.
Did not even have to wash the grille grate off afterwards, and the dog was coated in sauce from its package.
Pretty sweet!

After I get out and camp with it I will see how I like it.
If I am disappointed with it, I will spring for the Partner Steel.
I really wish the Partner Steel ones had the piezo starter on them.
It makes it so much nicer having that feature.

 

[Martyn]

How about a cook partner rip-off. Steel body vs. aluminum.



http://www.dealerease.net/catalog/product.asp?ret_id=943830&pid=69654

When I see something like this I'm almost lost for words.

The Partner Steel stove is well thought out, bullet proof, and well made. The Stansports stove is almost identical but we have no idea of the quality of it.

In reality we haven't progressed with this almost identical stove. I think any of us could have cloned the stove, but we could also have spent that time looking at improving the design. I don't have any problems with improving on an already existing design, it moves us forward.

So where does something like this take us? Well it threatens a small company located in Pocatello Idaho, it threatens Bill the guy who makes all the stoves, and for what?

 

[Corey]

That does indeed look like a direct copy of the Partner Steel.
I am with you on this Martyn, why can they not come up with their own design?

Stansport has been around a long time, they should know better than to completely rip off Partners design.

http://www.partnersteel.com/?detail_page&record=stove4b16

 

[Stumpalump]

How do we know Partner does not build them for Stansports?

 

[refried]

How do we know Partner does not build them for Stansports?

I'm pretty sure you'll find a made in China sticker on the Stansport model

 

[Corey]

Just picked up a Lodge "pre seasoned" 20"x10" reversible grill/griddle.
https://secure.lodgemfg.com/storefront/product1_new.asp?menu=logic&idProduct=3943

My new Camp Chef Denali has a grill for the middle burner, so I will be using this mainly for pancakes, French toast, and eggs while camping.

I got mine at Fred Myers for $49.
REI has them for the same price.
http://www.rei.com/product/714235

I have not used cast iron since the early 80s when married.
This being pre seasoned the instructions state I can use it right away by just lightly spraying some veggie oil on it.

And when washing it, never to use soap.
Just hot water and a scrub brush.
Not sure what type of brush to get, I winder if the yellow scrub pads with the foam inside will be OK to use.
That is what I use in the kitchen and with my camping cookware.

* Lodge coats the entire surface with a proprietary vegetable oil formula, then bakes the oil onto the utensil in a hot industrial oven
* The high temperature allows the oil to penetrate deeply into the cast iron surface, creating that prized heirloom finish
* Cast iron griddle distributes heat evenly--perfect for both quick, high-heat browning and long, slow cooking
* Improved design is larger and offers a slightly sloped cooking surface with deeper grease gutters
* One side offers the traditional griddle, the other side offers grill-like cooking on a grid

Dang, Amazon has it too for $10 less than I paid
http://www.amazon.com/Lodge-Logic-16-Inch-Cast-Iron-Griddle/dp/B00008GKDQ

Here is a brush that Amazon suggests to use on it.
http://www.amazon.com/Lodge-Cast-Iron-Scrubber-Brush/dp/B0002F9AH2/ref=pd_sim_k_2

Some other good tips on caring and the use of this product.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2723569/lodge_logic_lpg13_grillgriddle_review.html

 

[paulj]

...
Stansport has been around a long time, they should know better than to completely rip off Partners design.
...

My impression from browsing at discount sports stores (GIJoes) is that most Stansport products are low cost copies of someone else's gear. I wouldn't buy without a good hands on examination.

 

[Corey]

OK, I placed the new Lodge cast iron griddle on the stove and fired it up this morning, and I was cooking Kodiak pancakes at 6:30 am in 33 degree weather.

I shot the video with a GoPro HD camera at 720p = 1280x720 pixels (16:9), 30 fps, 8 Mbit/s data rate using their Chest Mount Harness.
This is a great camera, I bought it mainly for mountain biking.
However it is not the best in low light situations.
Video is wide angle, the camera has a few wide angle options, and an option to fill top and bottom of your screen (960p = 1280x960 pixels (4:3), 30 fps, 12 Mbit/s data rate) but not fill in the sides.
I like the wide angle much better.
Some great sample videos the camera can do are here, but they have full screen disabled for some reason..

I let the griddle heat up a bit until a few drops pf water danced on the griddle according to the instructions on the box of Kodiak pancake mix.

The griddle worked great, first time in a long time I have used cast iron.
It pretty much was non stick as you can see in the video.
I may pick up a Dutch Oven in the future by Lodge too to test out at home and camping.

The griddle weighs a ton more than the Camp Chef Denali stove.
I think that I will be able to squeeze it into the case for the stove to make transporting it easier.

Have not cooked pancakes in awhile, last time was with that Shake and Pour stuff from Bisquick.
The Kodiak pancakes taste much better, in fact way better.
I am sold on them.
I used a plastic storage bottle with lid as you can see me pour the mix from in the video, so this mix is pretty much shake and pour too.
I used one cup of mix in the bottle first, then added in one cup of water, and I shook the crap out of for a few minutes to get it mixed up good.

Try the pancake mix, they are pretty good.

Video:
Testing the Lodge cast iron griddle on a Camp Chef Denali stove