10 Best

Camping Grill Stove Combos

of June 2023

If you’re enough of an outdoorsman to enjoy camping alone, you can probably get by with just a bare minimum, like dehydrated foods for camping. You don’t need to cook: just add boiling water, and you have a meal! But, if you’re taking your entire family camping, preparing “regular” food becomes a bigger consideration. There are portable camping grill-stove combinations that are compact and weigh just a few pounds. And you can prepare the same variety of meals that you enjoy at home!

These grill-stove combos are usually powered by propane or butane tanks, but you can find products that work on charcoal or wood as well. They can produce enough heat to allow you to boil water in just 3 minutes, as well as grill chicken, stir-fry vegetables, cook, and even bake! Some of them require a bit of construction, where you stand them up on legs. But others are tabletop appliances, that you can set up in seconds on a picnic table or even a tree stump!

We’ll look at some of the best grill-stove combo options for campers that want to enjoy a few creature comforts when they’re outdoors. You’ll be amazed at what you’ll be able to prepare, even in rugged conditions!

Looking at the Best Reviews Guide’s list of camping grill-stove combo appliances, you’ll notice a couple of different designs:

• Use as grill and stove simultaneously: There are appliances that come with a grill section and a pan section. You can grill directly on one side, while the other burner accommodates a pot or frying pan at the same time. An example is the Coleman Gas Camping 2-in-1 Grill/Stove. It has a grill, upon which you can put a baking pan as well. The baking pan can also serve as a skillet.

Coleman Gas Camping 2-in-1 Grill/Stove with frying griddle (left) and grill

• Alternatingly use as a grill or stove: Other designs of grill-stove combos will only allow you to alternate between grilling or cooking. An example is the Volcano Grills 3-Fuel Portable Camping Stove/Fire Pit. You can use it as a Dutch oven, for frying, grilling, cast iron cooking, smoking, or even baking. You can cook on propane, charcoal, or even firewood. When using a propane burner, you use a special heat deflector plate to deflect and redistribute heat evenly. If you use charcoal or firewood, there’s a grate that lets you position the food at just the right height.

Volcano Grills 3-Fuel Portable Camping Stove/Fire Pit

Here are some customers’ impressions about the grill-stove combo that they bought:

• Control knob to adjust the flame: Customers were pleased with the knobs on the Coleman Gas Camping Grill/Stove that allow you to adjust the height of the flame. There are two burners and an adjustable knob for each burner. Without that feature, the only way to adjust the flame would be with the valve of the propane tank, which is not desirable at all.

• Cast aluminum may melt on high heat: You’ll notice that some grills have an aluminum grill, while others will use cast iron. Aluminum heats up more quickly than cast iron. But, if you have a very high heat, such as 18,000 BTUs, it can damage an aluminum range. You may prefer a cast iron model for such high temperatures, such as the Camp Chef Explorer 2 Outdoor Camping Cooking Stove.

• Protect against rusting: Customers said that they had to change their camping grill stove after it became rusted. You may try protecting the parts by rubbing them with oil when not in use.

• Ignition: Most of these stoves have a piezoelectric ignition, where you either press a button or turn a knob to create a spark that lights the fuel. Some stoves use propane gas, which is better in cold climates. Other stoves use butane, which provides you with more cooking time in a smaller volume of gas. But butane freezes at -2 ℃, so you shouldn’t use it if the temperature outside will drop below freezing. Propane, on the other hand, freezes only at -42 ℃. Your stove will have a special gas regulator for either propane or butane, so you are limited to using one or the other.

Here are some features that are worth looking for when selecting a grill-stove combo:

• Ventilation: These stoves are for outdoors use only. They can produce carbon monoxide gas if the gas doesn’t burn efficiently. Never use them in an enclosed area without proper airflow.

• Cooking area of the grill/stove: Take note of the grilling area that the stove offers. For example, the Coleman Gas Camping Grill/Stove has a grilling area of 130 square inches, and the cooking area can fit a 10” pot or frying pan. The Camp Chef Explorer 2 Modular Cooking Stove is one of the larger units we reviewed, being able to fit a 14” and 16” skillet at once.

• Windscreens: It might get windy when you’re camping. Many of these grill-stove combos, such as the Coleman Gas Camping Grill/Stove have windscreens that you attach to the sides of the stove, to keep drafts of wind from blowing out your flame.

Coleman Gas Camping Grill/Stove with windscreens

The Camp Chef Explorer 2-Burner Outdoor Stove comes with a three-sided windscreen to protect the flame and your food.

Camp Chef Explorer 2-Burner Outdoor Stove's windscreens

• BTUs: The intensity of the flame on these stoves is usually given in British Thermal Units (= BTUs). One BTU is the amount of energy to raise 1 pound of water by 1 Fahrenheit degree. But, if you want to grill a steak, you’ll need a lot more energy than that:

  • 500-2000 BTUs: A gas burner that puts out 500 to 2,000 BTUs will be able to boil water or simmer food.

  • 2000-10,000 BTUs: Burners at 2,000-10,000 BTUs will be able to sautee or fry, although they could prepare a pan-seared steak.

  • 12,000-18,000 BTUs: To sear meat or stir fry, it will have to be in the 12,000 to 18,000 BTU range. (For reference, a 12,000 BTU flame can boil 1 liter of water in around 3 minutes.)

Final Verdict

We went through some of the various grill-stove combo appliances for camping. Some of them consist of just a pair of burners and grates upon which you can place a pot, frying pan, baking pan, or grill. Others allow space for cooking and grilling simultaneously. Consider how many people you have to cook for, and purchase a grill-stove combo accordingly. With proper care, it should give you at least 10 years of devoted service!