I don’t do a lot of car camping, but my parents and younger brother do and as part of their equipment collection for such trips, they have Coleman’s 2 Burner Propane Stove and I’ve had a chance to watch it work and to use it a few times when I’ve been on vacation with them (believe me, I try to keep that as infrequent as possible). They also use it at home in case of power failures. With the 2 Burner Propane Stove they are still able to cook, even when there’s no power and they’re electric range doesn’t work.

There were a lot of models and brands to choose from when shopping for a 2-burner propane stove and my parents chose a Coleman based on my Father’s experience with Coleman’s backpacking stoves. He never had problems with any of them and even still has some of them (which has since been retired and replaced with an MSR Whisperlite). He wanted the security of the Coleman name and for about $50 at most major outdoor retailers, the price wasn’t that bad.

This model (the 5430B700) is the basic 2 Burner Propane Stove from the Coleman line of 2 burner propane stoves. Beyond having two burners, flame control, a windscreen and a grill cooking surface to hold the pans you are cooking on, there are no extra extras like an electronic ignition.

Stove Details

The 4560 is about 24 inches long and about 14 inches wide. The total thickness of the stove is about 5 inches when it is closed. The windscreen that surrounds the stove on three sides (when it’s opened) adds about an extra foot the height to the stove. It weighs in around nine pounds and while not hard to carry around and campsite near your car is way too heavy for any sort of backpacking. The 2 Burner Propane Stove is bsaically only for car camping or use around the home. No one would want to stick this in their backpack and carry it somewhere.

There are two burners on the stove, spaced about 12 inches apart from each other that provide adequate room to use larger pots on both burners. It’s big enough that larger frying pans and the like can be used while you use a smaller pan on the other burner. There’s also enough stovetop space so that you can fit a griddle over the burners if you are interested in making some pancakes or some good breakfast!

The 2 Burner Propane Stove run off of the 16.4 ounce propane canisters that are available almost anywhere and connects to them with an included rigid connector tube. The stove can also be modified to hook up to the larger 20 pound propane tanks you use with grills (you need to buy a separate adapter to do this). The burners each emit 10,000 BTUs worth of energy and can boil a pot of water in about 5 minutes. While these aren’t the most powerful burners you could have on a stove, for an average user they should be more than sufficient for most of their cooking needs, especially when you’re camping – since you’re not exactly making an eight course meal.

There are no automatic/electronic ignitions with the 2 Burner Propane Stove, you must manually light the burners with a match. At first, this can be a bit scary for the uninitiated, but it is simple and except in very windy conditions, I’ve never had a problem lighting each burner (and neither my parents nor I have managed to blow ourselves up). Like any manually lit propane equipment, the lit match is held next to the burner as the gas is turned on and it ignites the gas. Unless you leave the gas on for quite some time before lighting the match, nothing is likely to blow up in your face.

The entire cooking surface of the stove is a flat, open metal grill structure, making pot placement easy and the pan’s stability on the stove, excellent. It really is quite hard to get a pot to shake on the stove and I don’t think it’s possible for one to fall off – unless the stove itself is put at an angle and the pot slides off the stove. Because the cooking surface is an open grill structure – spills and other messes drop through and land on the pad underneath.

The surface underneath the burners is quite easy to clean – the metal grill over the top can be removed and the lower pan surrounding the burners can be quickly wiped down to clean up any spills or messes that have built up down there.

Operation of the 2 Burner Propane Stove is easy. The built-in windshields protect 3 of the 4 sides of the stove (only the cooking side doesn’t have a windshield). The shield does a good job, even in windy weather. The burners can be adjusted from a full-high position all the way down to almost nothing by using the two control knobs (one for each burner). You can go from a roiling boil all the way down to a low-simmer on the stove, there’s that much control in the burners.

Pay Attention!

This is an outdoor stove and should only be used outside – the exhaust from the propane burning can be harmful and can kill you if you use it inside!

My Experiences

I’ve had the chance to watch my parents use the 2 Burner Propane Stove and I’ve gotten to use it a few times when I’ve tagged along on some family trips in the last few years (believe me, they’re not too often). The stove itself is very easy and quick to setup - a few minutes at most from opening the box to having the burners going. Basically you pop open the top, unfold the windscreens, attach the propane tank and you’re good to go. The food that we’ve cooked (mostly pasta, but a few other dishes) on the stove has been cooked thoroughly and come out as if I used a regular stove.

The 16.4 ounce propane canisters last for a few normal meals, depending on how much and how long you are cooking with each meal. I’ve found that I get about 3 or so average size meals (probably having the stove on for about ½ an hour to 45 minutes each meal) out of each propane canister. Coleman states that you should get a little over an hour of burn time out of a cylinder if you run the stove on high the entire time and almost five hours of burn time if you keep the stove on low. Since most of us are somewhere in-between – expect a few hours of burn time out of a single cylinder.

The clean-up afterwards has been easy – even when there have been some pretty big spills. The upper grill above the burners is removed and you can reach in, around and below the burners to wipe up any of the spills you may have had.

The 2 Burner Propane Stove is easily packed into a corner of your vehicle and it really does set up quickly on a picnic table or other stable surface and gives you a chance to make some great meals while in the great outdoors.


Final Thoughts

Coleman’s basic, all-around 2-burner propane stove is a great thing to use when you’re car camping or to have around the house should you need to cook without power or. There are no bells and whistles to break and while the heat output of the burners could be slightly higher, most people will be perfectly satisfied with the performance of the stove (plus you’d blast through the propane canisters way too fast if the burners were any stronger).

So if you’re looking for a basic, all-purpose, well performing two-burner propane stove, Coleman’s 2 Burner Propane Stove is worth taking a look at.

Recommended: Yes