Outdoor stove recommendations?


 

BillSmith

TVWBB Pro
I’m looking for an outdoor stove for wok cooking, boiling water, and perhaps deep frying. Anyone have advice on this?

I did some searching and I think I want to get the two burner cooker stand combo from Tejas Smokers.

https://tejassmokers.com/Cooker-Stands/26

I would get the combo package which includes legs, wind guard, natural gas hose. I would also buy a wok ring. Here is the description of the stove.

CS2 - Dual Burner Portable Outdoor Cooker Stand. Choice of High Pressure, Low Pressure, or Natural Gas. With (4) Leg Extensions. For Outdoor Cooking, Camping, and Picnics

Dual height cooker stand designed for high pressure propane. The high pressure propane burners (gold color) each output 160,000 btu/hr. The low pressure model for propane and a natural gas version are also available which output 40,000 btu/hr. This dual cast iron burner CS2 series cooker stand has a large 28" x 14" angle iron top, eight heavy duty spokes over each burner, removable legs, and a handy leg storage rack at the rear of the unit. With the legs in place this dual burner cooker stand is about 30" tall which is just the right height for comfortable cooking. With the legs removed and stored in the leg storage rack at the rear of the unit, the height of the cast iron burner unit is about 15" which is perfect for tabletop or tailgate cooking and storage.

This recently re-designed cooker stand now includes a handy carrying handle which also serves to protect the brass manifold during transport. The optional WING side table extensions may be added to either or both ends. The use of one optional WING side table increases the width of the unit to 40". The use of two optional WING side tables increase the width of the cast iron burner unit to 52". An optional WG2 two burner Wind Guard (shown below) is also available. The CS2 series cooker stands features an all brass manifold with individual and adjustable needle valves for each 160,000 btu/hr cast iron burner or 40,000 btu/hr for each of either the low pressure or natural gas burners. We recommend use of a COM#1 preset regulator for the high pressure burners or a COM#5 preset regulator for use if low pressure cast burners are desired. We can supply optional gas hoses in any length requested.


I think the whole package described above with wok ring and cover will cost me about $400.
 
Personally, I'd try to stay away from that style of burner, it's noisy and goes through a lot of propane. I'd suggest a banjo style of burner, or a jet style impingement burner, personally.

160k BTUs is a LOT of heat. I make 5 gallon batches of beer on a ~50k BTU burner and it's still not too difficult to scorch the malt on the bottom. You're looking at a BIG pot for more than 100k BTUs and I'd be careful using anything but iron or steel.

Wind guards are a big help. I've got a good burner stand that I've modified with some sheet steel steel that works well in a light breeze. I've been meaning for several years to build up a few burner stands around a banjo burner for a couple of home brewers here in the Twin Cities (this having to work for a living gets in the way of things....)

Otherwise, not bad looking stands.
 
That's what's called a banjo burner. It's much more efficient and quiet than a jet/venturi burner. I've made quite a bit of beer with a nearly identical propane burner, and I really don't want to go back to the venturi style burner.

I was looking at the wrong burner. Oops.
 
I mostly use a Camp Chef Somerset IV (4 burner); I enjoy it and have no complaints, aside that I had to fuss with bending the igniter probes when first setting it up. I have a griddle that I sometimes use on it and at other times I deep fry, pan fry, or sometimes do a large boil. Each of the 4 burners provide 30,000 BTU/hr, which is considerably more than I have ever needed. I do also have an Eastman Big Kahuna (single burner tripod) that I purchased, mostly, for a 24" Discada. Honestly, I overbought when purchasing that 24" and only used it twice. If I were to expand my recipes I suppose I could get more use from it. I have placed a smaller wok on the Somerset but it is probably not safe to do that.

I get a fair amount of use from the Camp Chef and I'm glad I have it.
 
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You're going natural gas so this doesn't matter, but since you mentioned the 160k BTU burner, you can't get 160k BTU from a standard gas grill propane tank. About the best you can get is half that. You'd need a much larger tank to get that kind of energy. The liquid propane has to turn to gas before it can be burned and, just like with water, that conversion takes energy in the form of heat. The standard size gas grill tank can't transfer enough heat to drive the conversion at the rate needed for more than about 80k BTU, and that would be on a comfortably warm day. A larger RV-size tank would probably work. Just in case somebody was looking to use one of these with propane.

I just double-checked. At normal summer temperatures a 20 lb. propane tank can deliver about 95k BTU. At 0F that drops to about 36k BTU. A larger tank can deliver more BTU because the larger surface area of the tank can allow more heat to transfer from outside to drive the boiling of the liquid propane.
 
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I mostly use a Camp Chef Somerset IV (4 burner); I enjoy it and have no complaints,

Checked out their website. Very interesting product line. Seems really made for gourmet cooking while camping. I didn’t any ability to do natural gas for their products which means you would have to do unsanctioned DIY.

You're going natural gas so this doesn't matter, but since you mentioned the 160k BTU burner, you can't get 160k BTU from a standard gas grill propane tank. About the best you can get is half that. You'd need a much larger tank to get that kind of energy.

Good to know, never knew that.
 
I didn’t any ability to do natural gas for their products which means you would have to do unsanctioned DIY.

I'm not trying to influence your decision (I don't even have any experience with NG) but when viewing the Somerset on their site when you scroll down a tad, under downloads, there is a PDF guide for conversion. It looks like they sell a kit whose part number is NGKIT. Looks like Amazon sells it, too. https://www.campchef.com/somerset-iv-four-burner-stove.html
 

 

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