By Theresa “Resa” Leppert
What’s your favorite cooking method?
So how do you cook while camping? Campfire? Dutch Oven? Pocket Rocket backpacking stove? Or do you like to go old-school and use a Coleman white gas two burner?
I honestly don’t remember what my folks used. I just remember coming back to campsite at dusk (before the street lights came on!) after playing all day – and finding a massive meal on the picnic table all ready to eat. As an adult now, I can really respect my mom and grandma for all the work they did for us in general and especially while camping. No one told me that being an adult meant deciding on, shopping for, and preparing food for dinner every single night. Every. Single. Night. Until. You. Die. LOL – I’m exaggerating, but you get the idea.
Fast forward to camping and cooking as an adult.
When I started camping again in my 20s, I camped with a friend who had a camper, and we tag teamed on meals every night. When I went solo camping with my young daughter, I was back in a tent. I was talking to my dad about camp stoves and there were so many choices! (This was BEFORE the internet – now the choices and the potential for analysis are endless. Ever heard of analysis paralysis? It’s a thing, and I suffer from it greatly sometimes.) Anyway, Pop was heading out that day to a gun show, and he brought me home a present: A single-burner butane stove. I’d never camp-cooked with anything this easy – a little can of butane the size of a hairspray can, just press a button to light it – voila!
I loved that single burner stove. So convenient!
Man, I loved that thing. It had its own sturdy plastic case. I used it for 15 years. The same one! Best $19.99 he could have ever spent! I adored that thing…… until 2013 when it went up in flames and took a lot of my gear with it.
Seriously. It went up in flames along with my gear!
I was brewing some coffee on the picnic table in my cute vintage enamel Velkommen percolator pot. The butane canister connection failed somehow, and I turned around and everything was on FIRE! The stove, the coffee pot, the picnic table, my cooler, my kitchen box, the ground around it. It was all on FIRE!
A lady from the next campsite and I were able to put it out pretty quickly with our fire extinguishers. (Note, always have a fire extinguisher – I almost did not have one with me that trip, but that’s another story for another time.) I replaced that stove with another single burner butane one. Eventually that one died. And the one after that, and the one after that. You get the picture.
Time for something entirely different.
I wanted something compact enough I could take backpacking if I wanted – and I found the Fire Maple Fixed Star 3 Solo Cooking System. This thing rivals the top of the line quick-boil cooking systems on the market for a FRACTION of the price. You can research and purchase it here: It is also available on Amazon.
For the low price of $65 (Yes, ONLY $65!) you get:
- An 0.8-liter cooking pot and a stove integrated into one unit. The pot comes with a neoprene cover. (And I even like the color.)
- The anodized aluminum pot has a locking stainless steel handle with silicone cover. It is very sturdy, cool to touch, and safe for handling the pot while cooking.
- Includes a folding canister stand AND a folding pot support usually sold separately by those other systems.
- The stove, pot support, and canister stand fit inside the pot. The handle folds over the top of the lid and is secured with the brass toggle lock.
- Power: 7500 BTU.
- Weight: Only 21.2 ounces!
- Note that the fuel canister must be purchased separately.
What a wonderful product for a great price!
I can’t speak highly enough of this compact, cost effective cooking system. I have used it car camping, tent camping, trailer camping, and last weekend backpacking. One of the other ladies on my trip had that expensive quick-boil system, and she really liked the handle on my Fire Maple better. When comparing the two in boiling water, the timing was neck and neck. If I lost this one tomorrow, I’d immediately order the same Fire Maple model all over again. Are you looking for a new cooking system? If so – the Fire Maple won’t let you down!
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Theresa “Resa” Leppert
Guide Manager
Guide, Iowa & Wisconsin
563.284.2868
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Thanks. I’m going to be needing something like this next month