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When you’re settling into camp on a cold, snowy evening, there’s nothing you want more than a hot beverage and a warm meal. But heating water in the backcountry can look a little different in the winter than it does on warm-weather backpacking trip. There’s nothing worse than firing up your camp stove in frigid weather to find it slow, sputtery, or even failing to work altogether. Here are some tips to ensure maximum efficiency while cooking in the cold.
Why don’t canister stoves work well in the cold?
Canister stoves, like the MSR PocketRocket and Jetboil Flash, are ubiquitous amongst backpackers because they’re light, efficient, and simple to use. But cold temperatures can drastically diminish the performance of canister stoves, which run on a blend of pressurized propane, isobutane, and sometimes n-butane. Inside the canister, the fuel is mostly in its liquid state. When you open the valve on your camp stove, internal pressure allows the fuel to vaporize, and you can light a flame. But a gas will stop vaporizing below a certain temperature—its boiling point. For propane, that temperature is -44°F, making it an effective ingredient in cold-weather fuel blends. Isobutane fails to vaporize below 11°F, and butane-n around 30°F. As the ambient temperature drops below freezing, the butane in your fuel canister stops burning. The propane will burn off disproportionately in cold temperatures, eventually diminishing the internal pressure of the canister until it no longer works effectively.
You may have noticed when operating a canister stove that your fuel canister feels cold to the touch after it has been running for some time. This is because the vaporization process occurring inside the canister draws heat from inside and outside of the canister. In summer, this process has little effect on the stove’s operation. But when the ambient temperatures are especially cold, this can cause the canister temperatures to drop even more, causing the output to sputter or fail.
Using a Camp Stove in Winter
There are several solutions to the difficulties of operating a camp stove in winter. The most foolproof is to switch from a canister stove to one that operates on liquid fuel. White gas stoves like the MSR Whisperlite are a popular choice for campers who recreate often in frigid temperatures. These types of stoves operate on liquid fuel by using a pump that vaporizes white gas so that it flows into a fuel line and out the stove, and they work reliably in frigid temperatures. A liquid fuel stove is a good investment if you spend lots of time in the cold. The downside is that they’re tougher to use—heavier, messier, and a little more complicated.
The Hack: Create a Warm Water Bath
The simplest way to boost the effectiveness of your canister stove in the cold is to store the fuel in your sleeping bag or inside your jacket prior to use. This will help to keep the fuel warm so that it can vaporize properly. But if you plan to operate the stove for a long period of time in cold ambient temps, this strategy only goes so far. Our favorite hack is to create a warm water bath for the canister.
Once you’ve assembled your stove, place the canister in a shallow dish—I like to use a collapsible silicone bowl because it’s light, stashes easily in my pack, and won’t melt if it comes in contact with the flame. A travel dog dish works great. Light the stove as usual, and pour some water from your pot into the dish as soon as it warms up, or pack some warm water from home in an insulated bottle. The warm water will keep the canister from getting too cold as it burns, allowing the fuel to pressurize effectively.