Single Burner vs Double Burner Camping Stoves — Which Do You Need?

One Hob or Two? Making the Right Call

This is one of the first decisions any camper faces when buying a stove, and it affects everything from your packed weight to what you can realistically cook. The answer depends on group size, cooking ambitions and how you camp. With summer 2026 plans taking shape, here is an honest breakdown of when each option makes sense.

The Case for Single Burner Stoves

Single burner stoves are lighter, cheaper, more compact and simpler. If you fall into any of these categories, a single burner is probably all you need:

• Solo campers and couples: Two people can eat well from a single burner with a bit of planning. Cook sequentially — boil water for coffee first, then cook the meal.
• Backpackers and hikers: A Go System Fly or Jetboil Flash weighs a fraction of any double burner. When you are carrying your kit for miles, this matters enormously.
• Festival-goers: Simple meals, quick boils, minimal kit. A Campingaz Camp Bistro 3 fits in a rucksack and does everything a festival cook needs.
• Backup stove: Many motorhome and caravan owners carry a single burner as a convenient outdoor kettle-boiler, supplementing their built-in hob.

The Case for Double Burner Stoves

Double burners transform camping cooking from survival to enjoyment. You need two burners when:

• Cooking for three or more people: Sequential cooking on a single burner for a family of four is painfully slow. Two burners halve the cooking time.
• Making proper meals: Pasta and sauce. Rice and curry. Eggs and beans. Any meal with two components cooked simultaneously demands two burners.
• Tea-while-cooking: The ability to keep a kettle on one burner while cooking on the other is, for many British campers, reason enough to choose a double.
• Car camping with no weight restrictions: If the stove lives in the car boot and moves ten metres to a picnic table, there is no practical penalty for the extra size.

Performance Differences

Individual burner output is often similar between single and double burner models from the same brand. A single Campingaz Camp Bistro 3 burner produces 2,200W; each burner on the Campingaz Camping Kitchen 2 produces 1,800W. So single burner models sometimes have the edge in raw per-burner power, but double burner models compensate with total cooking capacity.

Cost Comparison

Single burner stoves start from around £10 (Go System Fly) to £90+ (Jetboil Flash). Double burner stoves range from £35 (basic Campingaz) to £100+ (premium Coleman). The gas cost is proportional to use — running two burners uses roughly twice the fuel of one. For a week's family camping on a double burner, budget 2–3 Campingaz CV470 cartridges from our gas and fuel section.

The Compromise: Carry Both

Experienced campers often own one of each. The double burner lives in the car for family trips. The single burner lives in the rucksack for hiking weekends. If you can only buy one, choose based on your most frequent camping style. You can always add the second later.

Compare single and double burner options side by side in our camping stove collection, and make sure you have the right pans and cookware to match your choice for summer 2026.

Recommended For You

Featured Product: Campingaz Camping Chef Stove Folding Double Burner With Grill

Pair with: Campingaz Stove Camp Bistro 3 Camping Single Burner Hiking Outdoors Piezo