The Biolite Stove is a great traveling companion. I took it on a recent trip to test it on the road. My plan was to ride around the outback of Queensland, and then up the coast from Coolangatta. My aim to find the best beach in Queensland’s (check Emu and my adventures through the following link Day One – Motorcycle Tour of Outback Queensland . The opportunity to live off the land and start a raging fire to cook my food was becoming harder and harder. If you run out of gas in the middle of an outback track what do you do?

I came across this unique little stove that does so much, it’s more than cooking without gas. It’s like having the  Swiss Army Knife or stoves. You can build a fire to keep you warm when fires are banned, you can charge all your electronic devices. You can even cook a meal.

More than cooking without gas, charge your phone and cook a meal?

Most people would find this type of stove a non essential item. However, when you’re riding a motorcycle around the outback or kayaking down a river, you have more options than if you were bike or back packing. If you are carrying all your kit on your back, then weight and bulk are the two things that you desperately need to consider and reduce.

Let’s face it, anybody who has climbed a mountain knows that the real test of endurance is not picking up the pack at the beginning of a trip but the final steps of the day as you are concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other to get to that hut or clearing before the sunsets.

Weight might be an issue for hikers

However, as previously mentioned on a motorcycle or kayak, it’s the bike or boat doing the heaviest lifting at the end of the day. On a recent motorcycle tour or Queensland I took my Biolite II stove with me. This is my review on a product that is more than cooking without gas.

Small fire when camping
The first night was kind of chilly, so I lit the Biolite stove. There was no shortage of small branches and twigs to fuel it.

I originally bought this stove to accompany me on a paddling trip down the Murray River from Euchuca to Swan Hill, to use as small camp fires on the side of the river. It was also there to provide some redundancy in my camp set up, but I found it more than cooking without gas. Apart from heating up my billy, it can be used as a small self contained open fire and it can  generate electricity to recharge some of my electronic equipment.

Unfortunately, in 2021 the kayak trip never eventuated due to various border closures. So instead I decided to ride my motor bike on an extended tour of outback and coastal Queensland. When choosing gear for this trip I was conscious that not all national parks and camping areas in Queensland allowed open fires.

When fires are banned

My intention was to camp as much in National Parks and where possible wild camping spots. Therefore, if I wanted an open fire and to use my stove for more than cooking without gas, I would need an alternative to creating a fire pit. As open fires are one of the little luxuries along with a nice red wine that camping provides, I thought a contained fire in a stove would be appropriate in those areas where fires were frowned on.

only requires twigs and branches
The Biolite Stove is more than cooking without gas, it not only provides heat for cooking but can act as a small fire pit in those places where you are not allowed open fires.

How does it work?

The Biolite 2 Stove has a very efficient wood burning technique. Once the heat builds up, a small internal fan kicks in to pull air through the chamber. The fan is powered by a 2600 mAh Lithium Ion battery. The battery is charged by a heat induction engine which protrudes into the chamber.

The air is pushed around the outside of the inner chamber and creates a kind of Venturi Effect pulling more air in which creates a better combustion reaction. In other words the fuel burns clean with very little carbon (soot) residue. The fan can be adjusted to suck more air in and thereby increase the heat of the flame. It also increases the speed at which the wood is burnt.

Once the heat builds up and providing wood is continually added to the chamber there is excess energy developed, which can be used to either recharge the battery or any item that may be connected to the external USB connector.

The fan will kick in once the fire starts so it doesn’t matter if the battery has been drained as a result of charging all your electronic toys. This is where the concept of “more than cooking without gas” comes into its own.

More than cooking without gas, BioLite II stove
Cooking on the Biolite Stove requires careful attention to the flame and heat, lest you burn your food. The supplied LED light is an absolute awesome piece of kit and is powered by the internal battery.

How much wood do I need?

One of the more redeeming features of carrying a small wood fired stove with you is that it doesn’t need a pine forest to power it. On the first night of my odyssey, I camped at the Campaspe rest area east of the White Mountain National Park. It was an obviously favourite spot for campers as there was very little fire wood laying around. Luckily, the Biolite 2 Stove only requires twigs at a maximum of six inches or 150mm long. I was able to scrape more than I needed for several hours, by walking along the road for ten minutes.

Then on a recent family camping trip I had been so busy organising my son and his teenage mates, making sure they had enough gas for their stoves and ice for their eskies, that I forgot to check my own gas cylinder. I realised it was empty when I got to the camp site.

I was lucky that I kept the stove with my camping gear. It works for this type of storage because it is more than cooking without gas. During this adventure it was the only heat source we had for cooking on that camping trip and later acted as a small fire to sit around and enjoy a red wine, once the cooking and cleaning up had been done. For more information on my recent motorcycle adventure check out the following post https://digitalswaggie.com.au/?p=1982

No fire wood at all

There was absolutely no fire wood at the camp site. Its the type of site that once a branch falls from the tree, it is instantly claimed and burnt. However, smaller trigs and light branches are usually all but ignored. This is the type of wood that is ideal for the Biolite 2 Stove.

Even in this wood depleted camping area we were able to find enough good sticks to keep our fire going all night. After diner we sat back and enjoyed the light and warmth from the stove it’s more than cooking without gas. My phone battery was dead so I plugged it into the stove and within minutes it kicked into life.

Unpacking

The Biolite stove comes neatly packed in a travel bag that has similar material to that of a sleeping bag’s compression sack, it’s light weight and tough. In side the pack is the main chamber, battery/fan and charging engine, a USB light and a charging cable. Also included is a small packet of fire lighters.

More than cooking without gas, BioLite II stove
The Biolite Stove all packed and ready for storage in the side panniers.
More than cooking without gas, BioLite II stove
Biolite package unpacked includes USB light, charging cable, battery and combustion chamber

The Biolite 2 Stove is easily assembled by removing the battery/fan unit and putting the heat generating shaft through the back of the stove into the fire chamber. Once inserted the aluminium legs can be extended locking the unit in place. The other legs can then be extended to support the unit. The Biolite 2 is a very stable stove with aluminium legs that fold out quite away and can be placed on uneven ground (within reason of course).

More than cooking without gas, BioLite II stove
The plastic clip tucks in under the base of the stove, when the leg is extended it locks the battery/fan unit into position.
More than cooking without gas, BioLite II stove
The leg extended and the battery/fan unit locked in place.

With the battery/fan unit locked in place the stove can be set up for cooking. I recommend you consider where you are going to cook or have your fire before you build the fire. I found that I could move it around by picking up the battery/fan unit. However, in saying that the unit does get very hot and it’s not something you want to move if you don’t have to.

More than cooking without gas
The side view of an assembled Biolite stove showing the battery/fan unit locked into the heating chamber. Note the generating unit inserted into the fire chamber.

Operating the stove

The stove consists of a fire chamber, battery for charging and running the internal fan, a heating engine for generating power and a lithium Ion battery with a USB outlet for storing the power. There are three light indicator panels. On the left, the indicator lights are green and indicates the level of charge in the battery, in the middle is they are blue which indicates the fan speed, the fan speed can be increased or decreased by pushing in the small grey button near the USB charging slot. The higher the fan the more heat that is generated and the faster you burn through your wood supply. The light array on the left is the temperature level, the hotter the fire the more charge is developed and the more fire wood is required.

More than cooking without gas, BioLite II stove
Control panel on the Biolite Stove, green for battery, blue for fan speed and red indicating the heat level.

Lighting the fire

Lighting the fire in the chamber is no different to lighting a normal fire in a fire pit. You start with a fire lighter or paper, leaves etc.. and put small kindling over it before lighting with a match or lighter. Once the fire starts the fan will kick in to provide extra air to the fire. I found that in most cases the fan was too much for the little fire to take hold so I would turn it off until the fire started properly. You can turn off the fan by holding down the little grey button for a few seconds.

One of the annoying aspect of this stove is that the fan will kick in again after a few minutes, whether you want it to or not. In almost all of the times I have used this stove, I have rarely lit it without producing copious amounts of smoke. I’m not sure if this is because some of the trigs I use are green or if it just takes some time to get going.

Burns efficiently without smoke

After a few minutes the flames take hold and the fire continues in earnest. I also noted that if I had been running the stove for some times and let the wood burn down I would have to tilt the chamber unit and gently blow into the chamber to enable all the new wood to catch on fire, during these times the fan was more hinderance than help and I would continually have to turn it off. However, once the fire caught started it was back to being issue free, and providing I kept the wood up to it the stove would keep burning all night.

Once you master the art of Biolite Fire Starting the flame burns hot and you will have to keep feeding it wood. After you have finished the embers will die down relatively quickly. Because the fire burns so efficiently there is very little residue unburnt fuel in the chamber and very little ash in the bottom. Cleaning the stove is just a matter of emptying the chamber in the morning before packing.

Cooking with the Biolite 2 Stove

The ultimate test of a stove is how well it performs when cooking a meal. The Biolite 2 Stove is a little awkward in that it is hard to control the temperature to the same level as a convenient gas burner. If you plan your meal around your wood supply it can boil water easily and if you allow the flames and fan to drop down it can be used as an effective stove for reheating food or cooking pasta dishes. There are other attachments that you can get for the stove that allow you to cook BBQ style, but these attachments just add to the weight on your trip and I find them too bulky.

More than cooking without gas, BioLite II stove
Biolite 2 Stove in full flames, no smoke just efficient wood burning. The LED light which comes with the package is an excellent design and very useful.

What do I think of this product?

The Biolite 2 Stove is an awesome piece of gear, it is well made and extremely well designed. You could use this stove as your primary cooking stove if you wanted to, but I probably wouldn’t, because of the time it takes to get the fire going and the lack of direct heat control.

If it was just a stove then I would say it was a bit of luxury that you might want to leave behind if space was an issue for you. However, the stove has other uses that make it a very worthwhile tool. It can charge your phone, SAT Nav and head torch. It can act as a small open fire in places that you would not normally be able to have a fire and it is safe and economical to use.

Performs as promised

The product lives up to its marketing hype and definite performs as expected. This stove has the potential to be a gimmick, but I think in this case it is definitely and innovation. I would rate this product as a 8 out of 10. It loses two points for the difficulty in maintaining a consistent heat level when cooking. I will definitely take it on my next camping trip and on both my motor bike and kayak camping adventures.

I hope you have found this review worthwhile, I’ve used the phrase “More than cooking without gas” a lot in this post, that’s because this stove is and it represents good value for money. Please leave a comment below and if you have used this stove or the previous model let me know what your experiences have been.

Cheers and safe travels………………..Swaggie:)

Where to buy?

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Gary is a travel writer, educator, training specialist and part time adventurer. When not paddling rivers, diving on the Great Barrier Reef or riding down some dusty outback track on his trusted KLR650 "Emu" he likes to explore historical areas and look for the back story.

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