Last week Gasmate announced the release of their new and compliant butane gas stoves so yesterday I managed to get down to Bunnings and buy a couple.
We're heading up to Lake Argyle on a 3 week road trip next month so they will get a pretty solid workout and I will let you know how they go once we get going.
But before that, I wanted to let you know my first impressions and specifically, what is different from the original models.
1. The drip tray is now fixed in place
With the original butane stoves, the drip tray flipped over upside down for storage making the overall stove thinner when it was packed in the case.
The new model has the drip tray permanently fixed in place and the storage box is thicker as a result.
You can see in the photo below that the storage box is the full height of the stove including the drip tray and arms that the pot rests on.
2. Maximum pot size is 20cm
One of the issues with the original models of these stoves was overheating due to people placing large pans on the grill.
The heat could build up under the pan and cause the gas cartridge to overheat and explode.
The stoves did come with warnings about this but for most people, myself included, reading the instructions for such a simple device was not likely to happen.
This new model has a warning on the packaging and a life size template inside the box to make sure you clearly understand the pot size limit is 20cm - see below.
I grabbed a 20cm pot out of the kitchen and put it on the stove to see what that looks like - see below:
And this is a small frying pan.
Being restricted to a small frying pan and medium sized pot is not ideal but I figure it's best to be safe than sorry.
I have a few of these smaller frying pans (from cooking pancakes!) so it will be easy enough to have one going on each stove if we're cooking a big breaky.
Conclusion
There are no other obvious differences between this new model and the previous one so the next step will be to test them out and see how they perform.
Stay tuned.
Cheers
Steve
Do they still use the same gas cartridges?
Yes they do Shaune
So what about the BBQ plate they sell for them ??
Good question.
Lake Argyle again.... will get to see it one day.... oh yes the cookers still have my 3 old ones and have no intention of getting rid of them have worked fine for years.
Cheers warren
All the 'accidents' and demonstrations of the problem in using the previous model were the result of simple stupidity. While the new model tries to circumvent the idiot factor through revised design (fixed trivet) and due care warnings, the single biggest contributor to minimizing the expanding stove syndrome was the introduction of the new gas can.
The old models were found to be non compliant with the safety standards, even though the manufacturers were claiming that they did comply.
Maybe a silly Question with the new Gas stove do you count the bottom of frypan 20cm or from tip to tip across top of Frypan ??? Thanks
I'm not sure what the official word is Leslie but I figure that if the frypan is 20cm across the base and the sides taper out, it should be fine because the heat won't be building up between the pan and the gas can - which is the real issue.
We bought a new double gas jackaroo pl 121 and never used it yet we do not know what to do now .. We have had single burner one and been ok but were in our late 70 is and 80 and now our daughter is worried a bit of advice would be good for us the stove was bought from big w in March 2015 yours rowena
Thanks Steve for this timely info. We have the Stainless Steel Companion single burner - it has the fixed trivet and has been well used on four round Australia adventures over 4 years. I threw out the other basic black one which had the invertable trivet. Looking back, some of the places I used them will be avoided in future and I will now only use the CRV certified canisters. Safety first for we old-timers.
Cheers
Peter Mc
Where do you buy them?
Is there an alternative gas cartridge to butane as it makes black stains on my appliances from yellow flames on low settings