The Classic American Camp Stove,

If you buy this stove, it is something you'll take on all of your family campouts for decades, and you'll give it to one of your kids one day. This is a piece of classic Americana, but it works better and more reliably than any newer design. Yes, it's slightly old-fashioned, with a manual pump that pressurizes the gas, and a tube in the stove which warms up in order to draw the fuel out, but it adds to the charm and fun, and I've never found it to be any trouble. The directions are printed inside the lid in case you forget. 

As you can see, this camp stove uses liquid fuel instead of a tank of pressurized propane. The liquid fuel is less expensive and longer-lasting than propane, and you always know how much you have because the fuel sloshes around in the container. It's difficult to tell how much propane is in a cylinder. I borrowed a friend's propane stove before buying this stove. Since you can't tell how much fuel you have, you wind up buying more propane cylinders before a trip, and you mix them up, so you wind up with a trunk full of half-empty cylinders. And, of course, there's a lot of waste with the empty propane cylinders. I recommend the little red plastic fill spout accessory that Amazon sells, it makes fillups easy and foolproof.

Once this stove is lit, it burns and burns and burns! You'll have no trouble boiling up a pot of water for spaghetti, and the fuel lasts for hours and hours. I really love this little stove and I can't wait to break it out again. By the way, it's not just great for camping, it's also easy to toss into the trunk for picnics and cookouts. Enjoy!

By the way, if you're gonna go retro and buy this, there's a companion gas lantern from Coleman. Apart from the hassle of the flimsy mantles on those lanterns, they burn very brightly for many hours. The stove/lantern combo makes a fantastic pair.--Marshall Goldberg  See more

Coleman PefectFlow 1-Burner Stove

The Coleman 5431A700 One-burner Propane Stove is an easy-to-use portable stove that should meet almost any camp cooking need. The PerfectFlow regulator provides consistent cooking performance by producing a steady fuel stream, even in cold weather, high altitudes, or when fuel is low. Equipped with one 10,000 BTU burner, this fully adjustable stove will last for 2.2 hours on high or up to nine hours on low.

The pot supports help shield your cooking flame from the wind, while the large eight-inch burner bowl should fit most any pot. This Coleman one-burner stove can boil a quart of water in just four minutes! This stove operates on one 16.4-ounce cylinder of Coleman propane (not included). See more

How to Prepare a Cooking and Clean-up Kit for Camping

When you're camping you want to be organized to make sure you have everything you'll need for your outing.  One area you'll want a list for is your cooking and clean-up equipment. To make any meal preparation easy it's good to have a cooking and clean-up kit as part of your camping gear. You want to ensure your campsite has the essentials for cooking your cam pout meals.  Time around the campfire during meal preparation and cooking is a real family bonding experience.  Here are some tips to help you organize your camp kitchen.  A couple of large plastic boxes with fold-over lids from the local Walmart will do nicely to store your cooking and clean-up accessories.

This is what to pack in one box:

Pots and pans that fit inside of each other to save space

A non-stick frying pan

A metal and a plastic spatula/flipper

Cutting board, knife and fork

Can opener

A mixing wisk

Aluminum foil

Eating Utensils - the hard plastic washable kind and of course lots of disposable ones

Lots of cups - the hard plastic washable kind and disposable ones too

Matches and a couple camping lighters

Paper towels and plastic bags (for leftovers and to wrap food in)

Spices (salt, pepper, garlic salt, etc.)

Instant coffee and hot chocolate

Some spare food - like a couple of packages of Macaroni and Cheese and a can of Ravioli, just in case you run out of food or for emergencies

Plates and bowls (hard plastic and paper)

Pack these items in the second box:

Camping gear for cooking over a fire:

Old newspaper

Kindling or fire starters

Campfire tripod or grill to place over the fire

Barbecue cleaning equipment

To keep your campsite clean and your cooking materials sanitary, these clean-up items are essential:

2 buckets (that fit inside each other) or 2 plastic tubs (that fit inside each other) for washing and rinsing dishes

Dish Rags and towels

Scouring pads

Disposable wipes

Detergent

Plastic storage bags

Trash bags

These are many of the camping gear essential items you might need for your Campsite Cooking and Clean-up Kit. There will be additional items you wish to have, but try to keep your list to essential items only.

Remember to have a list of your essential items so you won't forget anything that could be a show stopper – like forgetting the spatula for your morning pancakes.

My Camping Tents - About the Author:

I've been tent camping for over 35 years and as a retired Airborne Ranger, have experience in wilderness survival. For more information on camping tents and camping hiking gear, please visit us at http://mycampingtentsandmore.com/. We carry a nice selection of camping gear from tents to flashlights at reasonable prices. Check us out!