STOV Flatpack Portable Gas BBQ – Reviewed & Tested

With grillin’ season in full swing Tim’s been testing out the STOV BBQ, a nifty stainless steel flatpack grill that runs on hiking gas canisters and allows you to barbecue just about anywhere.

How good’s a BBQ? That slightly-charred crispy layer is hard to beat and the flavour is synonymous with the outdoors. But there’s just one problem: BBQs are big, real big, and heavy too. Even the small ones are – at best – going from the boot of the car to a camp table, and they’re definitely not coming along for an adventure.

For Freddy, the founder of STOV BBQ, this was presenting a problem. As an avid fly fisher he was always keen to cook up a fresh catch immediately, but in far-flung (and sensitive) parts of the Snowy Mountains or Tasmania he couldn’t go starting a fire, and the hiking stove X frypan collab wasn’t good enough (let’s be real, it kind of never is).

So he set about building one himself: an ultra-portable, lightweight flatpack BBQ that can run on the same gas canisters as our hiking stove. I’m quite a few remote sizzles deep at this point and I’m ready to share my thoughts.

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Portability

Dear reader, upon describing the concept of the STOV BBQ to friends some of them literally scoffed. ‘No way it’s coming with you on a hike,’ they said. Others had actually seen the BBQ in store, but they were apprehensive, almost like the idea was too good to be true.

At 3.8kg including the bag, the STOV won’t beat your hiking stove gram for gram, but even weight-weenies will have to admit that’s pretty damn light for a BBQ. It’s light enough that you can carry it by the handle (of its carry case) without a second thought.

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For longer missions, it’s thin enough to slide down against your back (in the hydration pocket of a hiking backpack is perfect). The packed dimensions are 47cm x 29cm x 4cm, which is pretty damn similar to my 16” laptop, and it weighs less than two of them.

It is worth noting that you’ll also need fuel. STOV recommends the large 450g canisters (EN417 threaded) with as much propane as possible (usually the 4-season mix) for the BBQ to really perform. These weigh about 645g total and cost around $12-15, but on the plus side, they’re the most cost and weight efficient of the sizes available. Did someone say bulk buys?

Yep, it’s approved: Before you ask, the STOV is completely compliant with Australia’s tough gas regulations. This was pretty much my first question as fun gas-powered stuff is usually a bit harder to find here. To quote Freddy ‘I’m lucky I wasn’t fully aware of how tough they were when I started’.

To sum it up, for short walks or paddling, transporting this thing is a breeze. And you could definitely take it hiking or bikepacking without too much effort.

Assembly

The word ‘flatpack’ definitely scares some people, having become a byword for somewhat-shitty plank-based furniture that can be put together precisely once. The STOV is different, it’s designed to be assembled and dismantled pretty much consistently, a process that’s helped out by a simple ‘slot together’ design and tough 304-grade stainless steel.

STOV claims it takes one minute to put together and after learning how it went together (maybe 6 minutes) I can ratify this. Evan had to slow me down when we were taking photos. It’s pretty damn straightforward forward and I only had to read the instructions once (definitely read them though, you don’t want to bend or break something accidentally).

The underrated highlight is definitely the PVC bag. It’s simultaneously a carry bag, heat mat, and drip collector. You simply open the bag up and build the BBQ directly on top of it – seriously well-thought-out stuff.

Note: You can apparently wash the bag in the dishwasher along with the rest of the STOV (minus the grill with its wooden handle) but I found a bit of soap and water was all it needed.

Cooking (Grillin’)

In the name of science, I’ve cooked the following on the STOV BBQ: steak, chipolatas, prawn skewers, halloumi, and (less-fancily-named) sausages.

The results were always delicious, not always straightforward, but better each time.

Cooking on a tiny grill like this is kind of like using any camping stove, in that it’s a bit different to your setup back home and you need to dial into it a little bit more.

I made two mistakes on my first cookup. I tried to cook two wildly different things at once – chipolatas and halloumi – and only one of those produced any of its own oil. The entire grill (which heats up in about five minutes by the way) will be the same temperature, so keep that in mind.

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Nutrition note: I haven’t got around to grilling any vegetables yet but I’m confident that they’ll be fine. I’ll update the article once I’ve eaten my greens.

The grill itself is 3mm thick stainless steel, which is ripper for heat retention, but it’s definitely not non-stick. The solution was pretty simple though: oil up the food. I found spray olive oil worked perfectly for this.

Excitingly, the STOV BBQ can get pretty dang hot, much more than those throwaway aluminium foil ones you sometimes see down at the beach. I usually ran it on full, then dialled it back to around halfway and left it for a few minutes so I didn’t burn anything.

Oh and yes, you can use a saucepan or frypan on the BBQ if you wish, but even STOV admit this will never be as good as a camp stove for something like boiling water.

What about the fuel?

I was pretty excited by the high heat and short time to warm up, not in the least because it meant that I’d be eating sooner. It also meant that the claimed 200-minute runtime from a single canister would go a lot further.

After three BBQs for five, four, and two people respectively my canister isn’t at halfway yet.

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It takes roughly 20 minutes to heat up and cook the food, so this is promising! I am expecting the heat to ease off a little as the canister empties, but this might just mean not cooking on half heat. I’ll update the piece as soon as I know.

I’ve been asked, multiple times, about whether the STOV can run on wood or hot coals. In theory, yes (STOV says so on their website), in reality, I wouldn’t. You’ll get a slower, smokier, less-even burn, the fuel’s heavy and it’ll take ages to cool down.

If you do, make sure you don’t do it on fire ban days (the STOV can be used safely during a total fire ban in some instances, there’s more info in this article).

Windshield

STOV BBQ sells an optional windshield that slots neatly into the top of the BBQ. It’s not in any of the photos because the inward taper hides the food, but it’s a nifty bit of kit that makes the BBQ more efficient and works as a first line of defence against hungry kookaburras.

Cleaning

This was a big concern for me. I had flashbacks to working the Bunnings Sausage Sizzle for Scouts as a kid and the GREASE that would come off that BBQ. My god.

Luckily the STOV was a different story. You pack it down (and clean it) after each use, so there’s no festy buildup, and in reality, it’s a pretty small grill. A quick wipe with a paper towel was all it needed, before a wash in the sink at home (again, it’s dishwasher safe apart from the grill, but my dishwasher has this problem where it kind of sucks).

@eandrewsphoto

The BBQ cooled down in the time it took us to eat the food, which is another benefit of the gas operation: it felt like I could BBQ without a huge time commitment.

I’ve been cleaning the grill at home with some steel wool, which is a bit more effort than you’ve probably given to that clunker on your balcony, but hey. You bought a tiny, adorable BBQ. Show it some love!

However, it’s probably worth noting at this point that BBQing does require more accessories than your average camp stove cookup. I’ve narrowed it down to tongs, spray oil, paper towel, a small chopping board, and a knife. You could refine all of this for lighter weight missions, but it does bulk out your bag a bit.

Aesthetics & Design

Isn’t it cute? No seriously, I have half a mind to attach googly eyes to the wooden handle. The Scandi look is a fun callout to flatpack and just pleasing in general. I don’t really have any further notes here, it’s a pretty BBQ.

@eandrewsphoto

On the design side, I’ve been pretty impressed with the bag and the way it all slots together. In the future, I’d love to see a slightly clearer knob for the gas flow – as my current method is a form of ‘tweak & check’, and perhaps a way to use the grill on a normal campfire, which would require a less-flammable handle.

Also, where can I get those aesthetic blue gas canisters from the photos on the website? My Pro-Fuel canister is butt-ugly and throwing off my curated grillin’ drip.

Price

I’m gonna take a break from being highly critical of the STOV BBQ to tell you that the price is actually pretty damn good. It’s $319, which is admittedly a lot of money, but it’s also pretty fair.

Nothing like this quite exists in Australia, and compared to a lot of camping stoves it does pretty well. A JetBoil MiniMo is $369RRP, and an MSR Dragonfly liquid fuel stove is $415RRP For a more direct comparison, the Darche 450 Stainless Steel BBQ retails for $399. I double checked I wasn’t somehow on a US site when I saw the price of the STOV BBQ.

Do you need to get a STOV?

I’m probably not going to take the STOV BBQ on a hike or on a fly fishing mission (mostly because I will go hungry). However if grillin’ up deep in the backcountry is your style, this thing was pretty much made for you.

But STOV have identified a much bigger gap in the market here. They’ve made a tough yet tiny grill that removes so many of the hassles of cooking on a small BBQ; the smoke, the unpredictable heat, the weight, and the dirty coals. I can quickly cook some sausages on a clifftop at sunset or grill prawn skewers on a picnic table while catching up with friends.

And I will be, it’s just too damn easy. Happy grillin’ season.

All photos thanks to @eandrewsphoto

@eandrewsphoto