The other day I took a drive to the high desert to try out my new Solo Stove Lite. It is still a little cold out for camping so I decided to just go out and fix some coffee and a light breakfast.
I drove to a favorite place I often walk to and unpacked the Solo Stove and cooking pot 900. There was a chopping log at the site that I decided to use for a table. It was fairly level but it would have been nice to have a little larger work area. I set up my portable chair and got ready to fix breakfast.
I gathered some dry sagebrush to use as a fire starter and also some small twigs to keep the fire going. I was able to light the sagebrush with just one match even though a light wind was blowing.
I added 20 ounces of water to the pot to boil for coffee and once the fire was going well set the pot on the stove. The pot is light and fits perfectly on this little stove. It is made of aluminum so extremely light.
It took around 10 minutes to get the water to boil and you need to consistently feed the stove twigs or the fire will go out. I only used a couple of small handfuls of twigs to get the water boiling. I was very impressed with how efficient the stove is with fuel.
Once I had the water close to boiling I put the ground coffee into my favorite coffee maker, the American Press, added the boiling water and made my coffee.
Next, I moved on to my light breakfast that consisted of a fried egg and toast. I used my 8-inch Barebones cast iron skillet to do this.
Right off I struggled a little with the cast iron. The Solo Stove Lite is Solo Stoves smallest stove and it took a bit of a balancing act to get the skillet to set right. The Barebones skillet has a long handle which added to the balancing issue.
However, I got it to work, and the fire in the stove had no problem heating the cast iron skillet. I then added a little butter and put in the bread. After letting it toast a while I flipped it over and did the other side. Perfect toast!
Once the toast was done I added a little more butter and fried the egg. The skillet was good and hot now and it took just a couple of minutes.
A delicious breakfast!
Here are some of the takeaways from my first time using the Solo Stove.
- You need to constantly feed it to keep it going. That is not a problem. You just need to be prepared and have your fuel nearby.
- The stove creates a fair amount of soot so plan on dealing with that when cleaning your pans.
- If you are using a cast iron skillet and plan to use the stove for mainly car camping, I would recommend purchasing one of Solo Stoves larger stoves: the Titan or the Campfire. They will handle the weight and size better. The little Lite moved so easily, and I really needed to stay alert. I would recommend the Solo Stove Lite if you are planning to backpack or use it in an emergency kit. It is light and heats extremely well and is fun to use.
The Solo Stove Lite and Solo Stove Pot 900 are perfect for emergencies like when the power goes out, etc. It also works well to cook your Emergency Food Supply if you have one.
You can learn more about these great small stoves by going to the Solo Stove website.
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