The cheap stove rating math doesn't add up

I checked 50+ reviews on a $25 butane stove and almost every 5-star post mentions boil time under 3 minutes. Took my own kettle out last weekend, 4 minutes 20 seconds at sea level in Tacoma. How does the average person get a faster boil, or are these reviewers just not timing it right?

1 comments

Log in to join the discussion

Log In

1 Comment

the_rose1mo ago

Four twenty at sea level sounds about right for one of those little things, and I feel for you because I did the same test with my Stanley pot last fall in Bellingham and got 4:35, so you're not crazy. The reviewers are probably counting from the moment the flame is already roaring, not from when they lit it, which shaves 30 to 45 seconds right there. Some of them are also boiling a cup of water in a tiny pot, not a full kettle, and a couple hundred extra milliliters makes a real difference. Wind is the other thing. A $25 stove loses half its heat to any breeze, so guys testing on a calm porch get numbers the rest of us can't touch. Your 4:20 is honest math, and their 3:00 is usually a mix of perfect conditions and generous counting.

3