REASONS TO BUY
Compact
Lightweight
REASONS TO AVOID
Not wind resistant
Low flame power
Coleman PowerPack Review
Coleman PowerPack
Credit: Coleman
Our Verdict
We weren't exactly impressed with the Coleman PowerPack and feel that its only role in an outdoor kitchen should be that of a supplementary or back-up burner. Similar to the GasOne, it is small, compact, and easy to travel with, but it doesn't bring too much power to the table. With only one 7,500-BTU burner and no windscreen, we had trouble getting the flame to do anything other than simmer. For a medium sized group of 4-6 with a good two burner stove, the Coleman PowerPack could be a worthwhile addition to the kitchen. It does not have an autoignition system and can operate on small and large propane canisters.
Our Analysis and Test Results
The Coleman PowerPack is a very portable single burner stove that can easily expand your kitchen cooktop. While its flame is not sufficient enough to be of any use as a main cooking unit, coupled with another stove it can add versatility to a cooking setup.
Performance Comparison
Despite being the smallest stove we tested, it easily accommodated the 14" skillet.
Credit: Laura Lingeman
Group Cooking
Alone, the Coleman PowerPack would be unable to satisfy even the simplest of group demands. Use it in conjunction with a two- or three-burner cooking setup, however, and it can provide a great amount of utility and flexibility.
Some testers preferred the single burner stove option add it added versatility to their cooking setups.
Credit: Laura Lingeman
Time to Boil
This stove took the longest to boil a liter of water, approximately 7:40. It had the smaller number io BTUs per burner (7,500) and no wind protection.
Cooking Simmer
The advantage of having a low flame means that the Coleman PowerPack simmers like a charm! This seems to be its best attribute.
Ease of Set Up
There really isn't much to setting up this stove. It literally only consists of the burner and the propane adapter. Quite simple.
A compact cooking option that can be used by itself, or better yet, paired with another two burner to expand your outdoor kitchen.
Credit: Laura Lingeman
Ease of Care
Again, this model is simple to clean as there is only one burner that needs maintenance. The steel base wipes up pretty easily.
Wind Resistance
None. At all. Better choose your cooking location wisely! Better yet, invest in a windscreen.
Packed Size
The stove packs to approximately 13 x 9.5 x 4." It has no traveling case so the burner and propane adapter must both be accounted for.
Best Application
We would only recommend this stove for situations when you need to cook with more than two burners but don't want to invest in a three burner stove, possibly because you already have a perfectly good two burner. If this is the case, consider if it would be worthwhile to have one burner just to boil water. If so, something like the Jetboil Flash would be the fastest and most efficient stove option.
Minimal assembly is required for this little guy.
Credit: Laura Lingeman
Value
To be frank, for $49.99 we don't think this stove is a good value. If you find that you regularly need more than two burners to cook, you could spend $20 more dollars and purchase the Coleman Triton Plus two-burner, our Best Buy award winner. If you feel that an extra burner just to boil water would be helpful, we would recommend an extremely efficient backpacking stove. This would still be smaller than the Coleman PowerPack and can be used for, you guessed it, backpacking.
One tester assessing the simmering ability of his stove.
Credit: Laura Lingeman
Conclusion
We wanted to love this stove, but we just couldn't. We tried to find some scenario where it could be helpful, but it was just too limited: it was the slowest to boil water, had no wind protection, and no auto-ignition system. Even though it was small and light, that just didn't quite cut it. If you have a perfect use in mind for this stove, then it might be worth it to you, but we can't really think of one.
—
Laura Lingeman
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