For car camping with a family, a two-burner propane stove is the sensible default: you are not carrying it far, so weight matters less than whether the pans and the meals fit. The BTU figure on the box is the part people compare, so start there.
What the BTU number is, and is not
Coleman lists 20,000 BTUs total for the Classic 2-Burner, across two burners. It does not state a per-burner figure; if the heat is split evenly that would be about 10,000 each, but that is my arithmetic, not Coleman’s claim. In general, BTU is the rate a burner can burn fuel. It does not tell you how fast a pan heats, which also depends on wind, the pan itself, and how steadily the regulator holds pressure. Coleman’s page addresses two of those with wind panels and a regulator, covered below. For scale, the same site lists a one-burner butane stove at 7.65K BTUs that fits a 10-inch pan.
What Coleman states about the Classic 2-Burner
Read on coleman.com on 2026-10-14. These are Coleman’s statements; I have not cooked on this stove.
- Two independently adjustable burners; 20,000 BTUs total.
- Fits a 12-inch and a 10-inch pan at the same time.
- Adjustable WindBlock panels around the burners.
- A PerfectFlow pressure regulator, which Coleman says gives consistent performance in extreme conditions. I did not test that claim.
- Removable chrome-plated grate; aluminized steel cooktop.
- Fuel: propane. Listed weight 11.65 lb.
- Runs up to 1 hour with both burners on high on one 16.4-oz propane cylinder. The cylinder is sold separately.
The fuel math in that last line
One hour of both burners flat out per small cylinder is the heaviest use. Most cooking does not run both burners on high the whole time, so you should get more than an hour, but I cannot give you a number I did not measure. The practical rule: plan your cooking, then bring a spare cylinder, because running out at dinner is the failure that ruins the trip.
When this is the wrong stove
- Backpacking. At 11.65 lb it is a car-camping stove. Our backpacking stove pages cover the carry-it options, including how to pick an ultralight stove.
- Cooking for one or two, mostly boiling water. A one-burner stove is smaller, lighter and cheaper, and does the job.
- Cold or high-altitude trips. Fuel type matters more than burner count. Our guide to choosing a camp stove covers fuel and output.
- Anywhere stoves are restricted. Check the campground or land manager’s rules before you pack one.
Four questions before you buy
- Which pans do you already own? A 12-inch and a 10-inch fit at once on this stove, per Coleman; a bigger skillet may not.
- How many people, and how many hot meals a day?
- How cold will it get?
- Where will it live between trips? It is an 11.65 lb box.