Coleman Fold-N-Go stove passes first test

I wrote about this recently, but at that time, I had not actually cooked on my new Fold-N-Go two-burner propane stove.

I spent the weekend cruising up to Friday Harbor, on San Juan Island, and each morning I cooked my famous Bagel Eggel breakfast using the new stove.

Monday morning, for instance, I woke up in La Conner, one of my favorite stopovers on the Seattle-San Juans run. Face it: very few kitchens offer the view I had yesterday!

So how’s the stove? It’s great, so far. It has plenty of adjustment range, so I can get my skillet just the right temperature to toast bagels or cook eggs, and I can boil a kettle of water in a hurry.

As anticipated, it is sensitive to wind. I didn’t have any trouble with the wind extinguishing the flame, since wind was very light during the mornings this past weekend. However, even a very light breeze will tend to “move” the heat. If you cook an omelet, for instance, you can see that the “windward” edge of the skillet is cooler than the “leeward” edge, because the egg cooks more slowly to windward. And be careful not to allow the skillet’s handle to rest in the leeward position too long; it gets mighty hot!

In practice, I was able to compensate for the wind just by being aware of it and rotating my pan around once or twice during each omelet, keeping the handle away from the hot leeward quarter.

I also got a chance to see some Fold-N-Go units aboard other boats in Friday Harbor. All the owners with whom I spoke were happy with them. One go-fast fisherman claimed he was surprised that he could boil water for coffee in the cockpit while “on step” (running fast). Another boater had been using the unit for a couple of years, and while the unit showed obvious signs of age and use, it was still in service.