This past Labor Day weekend fellow copywriter Tim Gibbins and I got to put the EcoZoom Dura Lite stove to the test. We headed to crystal-clear mountain waters in Central Oregon for car camping and planned to spend some quality time with good friends in the great outdoors. Excited to treat ourselves to backcountry culinary delights, we brought along goose meat, figuring that a good ol’ fashioned stew was in order.
Zach’s Review:
Design
The Dura Lite stove uses a classic rocket stove design, which means that fuel such as wood or biomass is burned in a single high-temperature combustion chamber with an insulated vertical chimney. This ensures complete combustion before the flame ever reaches the cooking surface, making this stove not only efficient, but also extremely environmentally friendly. I only noticed smoke when I tried to stuff too much wood into the chamber, and that was easily solved by simply backing some of the wood out.
Durability
Not much to go wrong here. Since the design is so simplistic, my only worry was misplacing the unattached wood feeder. Set on level ground, the round base made for a stable platform and the whole unit could easily stand the weight of a heavy cast iron Dutch oven.
Usability
Using this stove was a breeze and extremely fun. I could easily adjust the heat of the flame, from a simmer to a boil, by adding or taking away fuel. The outside of the stove stayed relatively cool while cooking and cleanup was a cinch. What an exciting way to participate in the creation of my food. It really just set the scene for totally memorable evening. The goose stew turned out wonderful too.
Tim’s Review:
Design
On first look the Dura Lite looks like a pooper bucket for a river trip. Its overall size is a little smaller than a five-gallon bucket. It has thick walls, and an open top. The two full-grip handles make carrying it very easy. The stove top is super solid and stable, but the best part about this stove is whatever they did to make the fire burn so consistent and efficiently. The design really maximizes the impact of the fire within the chamber.
Durability
The stove is rock solid. With minimal moving parts this is a stove you can own for decades.
Usability
We chopped kindling from a quartered log into two-inch thick pieces. At first I thought it would work as a novelty-type stove, but it really burned the kindling so efficiently that our stew started bubbling in a cast iron pot promptly. As darkness settled in the stove let out such a pleasant glow around our camp. It felt like a throwback to cook over the warm coals of a fire, but we didn’t have to deal with the mess of cleaning up an actual campfire. I was really impressed. The overall experience made me want one of these and kiss the days of using propane while car camping goodbye.
