Some stove companies published boil times for their stoves. These are only a VERY rough guide because there are no standard tests, and because there are many different variables which can impact boil time.

For example,

Setup variables include: size and type of pot (narrow or wide based); whether a lid is used; use of a heat windshield or not; , whether the gas canister is full or not; whether the gas canister has been warmed or is at ambient temperature; size of pot; whether a lid is used;

Environmental variables include: air temperature; water temperature at the start; the definition of “boil”; altitude; mixture of gas used; indoors or outdoors,

Measuring variables include: type of measuring device used, calibration of measuring device

Changes in any of the setup, environmental and measuring variables can influence the results of any boil time test. So who to believe? And what objective tests are there?

The most objective comparable measure is possibly maximum gas consumption (g/hr) as this gives you the theoretical maximum heat output of the stove. It doesn’t take efficiency into account, e.g. how good the burner head is at converting that flow of gas into heat, and transferring that heat into the pot. But it is one bench mark which is fairly objective and which can be compared between different stoves of a similar type.

Another source of objective information comes from experienced stove users writing in blogs, forums and reviews. The stove-using community comes up with lots of measurements which are independent of the stove makers. Independent users often compare different stoves using the standard methods, so they are definitely worth a look to get an idea. 

The best independent stove testing / comparing initiative is: StoveBench: A Stove Testing Protocol for Comparing the Performance of Backpacking Stoves – Backpacking Light This is well worth a look.

MercatorGear.com supports any independent organisation which wishes to conduct (and publish) rigorous and objective testing of boil times, fuel efficiency, carbon monoxide emissions of different stove brands. We are confident that KOVEA’s products will perform exceptionally well in such tests.