While some might prefer cooking over a campfire when camping, others prefer the convenience of a camping stove. There are many types of camping stoves to choose from, and wood camping stoves are a popular choice for many reasons.
Firstly, wood stoves are the best alternative to cooking over a campfire. You still get to enjoy the art of creating and managing a fire, but with much more ease. Since wood stoves contain your fire, you have a much more reliable heat source to cook your food.
Secondly, wood stoves are cheaper to buy and operate than propane stoves. Propane isn’t cheap to buy, and it’s not always easy to predict how much you’ll need for a camping trip. With a wood stove, you can rely on mother nature to provide you with fuel for your stove.
Keep reading to learn more about wood-burning stoves for camping. We’ll also go over the best wood-burning stoves for camping in Canada this year.
Our Top Picks:
- Best For Backpacking: Ohuhu Camping Stove
Jump to Review - Most Lightweight & Compact: Lixada Camping Stove
Jump to Review - Best Rocket Stove: Tafeida Rocket Stove
Jump to Review - Best Value: TMS Military Camping Stove
Jump to Review - Best For Heating & Cooking: Fitinhot Camping Stove
Jump to Review
Why Use a Wood Stove When Camping?
If you have access to good, dry wood when camping, a wood stove is an excellent cooking method. Here are the main advantages of using a wood stove on your next camping trip:
- Safer and more practical than cooking over a campfire
- More eco-friendly and affordable than liquid fuel
- Adds a robust smokey flavour to your meals
- Can also help you keep warm
The 5 Best Portable Wood-Burning Stoves in 2025
We’ve analyzed dozens of portable camping wood stoves in Canada to provide you with a selection of the best options for your next camping trip. Here they are:
Ohuhu Wood Stove For Backpacking
If you’re looking for a highly portable and small wood stove, the Ohuhu Camping Stove may be for you. It features a unique collapsible design and comes with a case to help keep your camping gear organized. While it works best with wood pellets, the stove’s fire can conveniently be fuelled by items easily found in nature, including leaves, wood, and pine cones.
With a diameter of 6.2 inches when set up, the Ohuhu stove is small but can fit a standard-sized pot. Despite its small size, the stove is quite stable due to its low design. It’s also durable with its stainless steel construction.
If your fire is executed correctly, you can achieve a perfect flame with little to no smoke. The stove also has a double wall for enhanced heat output. It even comes with a grill for barbecuing small food items.
Our only issue with the Ohuhu backpacking wood stove is that it doesn’t have a feeding hole. This means you’ll have to lift its lid (and whatever you’re cooking) in order to add wood to the fire.
Tafeida Portable Rocket Stove
Rocket stoves are great for their efficiency and low smoke output. For that reason, the Tafeida Rocket Stove is one of our favourite wood-burning camping stoves. Made from cast iron, the stove is robust and durable. It features a 7.9-inch cooking surface and is capable of generating high heat. It has a convenient feeding chute that makes it easy to manage your fire while cooking.
What’s also great about the Tafeida is its versatility. Its cooking surface is wider than most, so it can also accommodate round-bottomed pans, such as woks, in addition to standard pots and pans. It also has an adjustable damper to help you control the flame based on your cooking requirements.
We also appreciate that its feeding chute is pointed upwards at a 45 degree angle. This means the stove can essentially feed itself if you add long logs to the chute.
While the stove has handles to help with its portability, it weighs over 13 lbs, so it isn’t the most lightweight wood stove on this list. However, it’s perfect for drive-in camping, RVs, or even for your backyard.
Fitinhot Camping Wood Stove
With its multipurpose design, the Fitinhot wood-burning stove is another one of our favourite camping wood stoves. The stove can conveniently be used for cooking and for heating your campsite. Instead of painted stainless steel, the stove features titanium-plated stainless steel, making it durable and relatively lightweight. With carrying handles and a compact design, it’s also conveniently portable.
In terms of cooking, the Fitinhot is similar to a traditional wood stove. It features a flat surface on the top that can be used for cooking food or boiling water. It has removable shelves on each side that can hold your ingredients and cooking utensils.
In terms of portability, the Fitinhot is a small wood stove but a bit on the heavy side (over 15 lbs). Its side shelves double as a carrying handle so it’s easy to move around. Its legs also fold in for more compact storage. When not in use, the chimneys fit nicely inside the stove.
The stove comes with a 14-foot chimney that can be installed inside a canvas tent or a yurt. It also comes with gloves and a fire hook. The chimney has an adjustable damper to control airflow.
Lixada Backpacking Wood Stove
The Lixada camping stove is another small camping wood stove. Made from high-quality titanium, the stove is durable and lightweight. In fact, weighing just 290 lbs, it’s the lightest wood stove on this list. The stove’s fire can be fuelled by items found in nature, including dried twigs, small pieces of wood, dried grass, or dried leaves. Overall, it’s a great stove for backpacking or for camping with limited space.
The Lixada is also great for its functional design. With a large opening on its side, the fire can easily be maintained while cooking. It also features air vents on each side for enhanced airflow and better burning.
In terms of size, the Lixada is 6 inches wide and 7 inches tall. It conveniently folds for easy transportation and compact storage. In fact, when folded, it can easily fit inside a backpack. The stove is made up of four pieces, so it’s also quite easy to assemble.
TMS Portable Military Camping Wood Stove
The TMS Portable Military Camping Stove is another multipurpose wood stove worth mentioning. Similar to the Fitinhot Wood Stove above, it can be used for both cooking and heating purposes. While it’s primarily a wood stove, the TMS can also be fuelled by charcoal or anything combustible. It heats up efficiently and is overall a great choice for a tent stove. Costing just over $100, it’s also an excellent value.
In terms of design, the TMS Military Stove has racks on each side that help create a flat surface for cooking. The racks can also be used for hanging clothes. When not in use, the racks fold upwards and can be used as a carrying handle. We appreciate the addition of these racks, but it does mean that the cooking pots won’t make direct contact with the stove.
Another design feature we appreciate about the TMS is its removable cooking tubes on each side. The tubes are great for cooking potatoes, corn, or foil meals.
In terms of size, the stove is 10 inches wide, 18 inches long, and 26 inches tall (with its legs on). Weighing 24 lbs, it’s heavier than most cook tent stoves, but its design makes it nonetheless small and portable. When not in use, all of its parts conveniently fit inside the stove.
Our only complaint with the TMS is the design of its chimney. With a diameter of just 2.5 inches, the pipe is quite small. It also doesn’t have a damper for controlling airflow.
How to Choose The Best Wood-Burning Camping Stove
There are many factors that go into choosing the right wood-burning stove for your camping trips. You ideally want a stove that adapts to your style of camping and will not break apart after one season.
Here are some factors to consider when choosing a camping wood stove:
Your Needs
Camping wood stoves come in many shapes and sizes, and the right stove will ultimately depend on your camping needs. Will you be backpacking, drive-in camping, or RV camping? The answer to this question will help determine whether you would benefit from a highly portable wood stove or a bigger wood stove.
There are many wood stoves on the market designed for backpacking. These stoves will often be collapsible for easy transport. You can generally fit one pot on a backpacking wood stove.
On the other hand, there are also lots of bigger stoves that are more suitable for drive-in camping or RV camping trips. These stoves are also much more efficient for cooking for a group of people. You’ll be able to fit a larger pot on the stove and will have more grill space.
Weight
Whether you’re camping or backpacking, the last thing you want is a big and heavy stove. Wood-burning stoves can weigh anywhere from 1 lb to well over 20 lbs. Most camping wood stoves on the market are designed to be small and lightweight, but there are some more robust models. The more robust wood stoves tend to be made from cast iron instead of titanium or stainless steel.
Durability
Durability is important when it comes to camping equipment, and a camping stove is no exception. Since it will be exposed to high heat along with potential rain or humidity, you want your stove to be both heat-resistant and weather resistant.
That said, if you want a durable wood stove, look for one that’s made from titanium or stainless steel. For even more durability, opt for a wood stove made from chromed stainless steel or anodised aluminium.
Cast iron wood-burning stoves are also highly durable, but they tend to be heavy for camping trips.
Design
When it comes to wood-burning camping stoves, there are a few design elements that can facilitate your cooking experience. For one, wood stoves with feeding chutes are more convenient to cook with. With a feeding chute, you can easily add wood to your fire as you cook.
Another design feature to look out for is its portability. Can the stove easily be transported, set up, and dismantled? Some stoves will have integrated handles or a foldable design for easy transport.
The Disadvantages of Wood-Burning Camping Stoves
While camping wood stoves are great, they do have a few disadvantages. The main one being they require much more work to get going. Not only will you have to start a fire, but you’ll have to maintain it while cooking. This can be particularly problematic if you’re camping in a humid, rainy, or windy location.
Another complaint with camping wood stoves is that the flames tend to leave black burn stains at the bottom of your pots and pans. However, if you have separate pots for camping or cook with cast iron, this shouldn’t be a huge concern.
