There was a time when family camping meant that you surrendered your appetite to the offerings of granola bars, lukewarm cup-o-noodles and an endless supply of beef jerky. But just because you’re heading into the backcountry doesn’t mean that you need to compromise your culinary standards. Enter the Primus Profile Dual Stove/Grill.
On Performance and Design…
Whether you’re cooking for larger groups or preparing elaborate meals, this is one stove that delivers. How do we know? Because as part of our standard ‘putting it through the paces’ process we took this stove on a family camping adventure. But here’s the catch, when we say “family camping adventure” what we mean is ten adults, nine kids and a week at altitude with three meals a day.
Which brings us to the next point. Don’t think of the Primus Profile Dual Stove/Grill as merely a ‘camp stove. Rather, think of it as a mini-kitchen that’s light (only 11.9 pounds) and portable enough to take to every campsite, tailgate, or fishing trip and convenient enough to whip-up just about any culinary treat you can think up. It offers up the type of design and performance you’d expect from a brand that’s been part of people’s adventures since 1892.
As the name suggests, the Primus Dual features one 12,000 BTU stove burner and a 10,000 BTU BBQ grill. So you can cook up some dogs for the kids on one side while you fry up some veggies in a skillet for authentic fajitas on the other side. And don’t worry, if you’re feeling a little less inspired come meal time, the Primus Dual will still crank out a large boiling pot of water for Mac N Cheese in no time.
The InstaStart piezo ignition turns this baby on without the need for matches (which comes in handy when the kids misplace said matches). Once your portable kitchen is fired up, two separate burner controls offer ultimate control from faint flame to full blown scorch mode making preparation of every dish a virtual snap. And for the moments Mother Nature isn’t being cooperative, the WindBlock shield ensures that you can could deliver dinner to the hungry masses even in poor conditions.
The other feature that our team appreciated was the flexible hose used to connect the standard 16.4 oz. propane canisters (sold separately) to the grill. Just because you’re car camping doesn’t mean you never have to get creative with space. As such, the flexible hose offered a welcome alternative to the straight/stiff arm propane connector of some similar products.
Notes from the Field…
We did come away from our time with the stove with a few minor critiques. The first is that the InstaStart piezo ignition didn’t always catch consistently, requiring a few clicks before the stove would ignite. In the grand scheme of things, it’s a tedious detail and only becomes a hassle when your hoards of little campers are looking for that instantaneous dinner.
There are those who may nitpick over the fact that the grill grate is made from a coated aluminum, and some who may prefer a non-stick griddle to a BBQ style grill grate. That being said the performance of the grill gave us nothing to quibble over and continues to serve our crew well, meal after meal. And last but not least, we would definitely prefer a true stand alone handle, rather than the built-in version on this model.
Bottom Line…
Don’t let your camp stove put a limit on the meals you make. The versatile Primus Profile Dual is your ticket to real meals in the great outdoors.
*Gumption Gear Review received a product sample of the item featured in this review from Primus at no cost, and receives no monetary compensation for this or any related review. The item featured was provided solely in return for our honest views and opinions.