A convenient single burner, but it is dangerous if you use it incorrectly.

I think many campers own single burners like the Iwatani Junior Compact Burner or SOTO ST-310. Single burners are compact and can use commercially available gas canisters, making them very convenient.

However, single burners can lead to serious accidents if used incorrectly, so caution is necessary.

First, we recommend purchasing single burners from trusted brands like Iwatani or SOTO. We can't say Chinese-made burners are bad outright, but since you are handling fire, choose products from reliable manufacturers. Also, an often overlooked risk is gas explosions caused by excessive heating of the gas canister.

This is really dangerous! There are often news reports of gas canisters exploding while cooking with gas stoves, and this is the same phenomenon.

When is a heat shield necessary?

The cause of gas canister heating is radiant heat generated from the burner flame or heated items like frying pans placed on the burner, and it is necessary to minimize this radiant heat reaching the gas canister.

If heating for a short time only, a heat shield is not necessary, but when cooking with an iron plate or simmering dishes, always use a heat shield.

A heat shield is installed between the heat source of a single burner and the gas canister, serving to cut (reduce) radiant heat transferred from the heat source to the gas canister.

Please see this illustration explaining heat conduction by radiant heat. *Here, heat conduction means not just direct contact heat transfer but also includes radiant heat transferring to objects.

What types of heat shields are there?

At ZENCamps, we make heat shields for the well-known single burners like the Iwatani Junior Compact Burner (CB-JCB) and SOTO ST-310, so if you own these burners and want to use cast iron cookware, please give them a try.

There are both compact, portable small heat shields and table-type ones, so please use them according to your needs!

Iwatani Junior Compact Burner (CB-JCB)

SOTO ST-310

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