So on my last trip I spent a lot of time under my tarp in my bug net, looking out at the fire pit and not wanting to go out there. I ended up burning through fuel on my stove way too quickly.

Last week I picked up a Solo Lite twig stove. I did a practice burn one day and found it boiled a liter of water as expected in about 10 minutes - perfectly except able in my opinion. Then a day later I tried cooking a pancake in my fry pan. I found I struggled to keep it burning hot, it took rather a long time, and the outside edges of that one pancake were a bit gooey. Disappointing first attempt.

So while I'm very impressed by the Solo build and am happy with water boil, I'm rather unsure about whether or not I could actually cook something - pancakes, eggs, fish - on the Lite version. I'm wondering if or how often any of you other twig stove owners do more than boil water??

I don't know anything about the "light" version of the solo stove. What I do know is the the regular solo stove is plenty light enough already IMO and does a great job frying fish in a 10" frypan and makes nice brown hash browns. It would have zero problem cooking a pancake.

I might venture a guess.......that the "light" version of the solo stove is for the true backpacking minimalist and is designed to do little more than boil water for freeze dried meals.......just a hunch.

My solo stove is set to make another 24 day trip where fried fish and hasbrowns will definitely be on the menu.

Look for hardwood fuel. I had the same problem with cedar and pine, big flames but burned out too fast- burned in the middle mush on the edges. birch or even drift wood worked much better and held coals longer.

I have the solo stove, not the lite, but I use it to cook everything from pancakes to fried taters and fish. What size of sticks are you using? Once I get the fire going I feed in the largest size sticks that I can squeeze in through the hole. I feel this helps with a hotter, longer burning fire.

I have to throw this in, I use a pair of small handheld pruning shears to cut my wood.

Quick update: following DougD's advice a tried another burn yesterday still using pine but bigger pieces. I had to use a saw to cut the 1 inch thick pieces down to 2-2.5 inches. It did go better, and I managed to cook a pancake reasonably well, though the center was still more done than the edges and even a bit dark (but not burned) in the center. This time I had my infrared thermometer and saw the pan after about a minute of heating was about 380ºF in the center, but nearly 100ºF cooler on the edges. Still, I count this burn as a marginal success. Eggs or fish would be easier because they can be moved around from edge to center of pan. I'm going to keep practicing with this.

The Lite is the smallest Solo stove at 9oz., and the next largest size which I'm guessing some of you have is called the Titan at 16oz. The Titan is about an inch wider in diameter, and almost 2 inches taller, so it can take somewhat bigger and more wood - thus a bigger flame. I can see where the Titan would be a lot easier to cook with, but I'm going to see how the Lite does for me. I think the longer the trip, the more the Titan would pay off - and I would certainly go that way if I were doing a 24 day trip MT!

Another thought, try making your batter a little thinner so the pancake cooks faster, less chance of it being gooey.

Blah! I will take what works and does not violate the #1 principle of MT's canoeing credo........"No Hassles"

Bugs are not a hassle, long days are not a hassle, partners which complain are and so is a stove which can't cook a pancake. If it can't cook a pancake it can't cook anything and is good for boiling water and little else.

Don't get me wrong.......if I were hiking the John Muir trail such a stove sounds really good to me as reconstituting freeze dried meals would be its focus.

I am a fan of the twig stoves provided it gasifies the air like a solo stove does. Works far more efficiently than I could of hoped. Lugging fuel canisters for long trips prompted my interest in the twig stoves.

I have a homemade wood gasification stove that I like a lot. My suggestion is instant oatmeal instead of pancakes. :) You are right, they boil water well.

Bannock: "I have a homemade wood gasification stove that I like a lot. My suggestion is instant oatmeal instead of pancakes. :) You are right, they boil water well."

Bannock I don't mean to quibble or be contentious but the Titan, the full size version of the solo stove, is a "real" stove. I fry fish, make hasbrowns etc. with good and surprising efficiency.