Originally posted 2019-08-17 16:37:51.
Ahoy weary travelers! It’s time for another Survivaljunk.com review! As you may know, I got affiliated with Biolite earlier this year – and I picked up a couple awesome new camping items. Among them is the Biolite Basecamp Pizza Dome combo – and this is a fantastic camping stove. The larger cousin of the Biolite Campstove 2, this is a larger model that weighs in around 22 lbs. It’s probably not the ideal choice for backpacking campers, but if you have a true base camp (think hunting camps, car camping, or even the back yard at home) the Biolite Basecamp Pizza dome combination is a fantastic product to have.
The Basecamp has collapsible metal legs that can either be tucked under the unit or unfolded to raise the stove up – allowing you to cook either out on the open ground or place the unit on top of a picnic table or other solid surface. It’s a stainless steel design, aside from the actual fire chamber which appears to be a mix of steel and cast iron.
Attached to the Basecamp is the part that really makes the magic happen – an onboard 2200mAh lithium ion battery. This battery both operates an internal fan that pumps air into the fire chamber, creating much cleaner combustion that virtually eliminates smoke, and as a battery bank capable of charging electronic devices even when there is not a fire burning.
The battery unit turns on once a fire has been produced inside the chamber and is burning at a certain temperature. Smart LED lights give the user information as to both the heat level of the fire and the charge level of the battery. During my testing of the unit, I plugged in my Samsung S9 smart phone for about 15 minutes, and at the end of the trial the battery had charged 8%! While that’s not as fast as the wall chargers we’re used to, it’s pretty amazing considering you’re creating electricity out of dead wood you found lying around.
The fire chamber isn’t huge on the basecamp, but once you have started a good fire going with tinder, you can utilize the log slider attachement and place larger pieces of fuel into the fire and nudge them further in as they burn, giving you a consistent heat for while you’re cooking.
Speaking of cooking, I was very impressed both with my ability to boil water and effectively cook using the Biolite Basecamp. A small metal lever near the battery allows you to move a metal shield over or away from the center of the unit where the fire chamber comes to meet the grill. this will allow you to either concentrate the flames in the middle of the unit (perfect for boiling water or using pots or skillets) or if you place the shield over the hole, the flames will radiate out onto the grill area – the right solution for cooking burgers or other meats directly on the grill top.
During my test I boiled water using one of the Biolite water pots I received with my Campstove 2. I had a good rolling boil in about 10 minutes. Then, I used my trusty cast iron skillet to cook up some freshly caught Alaskan Salmon, along with some peppers and tomatoes from my container garden. I found that keeping the heat shield away from the center flame worked best in both these cases.
Overall I was extremely impressed with my first trial run with the Biolite Basecamp – it’s a heavy duty stove, but still light enough to be portable. It cooked very well using a minimal amount of wood, and the electric generator aspect of this stove is my favorite thing about them – they really are an amazing tool to have not only for outdoors adventures, but power outages and other emergencies where you might not have the ability to charge your devices or create heat and cook in a conventional manner.
I didn’t get a chance to use the Pizza Dome accessories on this trial run – but I will in the near future. the Pizza Dome is an add on accessory to the Basecamp and includes a ceramic pizza stone, a metal stand to place that stone on the stove, and of course the stove lid with a built in thermometer. This addition turns the Basecamp into a portable oven, capable of not only cooking pizza but anything else that would need an oven’s heat. I did briefly cover the stove with the Pizza Dome lid and within minutes I was at a steady internal temperature of 450 degrees F. I will update this post once I have cooked a pizza with it.
Along side their awsome products, Biolite also has a great mission – when you purchase a Biolite product, some of those proceeds go to provide clean cooking, heating and electricity to those in the developing world. So not only are you getting a stellar product, you’re also helping to do good far from home. Check out the video below to learn more about Biolite’s mission.
Happy camping,
Caleb
