Fire Maple Saturn review

Who the Saturn suits

Fire-Maple pitches the Saturn at car camping, overlanding and cold-weather base camps, and those uses map well onto a power outage: boiling water for a family, cooking a pot of pasta or heating canned food on the back patio. It sits low on the ground with the canister connected by a hose, rather than perched on top, which keeps a big pot stable.

It weighs 2.2 lb, folds to about 7.1 by 3.6 inches in its carry case, and opens to about 9.8 by 4.6 inches. The supports take pots of roughly 9.8 to 11.8 inches across, and Fire-Maple says all the support arms must sit under the pot before you light it.

Output, fuel and the inverted mode

Upright, Fire-Maple rates the Saturn at 15,000 BTU/h (4.4 kW), using about 11.9 oz of fuel an hour. It runs on standard screw-thread isobutane-propane canisters (EN417 type), and the manual warns that fitting other gas containers may be hazardous. Lighting is by built-in piezo igniter, though a lighter in the kit is a sensible backup.

Turned over after preheating, the canister feeds liquid fuel and the output rises to as much as 37,500 BTU/h. Fire-Maple says to warm the stove up with the canister upright first and only invert once the flame is stable, and calls inverted mode a tool for high output or cold weather, not the default for every meal. Below 5°F (-15°C), the manual says inverting becomes necessary. Most households should simply cook upright.

At the upright rate, a standard canister will not last long at full flame, so store several and turn the flame down when you can.

Safety: outdoors only

The manual is blunt: use outdoors only, and never in an enclosed space such as a tent, vehicle or home. CDC says never to use a portable gas camp stove indoors, because burning fuel produces carbon monoxide, an odorless, colorless gas that kills without warning. Ready.gov repeats that camp stoves are for outdoor use only.

Fire-Maple also says to keep combustibles at least 3.28 feet from the sides of the stove, never move it while burning or hot, let it cool for at least five minutes before disconnecting, and not light it if you smell or hear gas. Keep young children away. The recessed burner gives some wind shelter, but Fire-Maple advises a protected spot outdoors. Our cooking without power guide and carbon monoxide guide cover the rest, including CO alarms near every sleeping area.

How it compares, and the verdict

On our camp stove comparison, the Coleman Triton gives two 11,000 BTU burners on propane, better for cooking two things at once. The Gas One butane stove is a simpler 7,650 BTU tabletop burner. The Saturn has the most power from a single burner on the page, and Fire-Maple backs it with a three-year warranty.

Verdict: a strong, compact burner for big pots outdoors, with an igniter and good stability. Skip it if you only boil water for one or two people, would rather run on propane, or want a two-burner setup for family meals.

Can I use the Fire-Maple Saturn indoors during a power outage?

No. Fire-Maple's manual says outdoors only, never in a tent, vehicle or home, and CDC says never to use a portable gas camp stove indoors because of carbon monoxide.

What fuel does the Saturn use?

Screw-thread isobutane-propane canisters of the EN417 type, the common backpacking canister. The manual warns that fitting other gas containers may be hazardous.

Do I need to use the inverted mode?

Usually not. Fire-Maple calls it a high-output or cold-weather mode, and says to preheat upright and invert only once the flame is stable. The manual says inverting becomes necessary below about 5°F.

What warranty does the Saturn have?

Fire-Maple offers a three-year warranty. The manual says it does not cover stoves that are lost, stolen, mishandled or damaged through improper use.