The Firebox Gas Burner with its diffusion plate is hands down the best backcountry cooking system. For many people, backpacking isn’t about the food, but I’ve found that, especially with kids, some good food goes a long way to making the trip more enjoyable. In fact, I rarely take my kids backpacking without also bringing this stove.

There’s two parts to this system: the stove, which is the box portion, and the burner, which connects to your isobutane canister. The secret here, and what makes this the best stove for cooking, is the diffusion plate which diffuses and spreads out the flame, making it possible to heat a 10-inch pan. Yes, it’s still cooler out toward the edges, but this tiny little stove is every bit as capable of cooking as a full-size Coleman camp stove. I’ve cooked everything from fish the kids caught to cinnamon rolls on this thing (often in combination with the 10-inch fry pan).

As an added bonus, the Firebox Nano (which here serves as the stand for the Firebox gas burner) is also a standalone twig stove, and can hold a Trangia Spirit Burner (see below), making it an extremely versatile backpacking stove. It won’t win you any prizes at the next /r/Ultralight get together (the Firebox Nano on its own weighs 4.25 ounces for the titanium version), but you could be eating some delicious food in the backcountry. Did I mention it comes with a grill plate that turns it into a tiny gas grill?

Trangia’s Spirit Burner is the best alcohol stove I’ve used, thanks to the simmer control lid, which allows you to do more than just boil water. At 3.5 ounces (without a stand, which you need) it’s on the heavy side. Ultralight backpackers may be better served by a DIY stove. Bikepacker.com has a nice roundup of soda can designs you can experiment with. I’ve used both homemade burners and the Trangia spirit burner, and these days I almost always bring the Trangia. The cooking options it opens up far outweigh the 2oz weight gain.

As with almost any alcohol stove, you’ll need some kind of stand. My favorite is the lightweight Clikstand stand (as of this writing the lighter titanium version is sold out, but the stainless version is only 1 oz heavier). It securely holds the Spirit Burner and provides an additional windscreen. Alcohol can be transported in anything plastic. I use an old soda bottle, though I have tested and like Vargo’s fuel bottle. For bikepacking, I generally use a Trangia bottle which is heavier, but more durable when strapped to your bike frame. Denatured alcohol can be bought just about everywhere (this handy guide has the local name of it around the world). Everywhere, that is, but California. Californians, try Everclear. It works just as well.

Note that alcohol stoves are considered open flame with some burn bans. Check with the agency that oversees the land you’ll be traveling on, and be careful—alcohol burns odorless and nearly invisibly. Learn to use (and put out) your stove before you hit the trail.

MSR’s venerable WhisperLite is the best choice when you don’t know what kind of fuel you’ll need. It’s not lightweight (15 ounces with all three fuel adapters), but it’ll burn isobutane canisters, white gas, auto gasoline, and kerosene. The WhisperLite is, as the name suggests, pretty quiet for a pressurized burn system (which is what it uses for everything but the isobutane). Liquid fuel stoves like this are somewhat fiddly, requiring some effort to prime and light, but it’s also a well-tested design that will work anywhere under any conditions. I have cooked on this stove in the mountains, the desert, the snow and everywhere in between. There is a learning curve, though, so make sure you practice with it before you hit the trail. And forget about simmering when using the liquid fuels. It’s nearly impossible if there’s any kind of breeze.

The downside of the WhisperLite is the weight. Most backpackers hitting the trail in North America don’t need this level of versatility as canister fuel can be found just about everywhere. Where the International shines is on long trips abroad, where fuel sources are unknown. But if you only want to have one stove for everything, this would be my pick.

Sure, you can put together a slightly lighter cooking setup pairing our top pick and a 750ml Toaks pot, but Jetboil’s Stash is the lighest all-in-one system out there and it does boil water a bit faster than the rest so long as the wind is not blowing much. The heat diffuser design is what speeds up boil times (Jetboil claims 2.5 minutes, which I was only able to match indoor in still air), but the real appeal here to me is the way this kit all packs down into itself. For weekend trips, this is the simplest system I’ve tested when it come to cooking for two. Boil water, pour over your freeze dried pouch, done.

I found the Stash (and it’s larger, heavier cousin the Jetboil Flash 1L) very reliable and quick to boil water. Unfortunately the time savings doesn’t translate into a ton of fuel savings (and therefore weight savings) unless you’re out for four days or more. If you are doing a longer trip, then the Stash is worth considering as it could save about 2-4 grams of fuel per boil.