These stoves take butane cartridges. Cartridges used to be available only at Asian supermarkets but are now available even at our local outdoor shops.
Besides use for hot-pot, we use our stove for grilling under the kitchen fan. After I learned that the fish roaster I wanted to buy was not available in this country and was heavy (a big deal in terms of international shipping cost), and considering the bother of storing and bringing out a heavy product every time I grill something, I opted for a low-tech option: placing a 10-buck griddle on the portable stove. This combination is light (weighs about the same as a 14” laptop), involves no electric cord, and it is much handier than I had imagined. The stove is also very handy during power outages, which sometimes last several days where we live. It is hassle free and much easier to use than a camping stove.
While this product always seems to be around at my friends' homes, the first model came out only in 1969, from Iwatani. No wonder the company is still the biggest name in portable gas stoves.
There are multiple manufacturers in Japan and their products used to take specific fuel cartridges, but product codes for portable stoves and fuel cartridges were revised in 1998 to standardize specifications based on the post-disaster experience of survivors of the 1995 Kobe-Hanshin Earthquake. Unless you use a very old model stove, you do not have to worry about getting the right kind of fuel cartridge.
2 comments:
where can i find that small cheap $10 grill for your butane stove? i can't find it anywhere?
Hi Ryan,
I bought mine at Uwajimaya in Seattle. Something similar would be available at Japanese, Chinese, Korean and other Asian grocery stores. Try dollar stores or 100-yen shop (Daiso), too, for a better deal.
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