CanCooker Weekender Kit Review (Perfect for Travel Hunters)

If you’re like me and you don’t want to eat yet another freeze-dried meal and want an easy real hot meal when you get back to camp at night after a long day of hunting, then this post is for you.

I’m a long-time user, so this CanCooker Weekender Kit review isn’t some off-the-cuff test. I have used both the four (4) gallon full-size CanCooker and the CanCooker Junior to cook more meals than I can count.

Getting my hands on this Weekender Kit allowed me to test the new multi-fuel single-burner stove with the CanCooker Junior to see if it truly is a great travel kit for my winter and fall hunting trips.

In this review, I’ll show you exactly how this little weekend travel cooking kit performed in some windy and cold conditions this winter and tell you if it’s worth spending your hard-earned cash on it.

CanCooker Weekender Kit Review

Hot meals in 40 minutes or less. Multi-fuel and instant electric start. Portable.

What’s not to love? Seth McGinn is constantly trying to reinvent the CanCooker and by putting together targeted kits, he has really done well to highlight the advantages and portability of all the different models available.

As I said above, I am a long-time user and I currently own this weekend kit, a first-generation full-size, and one of the first-generation CanCooker Junior models. Making complex, hot meals, fast and easy is exactly what it’s all about and it delivers.

I was able to take this kit with me through several small camping and hiking trips this winter. I already knew that the CanCooker Junior was able to produce great hot meals quickly through years of experience, but I didn’t know how efficient the Multi-Fuel stove was going to be.

As a travel hunter, you want something portable, but not something that is going to take up a lot of space in your vehicle. You want something sleek that delivers results fast. That’s what I found in this review.

CanCooker Weekender Kit

The CanCooker Weekender Kit allows you to take your can cooking on the go in a small, yet effective package. The multi-fuel stove uses either small 16.4-ounce propane or 8-ounce butane cannisters to fuel the fire. The electric ignition on the stove ignites instantly and the gas flow setup allows for a low, focused flame that can have the water in the CanCooker Junior boiling and steaming in as little as 5 minutes.

If you are a travel hunter or just take trips where you want a hot meal that doesn’t include hydrating your food and don’t want to have to carry a big bulky grill with you, then this kit is what you need.

Back Story

During bow hunting season, my Dad, brother, and other assorted guests; routinely go out on a morning hunt, then come back to camp. We then prep whatever meal we plan on having that evening. Cut the meat, peel the potatoes, etc.

Then when we get back to camp after the evening hunt, all we have to do is throw the large CanCooker on the fire or a burner, and in an hour or less, we have an awesome hot meal for a large group of hungry hunters. We just dump the contents into an aluminum roasting pan and then everyone jumps in.

We’ve done this for countless years because no one wants to go through cooking a big meal for everyone after a long day of hunting. It is convenient and easy. Period.

Fast forward to this Weekender Kit and now when I’m on the road with my family travel hunting or just going on short family trips, I have the same luxury with a much smaller footprint that still feeds four adults easily.

I’ll show you an example of a recent weekend here in February where my wife and I ended up at a campground near where we were doing some winter scouting.

Meal Prep

The morning before leaving I cut up some thawed-out chicken breasts, onions, and potatoes. Nothing exotic or extensive like you can easily do in the cooker, but we didn’t feel the need to go crazy about what we were having for dinner.

I bagged up those ingredients in zip-lock bags and put them into a small cooler I had for the trip. I loaded up the cooler and Weekender Kit in the car and we were off.

Dinner Time

When we got back to the campground after scouting all day, I broke out the multi-fuel stove and hooked up a 16.4-ounce propane cylinder to the hose that came with the kit. I then opened the CanCooker Junior and sprayed it with olive oil cooking spray inside.

I then put the cooking grates that come with the kit into the cooker. I took out the ingredients I prepped in the morning, loaded the cooker up, added 12 ounces of water (I like to use beer for this too), and then added salt, pepper, and some allspice.

It’s important to note that when you load your food into any can cooker it’s best to have your meat or heaviest items on the bottom. Then add your vegetables and other ingredients. I always add my spices in layers as I add food to the cooker. This helps it blend into the food so much better.

The CanCooker is essentially a poor man’s pressure cooker/ steamer. This is why you have to add 12 ounces of water or some other liquid as this is what’s going to provide the steam that cooks the food.

Fuel Cooking Times

it is important to know how long the propane and butane cylinders last when cooking meals that have your burner running for 30 to 40 minutes. I have found that the duration of 8 oz. butane and 16.4 oz. propane canisters can vary based on several factors, including the burner’s efficiency, the setting used (low, medium, high), and environmental conditions.

Typically, an 8 oz. butane canister might last between 1.5 to 2 hours on a medium setting, while a 16.4 oz. propane canister could last approximately 2 to 4 hours under similar conditions. This should help you understand how much fuel you’ll need when you go on a trip.

Cooking the Meal

The Multi-fuel Cooktop surprised me when I started using it to cook. I honestly did not expect much from it. I thought it was as simple and cheap camping stove. I was wrong. This stove surprised me right away by starting instantly.

A lot of times when using an electric type ignition system, you need to work them a few times before the stove ignites. Not with this. The very first time I clicked it over to start, I heard the swoosh of the gas being ignited and that was it.

What surprised me even more was how the stove has been set at the factory to have the flames at the optimal level for maximum efficiency. I could barely see the flames and had to get close to the stove to see them.

I then put the CanCooker Junior on the stove on high heat and within 5 minutes I had steam coming out of the steam hole at the top of the can. There is a small hole that when you have consistent steam coming out of it, is your signal to set the timer for the recipe you’re cooking.

Cook Timing

The simple recipe I used only required 35 minutes of cooking. When I saw the steam, I set my watch and then lowered the temperature to the Low setting (for some meals you will need to adjust this between medium and low to keep an even flow of steam coming out of the top of the cooker.

Most meals only take 25-35 minutes to cook depending on the ingredients and recipe. Even when using the full-size cooker, I never had a meal take more than 40 minutes to cook.

Once my watch timer went off, I turned off the stove burner and opened the cooker. Be careful when you do this. You will need hot pads or something because the cooker will be hot. Then keep your head back because the steam is going to rush out pretty fast when you open it.

Then we dumped out the contents into the small pan we brought with us, dished up, and ate.

It was awesome!

Cold Weather and Wind

It was pretty cold most of the time I used this during my winter scouting trips this year. On the day I took the pictures in this review, it was very windy and I fully expected the burner to get blown out and/or that the cooking time would need to be extended.

Neither happened.

The Multi-Fuel Cooktop worked great every time and I think the main reason is because of how low and focused the flame is on the burner. You do not get a lot of orange flames. It is blue and or nearly invisible. That is something I was really surprised and very happy to see.

That’s It

That’s the simplicity of the CanCooker Weekender Kit. It is so easy to use and the meals are easy to prep and cook. Once you use it a few times you’ll be just like us. You’ll say, “Wow!” we need to cook “this next” or use “this recipe” next time. You will see the endless possibilities for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Well, I hope you enjoyed my CanCooker Weekender Kit Review. I am a big fan of the CanCooker and have used them for years now. This small, portable kit is just what I needed to take on my travel hunts, and will be using it for that a lot this fall.

Good luck and Enjoy!