Trangia: Sweden’s Hottest Export Since ABBA – And Why Mine Still Smells of Hot Chocolate from when I was a scout…

A quick primer for the uninitiated

 

Invented in 1925 in the snow draped village of Trångsviken, the Trangia stove was designed so Swedish hikers could brew coffee without accidentally setting the Arctic tundra on fire.

The key ideas were:

1. Storm‑proof design – nested windshields that laugh at horizontal rain.

2. Simple, silent meths burner – the closest thing camping has to a Zen garden.

3. Everything packs inside itself – like those wooden Russian dolls, only greasier.

A century later, yes, they are celebrating 100 years this year… the basic blueprint is still recognisably the same. As Bob Dylan switched from acoustic to electric, Trangia merely added a gas adaptor and called it a day… sort of.

My first Trangia (and why my dad’s tent smelt of methylated spirits)

Picture a ten… eleven year‑old me, fresh Cub Scouts neckerchief choking the life out of me as the woggle was rammed up as far as it could go… and then some, unwrapping the most gorgeous aluminium cookware set ever forged for my birthday. My Dad told me two things:

• “Always keep the simmer ring; you’ll miss it the moment you lose it.”

• “Never pour meths from the big bottle straight into a lit burner unless you want new eyebrows.”

The eyebrows didn’t take long to grow back…

I still have that set. It may be a bit wobbly, battered and bruised, but so am I.

Upgrades, gadgets & questionable experiments

• The Trangia Triangle – separate from the storm cooker, this is a minimalist tripod that lets you perch a regular kettle or frying pan over the burner… any of the burners in the Trangia range. I used mine to execute a woodland cod and chip supper (yes, fish‑and‑chips in the woods – ⁠see my write up if you need a laugh). The triangle’s party trick is fitting inside a mug, meaning you can legitimately say, “Dinner’s in the cup.”

• The Cloudberry 25 with the iconic EDCCooperative livery – Imagine a classic 25 set but dipped in an orange meets marmalade powder coat. I paired it with the Hajka oven to whip up a camp‑side lasagne thick enough to grout tiles. Now, remember I said that they reach 100 years old this year, well, releasing this coloured, as well as two others, green and pink if you’re wondering, is part of the way that they are celebrating the milestone.

• The OG 27 EDCCooperative collab – I made eggs in purgatory on this one; felt sacrilegious and delicious in equal measure. Pro tip: the simmer ring is your best friend when you’re stewing tomatoes at 6 a.m… my dad was right there too… they always are…

Sidebar – Meths v. gas: choose your fighter

Metric	Meths burner	Gas adaptor
Weight	Light as gossip	Slightly heavier
Noise	Silent	Gentle hiss
Cold‑weather performance	Temperamental	Heroic
Cheap‑as‑chips factor	✅	❌ (but still frugal)

 

My rule of thumb: meths for nostalgia and brews; gas when my teenager’s hangry and the weather thinks it’s November.  An extra sidebar moment… jetboils are good, great in fact, they have their place, but sometimes, I don’t need to or want to rush, I want to enjoy my time, relax, soak up the ambience, the gentle flicker of an alcohol stove is just perfect… the roar of a gas burner, jetboil or otherwise… I can take it or leave it if I’m honest.

Passing the windshield baton

Fast forward from the early nineties when I got my first Trangia, to now, 2025. My daughter is tackling her Bronze Duke of Edinburgh expedition. The instructors insisted on Trangias, unaware that my mancave/Coop HQ resembles a Trangia retirement home. After a number of tea making warm‑up sessions (purple meths stains: 2, burnt tongues: 1), she graduated to a full meal using the gas burner. Last weekend she cooked the very same dish for herself in the Derbyshire heat… yes, I said heat… in Derbyshire… 27°c was the recorded temperature, she beamed like she’d invented pasta.

I’m not crying; you’re crying… or it’s those damn onion ninjas again…

Brief history interlude (so you can sound clever round the campfire)

• 1925 – Trangia founded by John E. Jonsson and his father‑in‑law, originally making aluminium household goods.

• 1938 – First “stormkök” (storm kitchen) prototype.

• 1951 – Nesting windshield + burner combo becomes standard issue for Swedish army cadets.

• 1970s – UK Scouts adopt Trangias, ensuring several generations smell permanently of meths.

• 1990s – Ultralight (UL) aluminium alloys introduced.

• 2000s – Gas adaptor appears; purists grumble, everyone else boils faster.

• 2020s – Limited‑edition colourful anodised sets (hello, Cloudberry!) and collabs like yours truly with EDCCooperative.

Care & feeding of a Trangia

1. After every trip wash with hot soapy water. Resist the urge to bung it in the dishwasher, the detergent + soft aluminium = heartbreak.

2. Polish the pan bases lightly with wire wool if they go rainbow coloured. Or leave them; patina is personality, especially if you are team #ProTina .

3. Store the burner separately with an o‑ring or a nice amount of kitchen roll to stop leaks… DO NOT throw away those yellow bags they come with and store the meths burner in it…. Don’t store meths in it for months in end as the silicone ring will perish. 

 

Five recipes that make people wander over and ask, “Blimey, what’s cooking?”

1. Uova al Purgatorio – because eggs and spicy tomato sauce fix mornings… there’s a blog post for this recipe.

 

2. One pot lasagne – layer lasagne sheets, dollops of ricotta, ragu, and cheese; cover with the Hajka lid, bake 20 min… would you believe that there’s a blog post for this recipe too.

 

3. Woodland fish & chips – fry battered fish and chips in your pan (or mess tin, like I did), smug grin required… you guessed it, the recipe features in yet another blog. 

 
4. Gnocchi with pesto & peas – 3‑minute boil, 30‑second stir; tastes like you fell into an Italian deli… no blog post… yet…

 

5. Chocolate orange fondue – melt chocolate in the small pan, dunk segments of an orange, strawberries, apple… whatever fruit you have. Scouts love it, dentists less so.

The punchline

Trangias aren’t just stoves; they’re family heirlooms that happen to smell of meths. From my Cub pack baptism to my daughter’s DofE slog, these clanky Swedish circles have book ended our adventures and given us more singed arm hairs than we care to admit.

If you’ve still got your first Trangia, give it a polish and take it out this weekend. If you’ve never owned one, borrow a friend’s (or get in touch with us for a coop one) and then accidentally “forget” to return it, because odds are you’ll still be cooking on it when your own kids are knocking out expedition brews in 2045.

Now, who’s for another cuppa?