The Trangia Mini first appeared in 1985, built for the International Mountain Marathon, and it is still the smallest proper Trangia: a 0.8 liter saucepan, a Ø150 mm frypan, the brass spirit burner and a windshield with the handle built in, at 350 g all in.

New for 2024: the Mini with a hardanodized saucepan and a non-stick frypan.

What is in the box

• Windshield with integral handle
• Brass spirit burner
• 0.8 L saucepan in hardanodized aluminum
• Ø150 mm frypan in non-stick
• Packed size Ø150 × 67 mm
• Weight 350 g (12.3 oz)
• Made in Sweden
• None
• Weight 350 g (12.3 oz)
• Made in Sweden

The spirit burner

This set ships with Trangia’s brass spirit burner — the part that has barely changed in a hundred years, because there is nothing in it to go wrong. No pump, no jet to clog, no moving parts. You fill it to about two-thirds (roughly 100 ml), light it, and it burns for about 25 minutes and boils a liter of water in about ten. A simmer ring drops over it to throttle the flame or snuff it out.

Fuel: alcohol only. In the United States Trangia name denatured alcohol and HEET. Their warning, verbatim: “never use gasoline or other petroleum based fuels as this may result in serious injury and damage the wick inside the burner.” No gasoline, diesel, kerosene or lamp oil. Fuel is not included — and Trangia say nothing either way about isopropyl, so neither will we.

Two habits worth having from their instructions: never add spirit until the flame is completely out, and never store fuel in the burner when it is packed away, because it can leak and the fuel holds water that will corrode it.

Looking after the non-stick

Wooden or plastic utensils only. No steel wool, no Scotch-Brite. Do not overheat it and never leave it empty on the burner. Trangia suggest oiling it lightly before first use, and they are honest that “the frying pan may need to be replaced from time to time” — a coating is a wear part.

About the coating, and why we are not going to tell you it is PFAS-free. Trangia describe their non-stick as “a type of PTFE.” Elsewhere on their own site they also describe it as “PFAS-free and PFOA-free… its main component is PTFE.” PTFE is a PFAS under the usual definition, so those two statements cannot both be right as written. We are publishing the part they are consistent about — it is a PTFE-type non-stick coating — and saying nothing about PFAS in either direction. No brand name for the coating is published anywhere. If this decides the purchase for you, ask us and we will put it to Trangia in writing.

Trangia’s four materials, and which one you want

This is the choice that actually matters when you buy Trangia cookware, so here it is in their own terms:

• UL — Ultralight. Aluminum alloy 5005, which Trangia says is “50 percent stronger than regular aluminum.” Lightest, conducts heat best, cheapest. Trangia’s own caution: “soft material, prone to denting.”
• HA — Hardanodized. A surface treatment on the same aluminum that makes it hard and scratch-resistant. The selling point is Trangia’s own: it weighs the same as UL, because “the treatment penetrates the material.” Easier to clean. It is still an aluminum cooking surface.
• NS — Non-stick. UL aluminum discs with a coating. Easiest to clean, least durable surface. Wooden or plastic utensils only, no steel wool, and Trangia say outright that “the frying pan may need to be replaced from time to time.”
• DS — Duossal 2.0. A laminate of aluminum and stainless pressed together — 0.8 mm total, of which 0.3 mm is the stainless interior. Heaviest and dearest. It is the one to buy if you cook acidic or salty food, because stainless, not aluminum, is what touches your dinner.

One caution Trangia publishes and we are going to repeat. On bare and anodized aluminum: “avoid cooking and storing acidic or salty foods in aluminum vessels for extended periods of time,” and maintain the surface to prevent scratches “that may increase the risk of metal release.” Tomato sauce overnight is the thing to avoid. If that is how you cook, the Duossal version of this pan has a stainless interior and sidesteps it entirely.

Keep the plastic handle away from direct flame — Trangia’s own instruction, and the one way to ruin this stove.

Care

Not dishwasher safe, and this is Trangia’s own position rather than ours: “the chemicals used in dishwasher detergent destroy the aluminum’s surface.” Hand wash with washing-up liquid and a brush or soft sponge. For stubborn residue Trangia permit steel wool or a scouring pad — on everything except non-stick.

Do not store food in the pots, and do not boil dry: Trangia warn that “without food or liquid, it can melt.” Keep plastic parts away from the flame.

Induction and oven use are not published by Trangia, for any of their cookware, so we are not going to claim either.

Made in Sweden, at Trangia’s factory in Trångsviken.