But isn't this procedure just priming or preheating by a different name? You can't run the stove on the air-rich mixture continuously as you would be having to pump it almost continuously, so you switch to fuel-only once the burner is hot enough to vapourise the fuel, ie. primed.
Well, yeah, priming is just heating up part of the burner to the point that its heat will vaporize the fuel. What the SnowPeak does is make the priming flame look like a cooking flame. Is this a marketing gimmick? I suppose it can be considered an attempt to make a liquid fueled stove more acceptable to gazzers. On the other hand, it's less prone to flaring than other liquid fuel stoves, and would be safer to start indoors (something I'd still try to avoid). Also, you can start cooking on the priming flame, which is pretty much a waste of time with most liquid fuel stoves. ....Arch
