I Need A Cooking Stove For Backpacking. What Should I Look For?

Weight is your obvious chief concern here. Stoves come in two types: fuel source attached by screwing on, or source off to the side and detachable.
Older brands, such as Svea or Whisperlite, had the fuel source screwed on underneath. This meant you had to carry a supplemental gas supply in a canister. The disadvantage was the canisters were bulky and might leak, contaminating your food. Newer stoves use compressed white gas or propane in a screw-on canister, which, while properly contained, were also bulky plus non-reusable. Both types of stoves have about the same efficiency rating, so the choice is yours.
At 14,000 feet on Peru's famed Inca Trail leading to Machu Picchu, I had a compressed gas canister nearly explode because of the reduced air pressure, causing an immediate frost build-up that caused my frozen fingers to nearly drop it. Be aware that this may happen at such high altitude.

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