Has anyone tried the JetBoil stove? What did you think?
PennPaddler
Love mine
It’s great for boiling water for coffee in the morning. It does not replace your other cooking gear unless you only eat dehydrated food.
some are recalled
http://www.jetboil.com/files/Safety_Recall_Notice_Poster_rev7_12-10-08.pdf
Beware this is a big file…pictures.
I have 2
Love my Jetboils. I also have a pocket rocket for back up.
I cook all kinds of great, quick meals on them. They are not just for boiling water.
love it!
I use one for day paddles. It’s really fast at heating water for instant soup, coffee or tea. And when you’re cold and able to produce something to drink that’s hot, it can be a lifesaver. My son who is high funtioning autistic has one. It’s one less worry for me that he has a stove for camping that is so easy to use. My husband has one, he mainly does coffee in his, but that seems to keep him happy. And for Christmas I sent my daughter (she’s in the NAVY) the Jetboil gourmet one. I read about this recall when it first posted here last week I think, e-mailed her and sure enough, she’s got a burner that needs to be sent back. So she hasn’t been able to use her’s yet.
Love Mine
I use mine for more than just boiling water for coffee, tea, grits and oatmeal.
I bought the accessory pan but later found that you can just as easily (and cheaper) use any pan to cook on the JetBoil. Ya’ just have to watch and regulate the flame or you’ll burn the eggs really fast.
Love mine also, used on a 6 day
kayak trip in Alaska and it was perfect. Used for meals and melting ice from the berg for water.
We like…
it’s top notch for boiling water and making things like coffee and oatmeal or re-hydrating meals. It is not good for simmering or making eggs as it is too hot and cannot be turned down low enough. We use the group cooking system pot and and cup. Have not tried the new fry pan but unless it is double wall or more I still think it would be too hot for delicate cooking chores.
So far, so good
I just got one with “Christmas money” and used it on a recent snowshoeing outing. Wished I’d had it to use on a New Year’s Day paddle when one of our canoeists got dumped by a grabby tree. A question for you experienced JetBoilers: What happens if you try to boil more than two cups of water at a time? Do you have to strictly observe the fill line?
Its a good idea to watch that fill line
The PCS can boil over quickly if you fill it up beyond the fill line and take your eye off it. It is worse, of course, when the overboil takes place when it is filled with something more than just water, so keep a sharp eye on it if you’re adding soup mix or whatever and then continuing to heat it up. No experience with the GCS boiling over, however. A little practice in the backyard or garage will give you all the experience you’ll need to use it in the field. As others have mentioned, there are some good recipes on their website. It is a very cool and most useful design.
Helios
I’ve been toying with a Helios lately, and I love it. Canister is remote from the stove and upside down - I’m told its so that it will burn more efficiently in the cold by feeding liquid fuel to the burner like a WG stove. so far I haven’t burned anything, eggs, pancakes, pan bread, nada. Just to see, I made linguini at home with it, and keeping it from boiling over was pretty simple. It’s got a lot of range in the flame control, too. It packs a little bigger, though.
The fry pan is really cool. the folding utensils pack into the bottom of it, too.
Definition of insanity…
…is doing the same thing over and over, but expecting a different result.
Yep, tried filling above the fill line to enough to qualify for insanity.
The moment it boils, water spurts out the pour opening, and puts out the flame.
I wasn’t really being that insane. One method I use is to partially fill the unit, then put in retort packages (the meals in foil bags, usually thai or Indian style meals). This heats my meal, plus water for tea, hot chocolate, or 1 minute rice. But if I put the bag in the water without paying attention to the fill line…