OWNER REVIEW

Jetboil Pot Support and Stabilizer

Richard Lyon

February 1, 2006

Personal Details and Backpacking Background

Male, 59 years old
Height: 6' 4" (1.91 m)
Weight: 200 lb (91 kg)
Email address: rlyon AT gibsondunn DOT com
Home: Dallas, Texas USA

I've been backpacking for 45 years on and off, and regularly in the Rockies since 1986.  I do a weeklong trip every summer, and often take three-day trips.  I'm usually camping in alpine terrain, at altitudes 5000 to 13000 ft (1500 - 4000 m).  I prefer base camp backpacking, a long hike in with day trips from camp, but I do my share of forced marches too.  Though always looking for ways to reduce weight, I'm not yet a lightweight hiker and I usually choose an extra pound or two over foregoing camp conveniences I've come to expect.

Product: Details

 

Manufacturer: Jetboil, Inc.
Website: www.jetboil.com (All text in quotes in this review are from this website.)
Year of manufacture: 2005
Year of Purchase: 2005
MSRP: USD 19.95
Weight, per Jetboil website: 1.99 oz (56.4 g)
Measured weight: 2 oz (57 g)
Measured dimensions: When folded up (see review), the Stabilizer is a 3.25 in (83 mm) equilateral triangle, each leg when extended is 2.9 in (74 mm).  The Pot Support is a 3.6 in (91 mm) diameter stainless steel ring, each arm (see review) has a top edge of 1 in (25 mm) that is 1 in (25 mm) above the top of the base.  

Jetboil's principal product is the Jetboil Personal Cooking System (PCS), a self-contained combination stove and boiling cup all of whose components, including fuel canister, fit inside the cup for compact storage.  I encourage the reader to peruse my Owner Review of the basic PCS and French press before continuing here, to get an idea of how the PCS works and the reasons why I am so enthusiastic about it.  Here's a photo of the PCS in its standard configuration for boiling:

The Pot Support and Stabilizer expand the PCS's range to skillet cooking.  As its name implies, the set has two pieces.  The Stabilizer is a plastic ring with three hinged legs that fold out to form a tripod; each leg has grooves into which the bottom rim of the fuel canister is inserted.  (In the top photo, two legs are extended and the third folded up.)  The Stabilizer has two sets of grooves.  The Jetboil's proprietary "Jetpower" fuel canister (100 g (3.5 oz) capacity, 3.5 in (89 mm) base diameter) fits into inner set, and a larger Primus canister (225 g (7.8 oz) capacity, 4 in (102 mm) base diameter) that I occasionally use fits into the outer set -- kudos to Jetboil for not designing this accessory only for use with its own product.

The Pot Support is a stainless steel heat exchanger ring with four hinged arms.  (In the top photo, two arms are folded out as they would be for use and two folded in as they would be for storage.) When the arms are folded out the grooves in the center at the bottom fit on the burner's rim.  Each arm has is a one-inch (25 mm) serrated level top edge; the four level edges serve as the base for a skillet or other cooking vessel.  Here is the PCS with the Pot Support and Stabilizer and a skillet:

When the Stabilizer's legs are folded up and the Pot Support's arms are folded in, both pieces fit inside the cooking cup for storage, allowing me to take them and the French press without requiring additional pack space.  As it took some experimentation to come up with the best way to do this, and since not all combinations work, here's my packing sequence: French press at the bottom of the cooking cup, then fuel canister right side up, then Pot Support with arms facing down, then burner right side up, and finally the Stabilizer.  The two pieces of the French press rod fit into ventilation holes on the burner.

 

Field Conditions

I've used the Jetboil with the Pot Support and Stabilizer on backpacks and day hikes in Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado (elevation from about 5000 ft (1500 m) to 8000 ft (2400 m)), in July through Thanksgiving weekend last year.  Our groups encountered fair weather on the all but the Thanksgiving trip, with temperatures at mealtime ranging from 35 F (2 C) at breakfast to 80 F (27 C) at dinner.   On Thanksgiving weekend we hiked in intermittent snow showers and a temperature right around freezing. 

I am an avid fly fisherman and I bought the Pot Support and Stabilizer primarily to use the PCS to cook trout caught in the backcountry.  That was their sole function on all the trips except two in Yellowstone National Park.  Trout was caught daily, sautéed in olive oil or bacon fat, and served as dinner or a first course for dinner every night, and also occasionally for breakfast.  The Yellowstone hikes were in a catch-and-release section of the Park, so there the PCS with Stabilizer and Pot Support performed more traditional backcountry duty: breakfast pancakes and bacon on the backpack trip and a hot lunch on the Thanksgiving day hike. 

 

Evaluation

In the morning this caffeine addict must first use the PCS to prepare coffee, before using his stove for a more substantial breakfast.  The Stabilizer may be left on the canister and aids stability when the PCS is used in its standard boiling configuration, so it goes on first thing. To convert the PCS from boiling to frying mode, I simply remove the cooking cup and fold out the Pot Support arms to fit over the burner rim.   Although there is a small indentation on the inside edge of Pot Stabilizer ring corresponding to the piezo post, I found that matching this is not necessary for a stable fit or the functioning of the piezo.  To reattach the cooking cup for post-breakfast coffee or after-dinner tea in the evening, I must of course use a bandana or other hand protection to lift the Pot Support off the burner before reattaching the cooking cup.  I clean the Pot Support after each trip by means of a simple wash with a damp cloth and prompt drying with a dry cloth or paper towel, to prevent any build-up of soot or spilled food residue.

Using this accessory has demonstrated that the cooking cup's heat exchanger baffles serve as an effective windscreen, as on a couple of occasions when I was using the Pot Support and Stabilizer a sudden gust of wind extinguished the flame.  This has never happened to me when using the PCS to boil water.  The piezo hasn't failed to light the flame, even in the snow or high winds.

Use of the Pot Support and Stabilizer has also given me a better opportunity to test the Jetboil's ability to vary heat output during cooking.  When I boil, it's on full-bore until the water boils, then turned completely off; the neoprene cozy on the cooking cup keeps contents hot without a flame during steeping.  When cooking fish or pancakes, however, I heat the pan over a high flame, then turn the flame down with the fuel valve before adding oil or fat.  The PCS, I've found, simmers as well as any other backpacking stove that I've used.   The valve knob permits easy and precise adjustment and the fuel does not sputter or cause the flame to go out at a low setting.

The Pot Support provides a base on top of the stove of 4.75 in (121 mm) in diameter, somewhat larger than my usual alternative, a Primus PowerCook.  When the Stabilizer is on level ground the PCS is quite sturdy – more stable in fact than the Primus because of the broader base and the bulk of the burner unit on which the Pot Support fits.  

I haven't conducted stove-to-stove time trials, but I did not detect any appreciable improvement in cooking time or heat distribution over the Primus or other backpacking stove when frying with the PCS.  This contrasts sharply from boiling, when the heat exchanger in the cooking cup gives the Jetboil a marked edge.  

Bottom Line

Like the PCS itself, the Pot Support and Stabilizer accessory is simple, easy to use, and effective.  As a standalone stove for skillet cooking the Jetboil PCS with Pot Support and Stabilizer is just another stove, and a relatively heavy one at that since its pack weight includes the cooking cup.  However with only two ounces (67 g) and no extra pack space this accessory converts a top-notch compact boiling system into an all-purpose backpacking stove that is comparable in performance to any alternative I have used.  For a camper who fits the Jetboil niche, as I do, that's a bargain.