Evernew and Jetboil offer titanium cooking systems

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Titanium is all the rage in stoves and cookware at Outdoor Retailer this summer, including these new offerings from Evernew and Jetboil. Evernew Ev...

Full article at http://www.trailspace.com/blog/2011/08/10/titanium-stoves-evernew-jetboil.html

Wow! Nice evernew atove I wanna het ma hands on one of them!!

I'm not impressed.

True -- titanium is lighter than aluminum.  Not sure of ratio / per-centage.

BUT, titanium does NOT score well with heat-transfer ... NOR, heat-retention.    Your titanium mug of hot coffee is going to get cool very fast.   Now whadda 'Ya gonna do?   Re-heat it?  Like cold coffee ?   Better gulp it fast, Bubba !

In-other-words, titanium is not as efficient for cooking as aluminum.  Also, cooking with aluminum will consume LESS fuel, as it heats-up faster.   You SAVE money on fuel.  

  Even better (the best?) in these criteria, is copper.   Best heat transfer ... best heat retention ... most even heating  (no "hot spots").   The best  professional chefs in the world use copper cookware made in France ("Mauviel"-brand).   NOT light, due to heavy-gauge.     Expensive.   One of my skillets was over $200

At what cost lightness ... for ounces saved ?

Hmmm ....

                                                         ~r2~

Titanium is definitely not the best for a real chef.  As Robert points out, it doesn't conduct heat well.  Ti is famous for "hot spots" right where the flame hits the pot or pan.  Such "hot spots" often translate to a burned spot in your food.

If you're just boiling water, Ti isn't bad, and it is light weight.  In the article, there is a quarter pound difference between the Sumo Al version vs. the Sumo Ti version.  But won't Ti use more fuel since it doesn't conduct heat as well as Al?  Not necessarily.  Ti, because it is so strong, is most often used in pots with very thin walls.  In other words, that Al pot has to have thicker walls in order to be reasonably strong whereas a Ti pot can have very thin walls and still be quite strong.  Because of the typical thinness of Ti pot walls, you're actually not using a lot of fuel compared to an Al pot.

Now, if Jetboil were to make the heat exchanger out of Ti, I think that would be a bad idea.  You want a heat exchanger to conduct heat from the flame to the pot.  Ti, being a poor conductor, isn't a good choice for that job.

So is Ti cookware good or bad?  Well, it kind of depends on you and your style.  If you love to cook and want to make "real" food, you'll probably want an aluminum pot or pan. 

If all you're going to do is boil water and you're willing to pay the price for more expensive Titanium, then why not?  You will definitely save weight.

HJ

Thanks for your insight, Jim.

ALWAYS appreciated !

                                                     ~r2~

Boiling water for me! :-)

Titanium pots - another step backwards. Hard anodized or non-stick aluminum is better in so many ways.

Ti is great for my Caldera Cone Sidewinder/Inferno woodburner but not for cookware. However ti cookware's "elite" appeal cannot be denied.

I would have to agree that the Black Lite MSR Gourmet Cookset that I have and use is hard for me to move away from.  I hardly ever take all three pots with me but have a good choice.  Always take the fry pan and usually the largest pot, most times with the lid.  The non-stick is still working great and there is no need for butter or oil or spray with the pancakes on cold mornings.  If I am cooking on the fire grill I use the GSI OUTDOORS Glacier Stainless Bottle Cup/Pot to boil the water for coffee, the MSR Frypan for the pancakes and the Pot for the eggs and bacon.  UM ummmmm

I really could suffice with just the cup and frypan, with lid.

But respectfully my choice is different to the next person and I enjoy hearing most other comments.

300winmag said:

Titanium  -  cookware's "elite" appeal cannot be denied.

 Apparently so.

Interesting that the "elite" professional chefs, worldwide, use copper cookware (see my post above).  "Mauviel"-brand, from France.   Check it out on eBay, or the Williams-Sonoma website.  If you ever acquire a piece-or-two, you will understand why.   Also, it is an investment.   The stuff has become "collector grade".

Thinner-gauged copper is NOT heavy.  I'm wondering why (?) no outdoor gear manufacturers have looked into this.

Very good thinner-gauge copper cookwear  (for home use) comes from Portugal and South Korea.  It is light.   I have found thrift-stores (GoodWill, Salvation Army), to be a treasure-trove for these items.

                                                           ~r2~

Used the Black Lite for years and was happy.  Now using the small Snowpeak Ti solo set since I'm usually alone.  For boiling water and even cooking cereal in the morning (hate instant) it works great paired with my MSR Pocket Rocket.  I think considering size, cost and weight it's very good setup.  

hikin_jim said:

..If all you're going to do is boil water and you're willing to pay the price for more expensive Titanium, then why not?  You will definitely save weight.

HJ

That is debatable and probably something one of our stove experts can reseach.  Ti may be lighter, but since it conducts heat poorly, it will require a greater amount of fuel to heat a given volume of water, since a significant portion of stove heat never makes it to the pot contents.  Lighter pot, but more fuel.

Ed 

whomeworry said:

Ti may be lighter, but since it conducts heat poorly, it will require a greater amount of fuel to heat a given volume of water, since a significant portion of stove heat never makes it to the pot contents.  Lighter pot, but more fuel.

Ed 

 Ed:

Probably not.  Ti is incredibly strong, and pots made of Ti are generally much thinner than the equivalent Al pot.  It's generally a wash in terms of fuel expenditure between thinner but worse conducting Ti and thicker but better conducting Al.  Ti represents a real overall weight savings, but isn't particularly good for "real cooking".  Ti fry pans are notorious for burning things.

HJ

Tested Jetboil Solo with aluminium a few weeks back on the AT and was very pleased. Ti wasn't out when I bought so I'll stick with al until I see a performance difference.

whiteout

My steel MSR Stowaway 1 quart cook pot weighs less than a pound and holds my MSR Pocket Rocket stove, lighter, spoon and green scrubby inside its sealable lid (see picture below)

The way I cook only bring water to a boil, turning off stove and covering pot then soaking pasta and rice for 10 minutes instead of simmering, I find a regular 4 oz fuel canister will last me at least 2 weeks 

Pocket Rocket stove and 4 oz canister

Stove's container

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