User Review: Jetboil Personal Cooking System

Jetboil Personal Cooking System
Above: The current Personal Cooking System, which may differ slightly from the version reviewed.

Rating: rated 5 of 5 stars
Price Paid: $75

In the months before the Jetboil hit the market, I was kind of discouraged by the preview commentaries--"Jetboil probably won't live up to its hype in real world conditions," I remember reading somewhere. I hope that writer didn't make any wagers on his accuracy, because he would have lost BIG time.

I've been using the Jetboil for almost a month now, and it's FANTASTIC. The Jetboil is a complete cooking system--cook pot attaches directly to the burner, and you can even carry the thing around safely like a coffee mug WHILE it's cooking. Try that with your MSR WhisperLite and Alpine Cook Set, eh? In short, Jetboil blows away most of the multi-component ultralight cooking systems out there.

The only perceived drawback is that it's not self-cleaning. Because the burner will only work with the fitted Jetboil pot, you have to clean out the cooking pot for each use--so, you make tea and then clean out the pot so you can make spaghetti and then clean out the pot so you can make coffee, et cetera, which might be too linear and tedious for you multi-taskers out there.

One answer is to buy another Jetboil cooking system (or two), and have multiple burners cooking at once. Another answer is to buy multiple Jetboil pots, to switch-out and pass around.

My favorite answer is to use a cheap boil-n-bag inside the Jetboil pot... make coffee and drink it, turn the boil-n-bag inside-out, make oatmeal and eat it, rinse and turn the bag inside-out, make cocoa and drink it, for example When you're finished, place your utensils in the boil-n-bag and stow it, and your Jetboil is barely soiled, if at all.

You'll realize the value of this baby immediately--the Jetboil is worth every cent. In fact, by the third time I had used it, I was seriously thinking that they should have charged MORE for this gizmo. It's an invaluable tool, IMHO, and I wish the company all the luck in the world as they develop their product line.

Where to Buy

Buy Online We found the Personal Cooking System at 10 online stores:

StoreProduct DescriptionPrice

Moosejaw
3 purchase options:
Personal Cooking System (Spring 2008)$89.95Buy Now
Personal Cooking System w/ Pot Support & Stabilizer (Spring 2008)$99.95Buy Now
Personal Cooking System w/ Companion Cup (Spring 2008)$124.95Buy Now

Backcountry.com
4 purchase options:
Personal Cooking System$80.96Buy Now
PCS Bundled w/ Coffee Press$89.96Buy Now
PCS w/ Java Kit$89.96Buy Now
PCS Bundled w/ Companion Cup$107.96Buy Now

Altrec Outdoors
5 purchase options:
Personal Cooking System$89.95Buy Now
Personal Cooking System with Coffee Press$99.95Buy Now
Personal Cooking System with Support and Stabilizer$99.95Buy Now
more Personal Cooking System choices from Altrec Outdoors

CampSaver.com
3 purchase options:
Jetboil PCS Stove - Camo$89.95Buy Now
Jetboil PCS Stove Java Kit$109.95Buy Now
Jetboil PCS Stove w/ Extra Cup$124.95Buy Now

REI
3 purchase options:
Personal Cooking System$89.00Buy Now
Backcountry Gourmet Cooking System$109.99Buy Now
Personal Cooking System with Extra Companion Cup$124.00Buy Now

RockCreek
2 purchase options:
JetBoil Personal Cook System$79.95Buy Now
Java Kit$99.95Buy Now

Powderfin.com
2 purchase options:
- Personal Cooking System (PCS) Java Kit$79.99Buy Now
- Personal Cooking System (PCS)$89.95Buy Now

EMS
2 purchase options:
PCS (Personal Cooking System)$89.95Buy Now
Java Kit Gift Bundle$109.95Buy Now

Gear for Adventure
2 purchase options:
Personal Cooking System (PCS)$89.00Buy Now
PCS with Java Kit$109.90Buy Now

US Outdoor Store
Personal Cooking Set$84.95Buy Now

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