User Review: Jetboil Personal Cooking System

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

Reviewed August 19, 2006 by CaptLemuel

Rating:
Price Paid: $79

I give it one star for ease of use, and one for both its efficiency and its weight.

The first time that I used Jetboil was the last time that I will ever use Jetboil, that is, that I will ever use Jetboil with the cozy-covered aluminum cup. I will now use Jetboil only with the pot stabilizer sold by the manufacturer.

Why? In a word, I don't like to drink coffee that tastes like metal. Yes, I washed the cup several times before using it; and I boiled five 'pots' of water before I boiled water in it for coffee. No luck. It seems too many molecules of aluminum find their way into the water that is boiled. (I drink my coffee black, and I have drunk my coffee black for decades. Never do I detect a metallic taste when I brew it at home. I always drink it from a ceramic mug, and, when on the road, from a mug made of hard plastic.)

It may be difficult or impossible to detect a metallic taste in food prepared with water that has been boiled in that cozy-covered aluminum cup made by Jetboil, but I for one will not kid myself, and pretend that my food is aluminum-free. The human body is not made to metabolize aluminum. I plan to use a titanium pot when I use the Jetboil burner for cooking, unless I can find a really light Pyrex pot, which is probably the safest thing to use for boiling water and for cooking in general. My advice is, don't kid yourself.

By the way, I never sweeten my coffee with anything.

Also, I would never take a Pyrex pot on a backpacking trip, and did not mean to imply that I would. I use my Jetboil (with the pot stabilizer and a titanium pot) at work. (I work outside.)

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