This morning I decided to see what it's like using the pot support and stabilizer. What better way than to whip up a nice little breakfast? Today's mission? Pancakes. Mmm.
You can't really start breakfast without a nice cup o' joe. So first off I fired up the JB and boiled my water.
It wasn't long before the water started to boil. The "Jet" part of the name is pretty accurate.
Once I had a nice boil I just turned the stove off, removed the cup, and added the coffee.
Once the coffee was in the cup it was time to add the coffee press.
Ok, so with the coffee steeping it was time to start breakfast. I used Backpacker's Pantry pancake mix. Just add 3/4 cup water and mix. It's kind of hard to get in the corners of the bag to get everything mixed in. I also couldn't get all the clumps out.
Here's my word of warning. Be sure to have the flame on LOW. I had it too high and almost immediately warped the bottom of my GSI pan. I'm really hoping I didn't screw up the nonstick coating.
Here's an issue of concern. With the jet flame right in the center of the pan everything burned in the middle. I don't think I had a single pancake that came out unscathed. I wonder if the actual Jetboil cookware fares better at distributing the heat. I also wonder if other stoves like the Giga Power have the same results.
I was surprised at how much the little pack actually made up. When it was all said and done I had eight pancakes filling my Light My Fire kit.
I cheated a little and took everything back inside to eat. It was a nice, filling breakfast. Overall time including prep was about 25 min. Probably a lot longer than I'd want to spend if I were actually on the trail but really not too bad if you're looking for a filling breakfast and not in a rush.
As you can see, I did manage to clean my plate. :-) If you see the remnant in the other portion of the kit, I decided to save a little for my son so he could try it.
Overall I thought things went well. I'm curious about the Jetboil cookware but it's very expensive. Fortunately, I was able to push the bottom back flat when I pulled the last pancake off and hopefully I got it true enough. I also noticed that the heat did a number on my GSI spatula. It really gave it a beating. I'll have to see if something else holds up better.
One thing I can say is that it didn't take any time at all for a drop of water to boil on the pan once I put it on the support. I think I'll probably stick to just boiling water but at least I know that it's a viable cooking platform for pots/pans also if needed. You just have to be more careful.
I wonder if a piece if fine stainless or copper mesh would help with heat distribution.
You might also want to shy away from pancakes in the morning before a long hike. They give you empty calories and set you up for an energy crash. Using real maple syrup instead of that horrible corn syrup can help as does the addition of walnuts, banana, berries, etc.