JetBoil MiniMo

[Dan Foster]

I've had a chance now to prepare two lunches on the new JetBoil MiniMo stove. Here are some initial impressions.

The MiniMo differs from traditional JetBoil stoves in two ways: it has a wider, shorter cooking vessel, designed to make it easier to eat directly out of the pot, and it has a newly-designed valve which they claim allows it to simmer and cook food, rather than just boiling water.

My hope in purchasing the MiniMo was that it would allow me to heat and eat all of the pre-made soups, stews, and ethnic dishes that are now available in foil pouches or tetrapak boxes, rather than having to rely on boiling water for ramen or dehydrated backpacking meals.

So far I've confirmed that yes, you can boil butternut curry soup just as easily as you can boil water, with no harm to the soup or the pot. For the second meal, I fried up a diced slice of bacon and some diced onion, and then poured in the soup to heat through.

The frying test turned up a few issues.

First, I needed to open the fuel valve fairly wide open to get the piezo igniter to work. I should have turned it back down before adding the pot with bacon. As with most stoves, there's a constant risk of a gust of wind blowing out the flame when simmering. A stove like this really needs to be closer to eye level so you can keep an eye on the flame when cooking at low heat. Sitting in front of it and looking down at the stove on the ground wasn't the right setup.

I definitely burned some bacon onto the pot before I wised up and turned down the heat. Once I got the flame low enough (and once a bit more grease rendered out of the bacon), the rest of the frying went smoothly, and I got the same results I'd get cooking at home. In went the soup, up went the flame, and three minutes later I was burning the roof of my mouth on some hot soup with fried bits of bacony goodness.

Upon finishing my meal, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the burned on "fond" had deglazed itself when I stirred in the first ounce of soup. Cleanup (back home) just needed a quick wipe with a kitchen sponge.

So far, I'm pleased with the way the stove performs. I'll try some more ambitious meals in the coming weeks.

Edited April 6, 2015 by Dan F

[Dan Foster]

I decided to try a cooked breakfast on the MiniMo this morning. Paddled to a nice bluff on the river, fired up the stove, and melted some butter. In went a ham steak, which I seared a bit on both sides, flipping with a fork. Then more butter, and an egg. I was pretty surprised at how easily the egg released when I flipped it. (Off the heat, using a silicone spatula)

I warmed up the second half of the ham steak while I enjoyed my breakfast.

A few more lessons learned:

The simmer control really does work, and doesn't blow out in a light breeze. I started cooking too hot with the first piece of ham, but dialed it down and the rest went fine.

It can be really hard to see the bottom of the pot when steam is billowing forth.

Having the pot lightly connected to the burner made it easy to quickly move food off the heat to prevent scorching when removing food or adding the next ingredient, without messing with the flame. (Not recommended for a full pot of boiling water)

The direct heat really works well for frying, and hitting the pot with a bit of water at the end should help deglaze any burnt on bits, and help with cleanup.