This is my second attempt at this article. WordPress ate the first one! I usually spend a great deal of time and research before buying anything. When I brought my Jetboil PCS it was not exception. I watched every Youtube video on it and read lots of reviews. At the time I ignored the review that said it was only good for boiling water. Which ended up being proven. Today I’m going to show you a cheap DIY fix to make it more useful.
I had been very pleased with my jetboil until I tried to do more than just boil water. I tried to cook an egg over it and was frustrated. The spark igniter sticks above the lip of the stove keeping me from placing a pan on it. Cooking a single egg took forever. I have seen a jetboil skillet attachment. It only cost $50! I’m cheap and creative so I though I could come up with something.
Enter the can
the mighty tin can has a million uses in the bushcraft/survival/ DIY world. Its great for stoves, pots and storing gear. I keep a drawer of them in my workshop area for when I have ideas for projects. I dug around till I found one that fit inside the rim of the jetboil perfectly. I think it used to be a bean can.
Making the adapter
First I measured how tall the igniter was.
Next I marked on the can just about the height of the igniter.
I used a dremel drill press with a heavy duty cut off wheel to cut the bottom off.
I then did the same for the top. Once the adapter ring was cir out I used the dremel with a sanding bit to smooth our the rough edges.
Using the dremel I drilled pilot holes all the way around the ring. I spaced then about a 1/2 inch apart. I world suggest drilling the holes before cutting out the ring for stability.
Using a cordless drill I worked my way up to a 1/2 inch drill bit. To allow good air flow to the stove.
Once I was happy with the holes I tested the fit on the stove. It was a perfect fit, no wobbles or unevenness. The ring was also above the ignigter.
Next it was time to rest the stove with the ring in place. The little pan fit great. I had to fiddle with the holes and ended up making an extra one to get enough air into the stove.
For my test I decided to scramble some eggs on the Jetboil. I had trouble at first maintaining the heat low enough. It was too hot and started to scorch the eggs. I used a bit of coconut oil in the pan.
Once I got the hang of it it worked just fine. the eggs turn out to be delicious. Now for a few minutes worth of work my Jetboil is a whole lot more useful. So far I’m very happy with this project but I need a lot more testing over the next few months. Next I will need to upgrade the cheap pan I’m using for something a little more decent. I’m thinking something a bit thicker to keep from burning food. Later this week I hope to get out on the trail and test it in the field.
Have a JetBoil and are disappointed by its lack of capabilities? Give this a try and let me know what you think.
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thanks for diy, i’ll have to try this out.
Nice mod. It has my three favorite virtues: quick, cheap, simple.
If you don’t want to get a different pan, you might try getting a simmer plate (thicker piece of metal) to put under the pan. They’re used to make the heat more even when you want slower cooking. Anyway, one of those might let you use a variety of other lightweight pans for cheap. Here’s one on amazon, just picked at random so I have no idea if it’s a good one:
Simmer plate on amazon
Neat. I picked up my Jetboil head as the local airport’s discarded/confiscated/abandoned sale for $15. Which by the way is a great way to pick up more pocket knives and scissors than I could possibly use in a life time.
I bought a large JetBoil pot from my local MEC but I’ve wanted to use the stove for more than just water. I’ll give your project a shot. Looks like the hardest part is finding the correct size can to chop up.
Heard your interview on the Survival Podcast. I’ll be coming back here a lot I think. Thanks.
All good ideas! For those of us who don’t have a drill press, want to add that you can pick up a Jetboil pot support and stabilizer for $15 – see
http://www.rei.com/product/760635/jetboil-pot-support-and-stabilizer. The simmer plate sounds like a good idea too.