Jetboil noob question

[LR Max]

Long story short, I scored a Jetboil flash for an extremely reasonable price this weekend. Its the wrong color but you gotta make compromises :sombrero:

Anywho, I tried it out last night, WOW. It boils water extremely fast. However while playing with it, I noticed that the burner seems to really only have a on/off setting. Despite having a knob to supposedly adjust the heat output of the stove, it didn't really seem to make any difference.

So is the flash stove basically either off or boiling water? Am I doing something wrong? Or is my "extremely reasonable price" Jetboil reasonably priced for a reason?

I'm just thinking about trying to simmer some lipton noodles or something like that without burning the crap out of them. On the flipside coffee should be ready in a jiffy :chef:

Sorry for the stupid question, but I seriously did search and can't find anything.

 

[CaliMobber]

Well the knob adjust but its pretty hard to control it. Jetboil doesn't really simmer. Just get the water boiling and pour in your noodles. Turn down the flame the best you can and keep an eye on it.

The best part about the stove boiling fast is also the curse by always having it boil too easy.

 

[chrismc]

Its called a JetBoil, not a JetSimmer or JetCook. In experience, you are correct that you can't turn the heat down much. You can, however, remove the pot from the stove and manually add space between the flame and pot base/heat exchanger to make it cook on lower heat. Due to the stove's high efficiency, even an extra 0.25" gap makes a big difference. The one thing I've never been able to pull off is heating milk for my morning latte without scalding it. No matter how much I fiddle with things, that's a lost cause. At least the pot is fairly non-stick and easy to clean.

 

[LR Max]

Chris, I approve of your being-smart comments (I say it this way because the correct saying is not appropriate).

Thanks for the idea. I can use the pot adapter to add some space.

 

[tibfibber]

On a somewhat related note, I had the same dilemma with the JetBoil, and finally decided to add a Snowpeak Baja burner to the mix. My cooking needs are pretty simple, whilst the Jetboil rocks at what it does, it's a pretty specific tool. Hence, the Baja burner; which when I fired it up for the first time, seemed to have almost the exact problem - raging, killer fire, but almost impossible to simmer. I attempted to consult the instructions, but couldn't make heads or tails of the cryptic japanese diagrams, but a quick google search revealed the answer: positioning the iso-butane fuel canister on its side, or right-side up. The "LI" (or Liquid Injection) in "Baja Burner LI" made more sense, but there are times when you need to reduce the efficiency!