FAQ's Jetboil Personal Cooking System (PCS)

What is PCS?

In a nutshell, the PCS is a very compact and easy to use system for cooking. Water can be boiled in under two minutes (depending on environment) to provide hot water for coffee, tea or hot chocolate.

The system consists of a aluminium cup with extra 'bits' on the base and a burner. The cup has a maximum capacity of 1 litre and is covered with a neoprene sock which helps keep the cup insulated and your fingers unburnt!

The extra bits are the real magic. At the base of the cup are metal vanes which trap the heat coming from the burner and channel it to the base of the mug. Not only is the burner heating the base of the mug, but the energy that would normally be wasted on any other type of burner, is being channelled and used to heat the contents.

The burner attachment screws to a industry standard gas canister and fits with a bayonet type fit to the cup. Unlike other burners and kettles, the stove remains fixed to the cup.

The burner is piezo ignited, just turn on the gas for half a turn and then press the button, hey presto, instant flame. No matches or lighters are needed to get a brew on.

The great thing is that the burner and other accessories fit neatly inside the empty cup, and a dual purpose measuring cup / protector fits to the base of the cup.

What gas can I use?

Any 80/20 propane / butane mix with a standard thread connection which self seals when removed from the unit. Officially other fuels other than the one which is manufactured by the producers of the PCS are not recommended. However I have personally been using Coleman gas successfully and without any problems. The Jetboil people acknowledge that gas from other manufacturers works just as well.

However if you use the Coleman or other cannisters of larger volumn than the recommended size (a very small 100gm cannister), you can't store the gas in the cup since its too wide. With the 100gm cannister from Jetboil you can store everything in the cup itself.

Fitting a larger cannister isn't a problem anyway. The space in the cup that would've been taken up by a smaller capacity cannister I use to put the brew kit in. So its all in one place.

What can I cook?

Mostly anything really. Soon there will be a recipe section here for your wild and wonderful (and hopefully tasty creations). I tend to use ration pouches with this system. I boil some water for my coffee and at the same time put the pouch in the cup itself.

A UK ration pouch will fit neatly if its folded in half, and a US MRE ration pouch fits without folding.

The food is generally ready when the system has started boiling the water.

Is this a replacement to a 'proper' stove?

Well yes, it is. There are kits to make it compatible with normal kettles, pots and pans. It basically makes the whole thing more stable and comes with a tripod stand which clips onto the gas cannister and a metal support for the pots and pans which sits on the burner attachment.

Soon Jetboil will release the Group Cooking System (GCS) which, as the name suggest, is for more than one person. It uses the same technology on a bigger scale and has the special vanes on a larger pot. Watch this space for more info.

If you have anymore questions you want answered, please don't hesitate to contact us.