table of contents
- A thorough comparison of cookers from every angle, often only discussed based on material and weight
- When selecting items for comparison
- Detailed evaluation using field tests
- Comparison of this comparison
- A versatile cooker recommended for beginners and experts alike: PRIMUS Easy Cook NS Solo Set M
- Recommended for solo hikers: JETBOIL MiniMo / EPI ATS Titanium Cooker TYPE-3M
- Essential for multi-person mountain climbing parties: EVERNEW Aluminum Cookpot L
- Don't miss out on the ease of cooking and ease of use: Uniflame Mountain Cooker Square 1
A thorough comparison of cookers from every angle, often only discussed based on material and weight
Boiling water and cooking. There's no room for questioning these everyday actions that are so familiar to everyone. There's not much difference between cookers, and the only differences are the material and weight. If you still think so, then we highly recommend you read this special feature
Comparing 15 cookers, both major and minor, from various angles, we discovered that while lightness is certainly an important factor, it is actually only one of many values sought after in most cookers. Furthermore, the ideal cooker is one whose desired value changes depending on the usage scenario, number of people, and other factors. In this comparative test, we hope to shed light on what makes a cooker truly usable for each of these various styles
If you want to know the results right away, click here to jump to the results
When selecting items for comparison
There are many other cookers out there besides the ones we've covered here. It would be physically difficult to compare them all, so we've chosen not just the best-selling popular products, but also ones that offer as much variety as possible, as shown below
- Material (weight)
- Shape and size
- Whether the inside or bottom is processed or treated
- Lids and handles
- Set contents and accessories
For this reason, even for items not featured here, you should be able to get a rough idea of their evaluation by referring to this comparison. Please note that because this test was conducted with a small number of people, there are inevitably many models intended for a smaller number of users (1-3 people)
Comparative test items
EVERNEW Ti U/L Deep Cooker, RED
EVERNEW Titanium Cooker, Deep, Ceramic
Evernew Aluminum Cookware L
EVERNEW Ceramic Kocher Pot 15
EPI ATS Titanium Cooker TYPE-3M
PRIMUS Easy Cook Solo Set S
![PRIMUS Easy Cook Solo Set S P-CK-K102 [Genuine Japanese Product]](https://images-fe.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/416BgmoFYJL._SS150_.jpg)
PRIMUS Easy Cook NS Solo Set M
Coleman Packaway Solo Cooker Set
Uniflame Mountain Cooker, Square Type 1
Snow Peak Solo Set Extreme
GSI nForm Pinnacle Soloist
DUG HEAT-I
Optimus Terra Weekend HE
Hilander Aluminum Cookware Set
JETBOIL MiniMo
Test environment
The devices were tested on multiple mountain trips between May and November 2015. Tests were also conducted on the ground, including boiling, cooking rice, and stir-frying food side-by-side
Detailed evaluation using field tests
Evaluation comparison
| Overall ranking | 1st place | 2nd place | 3rd place | 4th place | 5th place | 6th place | 6th place | 6th place | 9th place | 9th place | 11th place | 12th place | 13th place | 14th place | 15th place |
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![PRIMUS Easy Cook Solo Set S P-CK-K102 [Genuine Japanese Product]](https://images-fe.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/416BgmoFYJL._SS100_.jpg) |
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| This is ◎ | High performance in all aspects | Easy to cook, easy to use, and easy to store | Weight and good balance | Durability, weight and balance | Ease of cooking | Sophisticated functionality and ease of cooking | Storage capacity, price | Ease of cooking | Thermal efficiency | price | Thermal efficiency, functionality | Expandability and ease of cooking | Weight and storage | Thermal efficiency | weight |
| This is △ | None in particular | Weight, thermal efficiency | None in particular | price | Scalability, thermal efficiency | Price and scalability | Thermal efficiency and ease of cooking | Expandability and functionality | Weight, expandability | Thermal efficiency, functionality | Price and scalability | Thermal efficiency, weight, functionality | Ease of cooking and functionality | Ease of cooking and expandability | Ease of cooking, scalability, and price |
| Thermal efficiency (20) |
14 | 12 | 14 | 14 | 12 | 13 | 11 | 14 | 17 | 12 | 18 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 13 |
| weight (20) |
14 | 16 | 18 | 18 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 18 | 15 | 19 |
| Ease of cooking (20) |
18 | 17 | 12 | 12 | 18 | 16 | 11 | 16 | 15 | 12 | 16 | 16 | 6 | 10 | 7 |
| Durability (10) |
6 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 6 |
| Functionality (10) |
7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 |
| Extensibility (10) |
6 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 2 |
| price (10) |
8 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 5 |
| General (100) |
73 | 70 | 69 | 68 | 66 | 65 | 65 | 65 | 64 | 64 | 63 | 62 | 61 | 60 | 58 |
Spec comparison
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| material | aluminum | aluminum | titanium | titanium | aluminum | aluminum | aluminum | aluminum | aluminum | aluminum | aluminum | aluminum | titanium | aluminum | titanium |
| weight | 259g | 212g | 183g | 144g | 245g | 221g | 212g | 275g | 282g | 606g | 310g | 675g | 146g | 223g | 125g |
| container 1 | 900ml | 1000ml | 900ml | 900ml | 900ml | 1100ml | 630ml | 1200ml | 950ml | 1450ml | 1000ml | 2800ml | 830ml | 1000ml | 900ml |
| container 2 | 400ml | ─ | 280ml | 250ml | 400ml | ─ | 395ml | ─ | 400ml | 900ml | ─ | 1800ml | 330ml | ─ | 250ml |
| container 3 | ─ | ─ | ─ | ─ | ─ | ─ | ─ | ─ | ─ | 550ml | ─ | ─ | ─ | ─ | ─ |
| container 4 | ─ | ─ | ─ | ─ | ─ | ─ | ─ | ─ | ─ | 340ml | ─ | ─ | ─ | ─ | ─ |
| Reference price | 3,240 yen | 2,800 yen | 6,372 yen | 7,452 yen | 4,104 yen | 9,504 yen | 1,944 yen | 4,212 yen | 5,724 yen | 2,680 yen | 19,440 yen | 6,480 yen | 6,102 yen | 4,860 yen | 6,048 yen |
| Corrosion resistance | Hard anodized | Anodized aluminum processing | titanium | titanium | Hard anodized | Anodized alloy | Hard anodized | Anodized aluminum processing | Anodized aluminum processing | Hard anodized | Anodized aluminum processing | Anodized aluminum processing | titanium | Hard anodized | titanium |
| Inside processing | Non-stick coating | ─ | ─ | Ceramic resin coating | Non-stick coating | 3-layer Teflon coating | ─ | Ceramic baked coating | ─ | ─ | ─ | ─ | ─ | ─ | ─ |
| Bottom processing | Anti-slip processing | ─ | ATS processing | ─ | Spiral Processing | ─ | Anti-slip processing | ─ | Heat exchanger | ─ | Heat exchanger | ─ | ─ | Heat exchanger | ─ |
| Handle | silicon | stainless | stainless | silicon | silicon | silicon | silicon | plastic | silicon | silicon | silicon | plastic | stainless | silicon | silicon |
| spout | 〇 | 〇 | 〇 | × | 〇 | × | × | × | 〇 | × | × | × | × | × | × |
| Scale display | 〇 | × | 〇 | 〇 | 〇 | × | 〇 | × | 〇 | 〇 | 〇 | × | × | 〇 | 〇 |
| case | 〇 | 〇 | 〇 | 〇 | 〇 | 〇 | 〇 | 〇 | 〇 | 〇 | 〇 | 〇 | 〇 | 〇 | 〇 |
| accessories | Mesh storage | Mesh storage | Staff bag | Mesh storage | Mesh storage | Coated Stuff Bag Bowl Mag Spoke Stove Bag |
Mesh storage | Mesh storage | Mesh storage | Mesh storage | Burner head, bottom cover, stabilizer , pot support (trivet) |
Staff bag | Mesh storage | Mesh storage | Staff bag |
Thermal efficiency
Cooking is one of the most important functions of a cooker, so it's best to have it transfer heat as quickly as possible with the same heat output. Furthermore, faster heat transfer also reduces fuel consumption and makes equipment lighter, so this becomes even more important the more severe the environment
When comparing this item, we measured how quickly water boiled under as similar conditions as possible (same environment, same heat level). As expected, the JETBOIL MiniMo . Thanks to the heat exchanger on the bottom and the neoprene rubber covering around the cooktop, it's incredibly difficult for heat to escape. We were also looking forward to seeing how the DUG HEAT-I and Optimus Terra Weekend HE , which are general-purpose cooktops with heat exchangers that are compatible with any stove, performed poorly against the JETBOIL. However, compared to cooktops without heat exchangers, the boiling time was about 30% faster, so it can be said that they demonstrated their full potential.
The EPI ATS Titanium Cooker TYPE-3M which has been treated with ATS to improve the poor thermal conductivity of titanium, did not show much difference in this test (using about 500ml of water).However, when used for long periods of time, it has the same characteristic as aluminum of transferring heat to the entire bottom surface, and we felt that its thermal efficiency was (personally) superior.
weight
Weight varies depending on the product, as some are sold separately and others are sold as a set, so we've compared the weight of the main cup and lid set. Generally, titanium cookware wins . However, the one that undoubtedly catches the eye is the Evernew Ti U/L Deep Cookware RED . Its extraordinary lightness and thinness are immediately apparent when you hold it, and it's extremely appealing; aluminum cannot be made this thin to maintain its durability. However, it's a shame that there aren't many other positive aspects to praise about the Ti U/L Deep Cookware RED other than its incredible lightness.
Other notable aluminum products include the Uniflame Mountain Cooker Square 1 the PRIMUS Easy Cook Solo Set S (212g), which is compact and can be separated into two cups
Ease of cooking
The extent of cooking using a cooker will vary depending on the purpose and situation, so the importance of this item may vary from user to user. If you are aiming for a fast hike, you will only need to boil water, but if you plan to boil or fry ingredients, or even cook rice, for example, while camping, this item is extremely important
Ease of cooking can be somewhat subjective, but here we will focus on the following points in particular to make an as objective evaluation as possible
- Surface resistance to burning
The resistance to burning varies greatly depending on the inner surface treatment. From the left: hard anodized (somewhat burns), ceramic baked coating (less likely to burn), titanium (more likely to burn), non-stick coating (less likely to burn)
- Stability when the container is on fire
The top is the bottom surface with no processing, the bottom left is spiral processed, and the bottom right is ATS processed
- Ease of gripping the handle and whether or not it has a cover
Although titanium has low thermal conductivity, the handles get hot while cooking and you'll need gloves. If they're covered with silicone or plastic, you can hold them with your bare hands while cooking, making them more comfortable
- With or without spout
The top shelf has spouts on both sides, making it easy to pour out even small amounts of liquid (although it's a little hard to see)
- Shape (shallow or deep)
The PRIMUS EasyCook NS Solo Set M and the Coleman PackAway Solo Cooker Set stood out for their overall quality in the above respects . What they all have in common is the excellent non-stick coating on the inside, the stability provided by the spiral processing on the bottom, the wide size that makes it easy to insert chopsticks, and the handle cover and spout that make it easy to hold without getting too hot .
Supplement: "Can you cook rice in a titanium cooktop?"
Nowadays, convenient methods such as instant rice and retort rice are available, but no matter what anyone says, freshly cooked rice in the mountains is always special. It used to be a given that you could cook rice in any old aluminum cooker, but did you know that these days there are some cookers that just won't cook rice?
A typical example is a titanium cooktop. Titanium is a material with very low thermal conductivity, so even when boiling, only the part of the pot that is in contact with the heat will boil, and the water and rice will not circulate around inside the pot. As a result, the rice in the part that is in contact with the heat will be burnt black. Of course, the rice itself will be cooked to the core. In the test, we had hoped that there might be some titanium cooktops that would cook well depending on the surface treatment, but although there were some cooktops that came close to success, the results were more or less disastrous..
This is a fairly successful example of a titanium cooker. The rice cooked well, but it still burned easily. It takes a lot of skill and dedication to cook delicious rice with a titanium cooker
However, the reason why it doesn't work is clear (although I haven't tried everything),
- Use a gas stove that spreads the flame over the entire bottom of the cooker, rather than a stove that emits flames from a single point
- Make sure the bottom of the cooker is not too wide so that there are no areas that are not exposed to the heat
- While waiting for the rice to boil, open the lid and stir the rice to prevent it from touching the bottom
- Wrap the cooker in a towel or similar to prevent the temperature from dropping while steaming over low heat
It requires a high level of skill and know-how (and cooking rice to perfection is even more difficult). However, it's not impossible, so I think it's worth the challenge for those with a knack for it. However, if you use an aluminum cooker with a non-stick coating, you can easily make delicious, chewy rice with a nice crust, and the inside of the cooker doesn't stick at all, so I personally recommend this for cooking rice
If you use a non-stick aluminum cooker, you can easily cook fluffy rice like this with a nice browned texture
Incidentally, apart from the ingredients, another thing to consider when cooking delicious rice is the shape of the lid. Lids with drainage holes (strainers) are not suitable for cooking rice, even if they are made of aluminum, as they allow moisture to escape. For this reason, if you are cooking rice in a cooker with such a lid, be sure to seal the holes in some way
Drainage holes (strainers) are useful in some ways, but you need to be careful when cooking rice
Durability
In terms of the materials themselves, titanium is harder, more resistant to rust, and more durable . However, in recent years, advances in surface processing technology (anodizing and hard anodizing) have made it possible to cover up the weaker durability of aluminum, so it doesn't seem like there's a huge difference. For this reason, the conclusion of this comparison is that there's no need to be too concerned about durability. While it's difficult to conduct special durability tests, our subjective evaluation is as follows:
Simple anodizing < Anodizing + ceramic baked coating = Hard anodizing < Titanium < Titanium + ceramic resin coating
Functionality
This section summarizes the general ease of use, including ease of use, storage, and convenient accessories, which have not been covered in the previous discussions (for example, as shown below)
- Can the lid be used as a frying pan (can multiple cups be used)?
- Scale display or not
- Whether or not there is a drain hole (strainer)
- Can it accommodate gas cartridges?
- Practicality of the case and other accessories
The two notable examples here are the JETBOIL MiniMo and the GSI nForm Pinnacle Soloist . the JETBOIL series is that it offers a functional and streamlined system that integrates all the cooking tools you need, except for the fuel, from the gas stove to the cooktop and cups. This is only natural, then. The GSI nForm Pinnacle Soloist is also a wonderfully sophisticated integrated cooking system. It's compatible with any stove manufacturer, has a non-stick cooktop that's easy to use, and includes an included spork (a combined spoon and fork cutlery). As a standalone cooktop, it's just as high-quality as the JETBOIL
the Uniflame Mountain Cooker Square 1 , which is irreplaceable for those who love it I've reviewed this model , and I often take it with me on day trips to the mountains. Its square shape makes it easy to pack, and it can hold instant ramen noodles and is easy to cook in. Its unique ease of use has earned it many hidden fans, making it a cooker not to be missed from a functionality standpoint.
Extensibility
Whether the lineup includes models that are sized so that cookers can be stacked on top of each other for storage. In fact, depending on your purpose and desired style, this may not be necessary. However, for the average user who doesn't narrow down their purpose in detail and usually goes camping or hiking with one or two people, or in some cases with a large group, such a stackable model will allow for very smart packing in the future
The featured model here, the Evernew Aluminum Cookware series, has a familiar shape that has been around for over 20 years, and is reliably expandable, allowing you to stack everything from small 450ml pots to large 4000ml pots.So even if you start with a single-person size, you can later expand it to accommodate parties of four or six, as your mountaineering style changes.
All sizes of Evernew's aluminum cookware series are calculated so that they can be stacked neatly for storage, as shown in the photo
the EPI ATS Titanium Cooker TYPE-3M and the Evernew Titanium Cooker Deep Ceramic are noteworthy models that offer stacking systems on a small scale . By purchasing the next size larger model, these can be used for one or three people.
Comparison of this comparison
Finally, we will introduce the editorial team's recommended models for each scene, which were highlighted in this comparison test
A versatile cooker recommended for beginners and experts alike: PRIMUS Easy Cook NS Solo Set M
It received high marks in almost every category in this test, and although it's not particularly light, it's easy to use in every way, and above all, it's available at a relatively reasonable price, making it undoubtedly the best. There are many more expensive items that boast more advanced features, but overall, this is an excellent product with a high level of quality and perfection in every detail that far surpasses them. It's very appealing not only for non-experts, but especially for beginners, and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking to choose a cooker
Recommended for solo hikers: JETBOIL MiniMo / EPI ATS Titanium Cooker TYPE-3M
When we focus on the limited style of solo hiking, our perspective changes slightly. If we subtract "expandability" and "price" from this evaluation, these two items come in first and second. Many media outlets and users have reported that the JETBOIL MiniMo is an unparalleled model in terms of thermal efficiency, functionality, and refinement, and this review reaffirms that reputation. With just this one item, you're guaranteed unbeatable comfort when hiking alone in the snow-free season
Another product we'd like to mention is the EPI ATS Titanium Cooker TYPE-3 M, a clever item that combines the lightness of titanium with the ability to overcome its weak point, poor thermal efficiency. This is what sets it apart from other titanium products and earned it such high praise this time around. Its simple and functional usability even evokes a sense of functional beauty, stripped away from all unnecessary elements
Essential for multi-person mountain climbing parties: EVERNEW Aluminum Cookpot L
This product has been around for a long time. It doesn't have any particularly outstanding features, and it's made of traditional materials and has a traditional shape (although there have been repeated changes in the finer details). However, that's precisely why it's so easy to use and extremely reliable. While we didn't feature other companies' large pot products this time, if you're looking for a cooker for a large group of people, you can't go wrong with this series, which is widely used by university mountaineering clubs and adult mountaineering clubs
Don't miss out on the ease of cooking and ease of use: Uniflame Mountain Cooker Square 1
While it's true that the weight and thermal efficiency aren't outstanding in terms of numerical performance, I can't help but recommend this one for its ease of use and ease of cooking (and its reasonable price) (please see this review ). I'd be lying if I said it had no quirks, but it certainly has its own unique merits that can't be compared with detailed figures. When you actually use it, you'll feel that (for those who are into it) it has a value on a different level from the current competition to get down to every gram and kilocalorie. Incidentally, I personally use the "Mountain Cooker Square 2," a more versatile version of this series that comes as a set of two cookers, one large and one small.
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