Review: Fire-Maple ISLAND Is it best to buy a cooker with a heat exchanger that can also be used to steam dishes from China? ?

The role of a cooker. In a nutshell, it is a mountain tool that safely heats ingredients and water. Most likely, it will be to cook or boil water. However, since you are cooking in the mountains, what you need to keep in mind is the effort and time of cooking, and the amount of fuel it consumes. So, what I reviewed this time ISLAND , produced by Fire-Maple, .

This cooker uses a heat exchanger mechanism (also known as the "flux ring mechanism"). Greatly reduces time to boiling and fuel consumption.

Hmm! ? This cooker. The bellows shape on the bottom is... Jet◯◯ ! ? (← in a quiet voice). Many people have noticed it, but that's true. That's right! JETBOIL , it uses a heat exchanger mechanism (also known as the "flux ring mechanism") that reduces the time it takes to boil.

Dwight Aspinwall and Perry Dowst of the current US company JETBOIL, who revolutionized the outdoor cooking utensils industry in 2001. Apparently, they have waived their patent rights to use only the heat exchanger mechanism developed by both of them. It is true that not only ISLAND, but there are many other cookers equipped with heat exchangers that can be seen now.

Fire-Maple not very well known in Japan , but it is actually a top-class outdoor brand in China, its home country. As proof of this, ISPO Munich, Europe's largest outdoor goods exhibition, has been recognized for its outstanding product capabilities and has won three awards since 2013. Now let's take a look at the set contents of ISLAND

ISLAND Set Contents

• Cooker

As mentioned at the beginning, this is a deep cooker that uses a heat exchanger mechanism. The material is aluminum with high thermal conductivity. The inner scale is engraved every 250ml up to 1L, but if you just boil water, it seems like it's okay to add another 300ml to 1L. The handle is locked by the elasticity of the handle that is attempting to open to the left and right.

• Accessories included

Tritan (resin tableware) x 2, lid x 1, steamer x 1, foldable resin spokes (spoon with cracked tip made from PP), canister support, cutting board, staff pouch

ISLAND has not undergone a test to comply with the Japanese Food Sanitation Act, but it has already been certified by the US Food and Drug Administration and the German Food Sanitation Management Act inspection and safety standards, so don't worry.

Cooker and included accessories. It's quite fulfilling.

It's the storage stage before placing it in the staff pouch. The OD can fit inside the cooker and the solo burner inside the steamer at the bottom.

This is a staff pouch that can store cutting boards. It contains instructions for storing when tidying up.

The thermal conductivity is also incredible even for Chinese

First, we tested the capabilities of cookers, which use a heat exchanger mechanism. The stove is made of SOTO amicus. It meshes firmly with the heat exchanger mechanism.

I'll try boiling water. We'll compare the separately prepared titanium and aluminum, and the Fire-Maple ISLAND . I poured 200ml of water into the cooker, kept the heat in half a turn of the fixture plug knob, and measured the time it took for both to boil without a lid. There may be some effects such as wind, but the results of boiling are as follows: The test environment is the barbecue plaza in the Seaside Park in early September.

• Titanium EVERNEW Titanium Mag Pot 500 Approx. 1 minute 43 seconds
• Aluminum SOTO Amil Cooker Approx. 1 minute 11 seconds
• FIRE-maple ISLAND approx. 41 seconds

Titanium is lightweight and does not easily burn, but it took a long time because it is a material that does not easily heat up. It also took more than a minute to use aluminum, a common material for cookers. The same material for ISLAND is made of aluminum, but it is probably thanks to the heat exchanger mechanism. It took about 41 seconds to boil, and it was extremely fast. Even though it was called a Chinese cooker, its functionality was real.

If you use one cup of coffee (200ml) of water, it takes less than a minute. A heat exchanger, terrifying.

Ancient Chinese steamed dishes! Super-time-saving cooking using steamers

This is a steamer that can be applied over a cooker. In winter, I would definitely like to steam Chinese buns.

Next is cooking. Just as much as the heat exchanger mechanism, what's worth noting about at ISLAND The steaming dish to attach to the cooker is available separately, but it costs around 2,000 yen (hmm, that's pretty decent, isn't it). That too comes with the set is a great bargain. Fire-Maple was born in China . The ancient Chinese cooking method is how to make steamed dishes.

I cut the vegetables to the point where they were placed in a steamer and steamed them, and the potatoes lasted about 13 minutes and broccoli for about 2.5 minutes. If you just need to heat the 4 pieces of shumai, it would take about 2 minutes.

It took about 13 minutes to steam the potatoes. Is potatoes really an ingredient that is hard to cook? But inside was super hot.

Broccoli takes about 2.5 minutes. It was steamed quite quickly and softly.

I thawed the frozen shumai and steamed it. About 2 minutes is enough.

The combination technique is to heat up retorts such as rice and soup using the hot water from the cooker while steaming the steamer. Not only does it save you fuel, but it also saves you a heat exchanger, which saves you extra time. The steamer holds the cooker down from above, so it worked well even if the retort had spilled out.

The steamer is served with ingredients, and the cooker is served with packed rice and retort risotto sauce.

Leave only the time-consuming risotto sauce...

When I put it on, it looks like this. By using a steamer, we were able to cook twice in one go! It cuts significantly both time and fuel.

The staff pouch was also useful because it could hold anything. However, the water inside the cooker will become steam and decrease, so you need to be careful of empty-heating and hot steam coming out of the hole in the steamer's lid.

Don't be confused and clean up afterwards! Storage procedures are also listed gently

Laser print of storage procedures described on the side of the cooker. Just store it according to the diagram!

The staff pouch has even more detailed storage instructions!

Unlike grilled dishes, it is steamed so there is no burning or greasy stains and is easy to care for. It seems there's no problem with just wiping it off with tissue in the field.
The storage procedure is laser printed on the side of the cooker, and the staff pouch that can store the cutting board also contains storage instructions.
You can calmly clean up steamers, tritans, spokes, canister support, and more while looking at the drawings. When storing, fold the cooker handle to hold the item in place, so there is no need to worry about the items being stored pop out. Wrap it in a staff pouch and squeeze the string to make it perfect.

Summary: Don't underestimate it. The performance, which was carefully detailed, is more than I imagined.

ISLAND is a crowdfunding site "Campfire" (recruitment is over) for 6,300 yen. It's not a cheap one, but it has a reasonable, or even better quality, and should not be dismissed as a mere Chinese cooker.

Using steamers saves you time, time and fuel. Easy to care for. The storage procedure is already listed on the side of the cooker, and it's also wonderful to be very considerate. of the gas lanterns from the series (it costs 3,000 yen on Amazon).

Personally, I think it would have been fine if there were no spokes, tritans, or cutting boards (someone who owns them have one). This should lead to further cost reductions. On the other hand, a small cooker that could be used as a substitute for a lid would have been even easier to use (sold separately). I also think that the staff pouch is made of nylon mesh material that is breathable. A talented Chinese cooker. For now, I'm looking forward to future sales trends.

Fire-maple official website