Who doesn’t love pancakes for breakfast, or veggie fajitas for dinner? Most backpacking all-in-one systems consist of a simple stove, pot, and lid. For all you foodies out there: here’s why you should add a skillet to the mix.
When you go camping, bringing a skillet can be hard — or even out of the question — if you don’t have a larger camping stove. The Jetboil Summit Skillet is a durable, nonstick pan that attaches to a variety of Jetboil stoves, and will bring some of your favorite homemade meals outdoors.
As a minimalist who enjoys good food, this Jetboil Summit Skillet is perfect for cooking meals that you can’t make with just a backpacking pot system like the MicroMo. Instead, I use the MicroMo stove piece and an additional support piece to create a stable cooking system for skillet meals.
In short: This skillet has gotten a ton of use and has proven a durable, vital piece of our two-piece kitchen setup (a MicroMo pot/stove, and the Summit skillet). If you’re debating buying this skillet, this review will inform your purchase from someone who currently uses it daily, from the campground to the backcountry.
Jetboil Summit Skillet Review
Jetboil Summit Skillet Specs
- Weight: 0.7 lbs. / 11.2 oz.
- Dimensions: 8.5 x 1.9 in. (8-in. skillet)
- Spatula (Turner) Weight: 21 g
- Turner Dimensions: 2.6 x 7.3 x 0.9 in.
- Compatible With: HalfGen, SUMO, Genesis, Joule, MicroMo, MightyMo, MiniMo, Flash, Zip, Luna
- Price: $45
- Pot Support must be used with Jetboil SUMO, MicroMo, MiniMo, Joule, Flash, Zip, and Luna stove models. Pot support not needed with MightyMo, Stash, Genesis, and HalfGen.
- Support Price: $11
Testing the Jetboil Skillet
My boyfriend and I have done three 3-month-long road trips and one 6-month-long road trip, with just a rental car and tent. We like to eat various meals, so a skillet is almost necessary for our cooking setup.
At first, we bought the MSR Quick Skillet to go with our MSR PocketRocket Deluxe Stove. It worked for the most part, but unfortunately, the nonstick coating quickly came off. The food would get stuck on the pan, and the spatula would melt and flake.
When our MSR stove got stolen, we decided to try a new cook system, so we bought two Jetboil MicroMos, the Jetboil Summit Skillet, and the pot support. It proved to be a much better skillet than the MSR one, and we were happy to have made the switch.
Some of the features to highlight of the Jetboil Summit Skillet are its PFOA-free ceramic nonstick — that has so far held up after months and months of rigorous testing (OK, cooking).
The Summit Skillet also has different wall thickness for the heat to cook the food evenly. From the very first use, we recognized that quality of the skillet by how easy it was to cook pancakes.
In comparison, the Jetboil skillet is slightly heavier than the MSR skillet (0.38 kg to 0.17 kg, respectively), but its durability isn’t even a question.
It’s also easy to set up and use. The pot support easily attaches to the stove by opening up the support arms, placing it on the stove, and turning it to lock it in place. Place the skillet on top and start cooking.
If you’re familiar with Jetboil designs, this skillet is no different. The arms of the pot support fold in so it can easily nest with your stove setup. The spatula nests into the handle, and the handle folds into the skillet to make storage as compact as possible.
Drawback
My biggest and only critique isn’t even with the skillet itself — but that the spatula is plastic. It will heat up, and we’ve noticed it flaking off. To solve this, use a different turner or spatula of your choice.
I’m not the only person to notice this issue; reviewers online have noticed the flaking plastic on the turner as well. Jetboil commented that they appreciated the feedback and that they’ll pass it on to their quality team for review.
Besides that, this skillet is durable, easy to set up and cook on, and helps us make even better camp food no matter where we are traveling. We’ve made pancakes, eggs, sausages, potatoes, grilled cheese, fajitas, tacos, burgers, and more (all plant-based)!
Jetboil Skillet: Conclusion
Having a warm, hearty breakfast and a meal you look forward to after a day outside is super important. Everyone knows that delicious food makes the camping experience even better, so if you are looking for a low-weight, packable camping skillet, I highly recommend the Jetboil Summit.
