The wider pot design and better temperature control on the MiniMo make it a great choice for someone who wants all the convenience of the previous Jetboil models with greater cooking and simmering potential, a lighter weight, and better fuel efficiency
Performance Comparison
The MiniMo is a great choice for fast and light off trail backpacking.
Fuel Efficiency
Our no-wind testing found that the MiniMo used 0.3 ounces of fuel to boil 1 liter of water. This is slightly above average in a category that's all about fuel efficiency. The pot's flux ring disburses heat nicely, and the insulated pot keeps things hot. Jetboil claims that with its redesigned regulator diaphragm and valve, this stove performs better in the cold. We used the MiniMo quite a bit in the snow though we did not perform our quantitative tests in a cold environment. Anecdotally, we found its cold-weather performance satisfactory.
Lighting up all of our stoves in front of the fan shook up the standings a bit. When the MiniMo boiled water in 2 - 4 mph wind, it used 0.6 ounces of fuel, 0.1 ounces more than the some of the more windproof competitors.
When camping above the treeline, it's almost always a possibility to make a windbreak with rocks and other natural materials lying around. Otherwise, a tent vestibule can often accommodate a small stove. Readers should be aware that MSR disapproves of cooking in your tent or shelter. Backpackers who expect to be camping in the wind and do not think they'll be able to compensate should look into similar but heavier options that are more windproof.
We had to get creative finding ways to shelter the MiniMo from the wind.
Weight
The MiniMo sports a trail weight of 12.2 ounces. This includes just the lid, pot, and burner, and leaves out the cup and canister stabilizer that come with the stove. It is the second-lightest integrated canister stove in our test. All of the small canister stoves are lighter.
Simmering Ability
Integrated canister stoves were not initially developed for cooking; they were engineered to make water boil as fast as possible. While the MiniMo will never simmer as well as the gourmet machines that are small canister stoves, it holds its own among the integrated canister stoves.
The burner unit on the MiniMo seems to help with its ability to simmer, as does the wider FluxRing heat exchanger. Whatever it is, we approve.
Simmering is an important tasks in anything but the simplest cooking, and a difficult job for a backpacking stove.
Ease Of Use
This is a metric where the MiniMo does well. Like all Jetboil stoves, the pot and burner mate securely. This means that you can pick up the whole assembly easily with one hand, even while it's lit. You can even pour from the pot with the burner still attached. And there's no fear of the hot burner falling off while doing either of these things.
We think the wider, squatter shape on the pot of the MiniMo, as well as the more distributed flux ring, help make this stove easier to cook with. We would not try to cook anything more complicated than pasta or dehydrated beans in the MiniMo, but this is easier to do than with other integrated canister stoves. If you want to cook gourmet meals for a group, try a liquid fuel stove. The new pot shape also allows for easier eating out of this stove. You no longer need to buy yourself an extra-long titanium spoon to eat your dinner directly out of the pot.
Because of its shorter, squatter shape the MiniMo is slightly more stable than the Windburner and Flash.
We miss one of our favorite features from the Flash on this stove: the color-changing boil indicator. This used to be a common feature on the JetBoil stoves, and we wish they would bring it back. Thankfully, the MiniMo has a long control valve wire, because we experienced it boiling over when we weren't paying attention and were able to shut it off without getting boiling water on our hands. Jetboil has also improved the handle and added sturdy plastic coated wire handles instead of the flimsy neoprene handle of the past.
Jetboil pot lids generally fit well over time instead of losing their shape like some other models. The lid on the MiniMo fits securely and stays put when pouring, but we found that it actually gets in the way of a precise pour. We wish Jetboil would come out with a lid that enhanced pouring precision instead of decreasing it.
We wish the MiniMo had a boil indicator like the Flash.
We like that we can fit an 8-ounce fuel canister in the wider pot of the MiniMo. You can also fit a 4-ounce canister along with the burner in the pot sideways. The MiniMo is slightly more stable than the taller integrated canister stoves. We think the shorter pot makes it less wobbly when attached to a canister. It also comes with a canister support stand for stability, but our testers rarely bring it in the field.
Early Jetboil stoves were notorious for having the piezoelectric igniters die after a short time. We made a point of using the piezo lighters on all of our stoves repeatedly, each has been tested well over 100 times, and they seem to be better than the older igniters. While this feature does add weight to our packs, it's always attached to the stove and is more convenient than a lighter. None of our testers are leaving their lighter (or lighters) at home when traveling with the MiniMo, but we all appreciate the convenience and wish more stoves came equipped with piezoelectric lighters that work over the long haul.
Boil Time
We tested the MiniMo in our laboratory (ahem, garage) and found that it boils water FAST. In the no-wind test, it boiled 1 liter of water in 4 minutes and 6 seconds, right behind the Reactor, Flash, and Deluxe. It was a minute faster than the WindBurner, and faster than most of the small canister and all of the liquid fuel stoves in our test.
Of course, our 2 - 4 mph wind test changed things up a bit, but less than we expected. All stoves, including the integrated canister stoves, suffered slower boil times in the wind. The MiniMo, Windburner, and Reactor all saw their boil times increase by 10 - 20%.
The Jetboil Flash and MiniMo in an 8 - 10 mph wind boil time test.
Value
We think the MiniMo is a good value. It has more to offer than some of the less expensive integrated canister models and performs better overall than some of the more expensive ones.
Conclusion
Jetboil has made cooking simple meals easier with the MiniMo, as well as created an easier vessel to eat out of with more reliable handles. The burner is respectably fuel-efficient. The reliable piezo igniter and reassuring pot-to-burner mating make the stove easy to use. These reasons, combined with the overall low weight of the system, win this stove our Top Pick For Integrated Canister Stoves.
We were impressed with how quickly the MiniMo boils water, even at elevation. Here it performs the all-important task of making some morning VIA.
