How Do You Cook Onboard?

[44'cruisingcat]

Originally Posted by Kuapa'a

Now here's a product that absolutely none of us can live without !


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Motorized Grill Brush

Price:$25.00


Available from Amazon (see attached photo)

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I just couldn't figure out what to do with that $25 gift certificate.

Do they have a turbocharged version? With internet connectivity?

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by waterworldly

I found a great vintage item originally made for the "summer" kitchen called an Ovenette. It is a stovetop oven that works excellent for muffins, cakes, even meatloaf, with half the gas. Reheats bread perfectly in minutes. Look on Ebay. I got one with the original pamplet that had the cooktimes for lots of items. It heat up to temp in about 4 minutes! Very cool and saves lots of gas.

An ad for the electric version, circa 1951.

[stevensc]

Usually on a round Magma on a floor stand in the cockpit, I just don't trust those rail clamps, and I find the wind affects it less in the cockpit. I have the Magma set up so I can grill, use a wok with fire ring, a steamer, or even a Paella pan (my favorite). We usually use the microwave for reheating.
Steve

[Mike Banks]

Well--we do all of the usual things we do ashore--but we do not use the oven in our vessel. Not because we have any reason not to other than it heats the boat up a lot and this is one damn hot place anyhoo.

We do make intersting stuff though. One thing I carry aboard is a camp oven. It is a cast iron (yeah--I know--damn heavy) circular pot with a handle and a lid designed to hold coals. One builds a fire ashore and beside it digs a hole twice the diameter of the pot and half its depth. When the fire has died down to a nice bed of hot coals--one puts a shovelfull or two in the hole, adds the camp oven and then fills the space with more coals. Finally one chucks a shovelfull of coals onto the lid--and forty five minutes to one hour depending on quantity later one has a prepared dinner sans pareill.

I forgot to mention the food!!

Shanks of lamb, roasts, chooks, lumps of salmon, large-ish fish, haunches of venison--you name it this will cook it.

Unfortunately one has to go ashore in some remote place to use it.

It is SO worth it though. After such a munchfest every so often, dried and canned food becomes tolerable in the interim.

Try this: Feeds two hungry male carnivores--

Four large shanks of lamb. Marinate them in Worcestershire sauce, red wine, lots of black pepper, crushed garlic, honey, fish sauce and a little salt or a couple of good slabs of wood-smoked bacon. Just put in what you think for your taste.

Put the marinated shanks into the pot along with the marinade remaining and bung it into the hole as aforedescribed. After fifteen minutes, lift the lid and turn all of the shanks. Now add new potatos, onions, carrots, turnip, sweet patooties, oxalis yams, and anything else ya fancies. Bung the lid back on and leave it until it has been sizzling away for about one hour since first put on the coals..

Steam any other veges, greens etc in a wok and bamboo steamer on the remains of the original fire.

Bliss.

[fastcat435]

We all eat onboard so we probably also prepare food. the question is how is it prepared , gas stove, diesel cooker ,petroleum or alcohol burner, electric, or electric induction stove,
I have recently changed from gas cooking to Induction electric cooking so there is no more need for LPG ,( liquid gas ) on board , just diesel and it works well

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by Mike Banks

Well--
We do make intersting stuff though. One thing I carry aboard is a camp oven.
Bliss.

A Dutch Oven (as it is known here)...........the original one pot meal.

A couple are in our camp kitchen.

[Mike Banks]

Thanks Therapy--

We do use propane for most of our other cooking. I like the convenience but not risks it entails. The winter use hot water system runs on propane so we have not replaced it for cooking yet. One can use a Dutch (camp) oven on a propane stove but it means a lot longer cooking time because no heat from above and not much from sides.

[Windgeist]

As a Chef I would need to select several from the poll, but unfortunately cannot:

Grill (Magma) - primarily in the summer

Burners & Oven - year round but more likely when its cooler, especially the oven.

I cook on board as often as possible, of course I enjoy it and is usually better than what I get in restaurants, with the exception of some great crab houses on the bay (Harris, Waterman's, Crab Claw).

I do the majority of our cooking when on the hook, but will cook while underway.

BTW...is there a gimbal mount for our grills? Grilling at 20 degrees (or more can be interesting ) I have never seen one?

[Lancerbye]

We use a Princess 3 burner electric on the hook. The microwave or a slow cooker on the go. Have a 12kw quiet genset.

[Seeratlas]

Originally Posted by Lancerbye

We use a Princess 3 burner electric on the hook. The microwave or a slow cooker on the go. Have a 12kw quiet genset.

I'm with lancerbye except my boats have always been full electric. Pearl has an 8k genset and big batt banks. If you do have electrical ability, let me suggest something I've used with great effect.

Remember the Galloping Gourmet hot air oven? , i.e. a big tempered glass bowl with heating element circulating hot air over the food perched on top?
Well they still make these kind of things, in fact a lot better than the originals and I have to tell you, you use one and you'll never go back to an oven again.

I'm set up with tie down points in the galley, but ALSO in the cockpit where if its nice outside, I can cook from the helm (which eliminates unwanted heat inside the boat in the tropics The whole thing is self contained, just need an accessible plug, and fixxed mount to tie it down too. You can see all that's going on inside, even serve from it, and to clean you just fill with soapy water, let it 'cook' a bit then pour out, rinse and you're done.

Cooks extremely fast, is very cheap (buy several, they nest) if one quits, keep the head for parts and fire up the second. So easy its ridiculous and cooks anything up to a good sized turkey with simply excellent results. Bout seven minutes for your average pizza If you got the juice, try it. I guarantee your oven will become a place to store other stuff. My first one lasted about 11 years. Beats the hell out of a 1k US plus marine oven, and opens up a huge amount of galley space, in fact, enough for that Splendide 120 washer/drier

seer

[Janny]

K, seer, I'll bite. I googled and don't see what you're talking about. All I see is convection ovens...looks like we'll be at dock for a while.

I'm still scared of the pressure cooker...keep track of time? and how in the heck can you tell if the model will brown meat?? My main worry is the the old thing attached to my head--the aging mind...

[Seeratlas]

Ok, google Decosonic Convection oven. That's the 'old' version. Newest one looks like its called "Sunpentown Super Turbo Oven" They have them on the Target site here:

Super Turbo Oven : Target


There are also Halogen bulb ones now (that's on the Target site too.

Here's the full boat infrared one
Koolatron Total Chef Oven - Z100U : Target


Turns out most discount houses sell these things, just don't stock em where you can see em but can order online. . Some combine with infared heating, etc. Quite an assortment available If you are getting ready to leave for a long cruise, probably worthwhile to do a little 'marinizing' What you do is unscrew the top and using some hi temp silicone or other sealant, make sure the electrical connections are covered to avoid corrosion. There are also some electrical spray coatings in a can available to do this tho the names escape me at the moment. In any event, a few minutes spent doing this, can result in extra years of oven life. Oh, try and get ones with either stainless or aluminum grates and ring accessories as they will last longer than the cheapest stamped steel things. The deco's with the mechanical dials are probably the safest bet. You turn them like an egg timer to how long you need to cook, then let er rip

You really are going to love this thing if you get one.

seer

Originally Posted by Janny

K, seer, I'll bite. I googled and don't see what you're talking about. All I see is convection ovens...looks like we'll be at dock for a while.

I'm still scared of the pressure cooker...keep track of time? and how in the heck can you tell if the model will brown meat?? My main worry is the the old thing attached to my head--the aging mind...

[Seeratlas]

Koolatron Total Chef Oven TC01G

Here's the best price I've seen on the Koolatron. I have one of these and it rox.

seer

[rebel heart]

I never liked cooking with electric (or microwaves) on land, so I wouldn't port it to a boat. I've got a Seaward Princess 3 burner LPG, after replacing the kerosene model that the boat came with:

Rebel Heart - The boat and her crew - Eric's Blog - - Meet our new*stove!

In regards to propane being dangerous, it certainly is. But so is gasoline, and nearly everyone has some of that on their boat. Holes in the boat tend to be a major causing of sinking, but we have those too. It's just about being safe and realizing that you can't ignore your stove's gas like you can at a land based home.

Modern pressure cookers are quite safe; light years beyond where they used to be. Here's a little one:

Campmor: GSI 3 Liter Pressure Cooker

The toughest thing for me has been not being able to cook "regular" size stuff in the boat's oven. I made a ham for Christmas, and burned the top because it touched the roof of the oven. Getting used to the dimensions of an EZ Bake Oven are the biggest challenges I'm currently facing.

Honestly though, we eat a hell of a lot better on the boat, even with the issues. I'd also invest in some thermoses. Little ones for coffee, and a big one for hot water.

[fastcat435]

If you have the electricity the Induction way of cooking is ideal , fast as gas but no gas on board and very clean without adding a lot of heat inside.