Need help with GALLEY supplies

[SailingTerrapin]

Hi there! Our family will be moving aboard our boat in a few weeks and we anticipate leaving to sail in December. I'm admittedly a "so so" cook on land, can't imagine what my poor family will have to eat while at sea. Anyways, I'd like suggestions of brands for pots/pans etc. for the galley.

Thank you!

[denverd0n]

Recommend you spend time on this website...
The Boat Galley — getting the most out of your boat kitchen . . . and more!

Good luck!

[rw58ph]

Pots/Pans? What for? We eat on paper plates and if it can not be micro wave or BBQ in its own container/package in under 3 minutes its to much work and mess. We have no used the propane stove in 3+ years and never used the oven. Also since water and hot water is limited and should not be wasted. Open, heated, eat it, and though it away. In the summer we use the back deck, wither the propane BBQ and/or the George Forman grill that has a timer, so it forgot it turns itself off. If they are hungry they know where to stuff is.

[ranger58sb]

Magma nesting pots/pans (Defender has 'em). You can choose between normal and non-stick, normal and induction-ready, etc.
This is pretty heavy stuff, with a decent heat sink in the bottom...

You might also try Corelle dishes, plates, serving bowls. Relatively inexpensive, relatively rugged. Available at Fill-in-the-blank-Mart.

We also find a decent set of mostly nesting "storage ware" (Tupperware, Rubbermaid, whatever) very useful... if you've got space.

-Chris

[NRosenthal]

Buy commercial grade SS heavy duty cook ware. Thin SS only burns food. Get square or rectangle snap lid containers in both plastic (won't break) and Pyrex (refer/freezer to oven/micro wave). I do food for boaters for my living, you can get an idea of what can be done on my web site.
www.cip.bz
Yes I have an active interest in this company, and good food too!

[a64pilot]

The Magma nesting pots and pans are high dollar, I winced at the check out line, but they are worth it, heavy enough to distribute the heat evenly and I like the detachable handles, well made and not cheap feeling

[Curmudgeon]

1. Get non-stick pots and pans unless you have a watermaker.
2. A salt water foot pump in the galley is another water saver. Wash with salt, rinse with fresh. Any of the standard dish washing liquids (Dial, Ajax, Joy etc.) will suds beautifully in salt water.
3. Any unbreakable dishes are fine: corian, metal, etc. Matter of taste.
4. Get a couple of big thermos jugs. I will make chile, stew, hearty soup, etc. before making a long sail and the thermos jugs will keep the food hot. Trying to cook hot meals in a seaway is a PITA, although it's easier if you have a microwave.
5. Carry a good supply of ziplock bags. They're better for food storage than rigid containers.
6. If you are coffee drinkers, get a French press.

[Es00079]

I second Curmudgeon's recommendation of zip lock bags. You can measure out a single portion and put it in a bag for easy cooking when you are underway.

A friend of mine has made a hole in the rim of his plate and bowl and he just trails his dirty crockery behind his boat to clean it. Is that a common thing?

[JK n Smitty]

The best advice so far is the Boat Galley website. She really spends some time exploring good options for the galley.

Personally, we really like our Magma SS nesting pots and pans. We have even used them in the oven to roast a pork loin. For coffee we do the French press, SS with insulated walls, and a hand grinder. Although a lot of cruisers are saying good things about the Areo Press and we might give that a try. We have an electric tea kettle for when we are at the dock and a collapsible, silicon tea kettle for when we are on the hook. We went with corian plates and added some non-skid tape to the bottom.

Out Magma Kettle Grill might be the most universal thing on the boat. We have a skillet for it and can make bacon and eggs in the cockpit. Plus all of the typical grill uses. Get the one that is an oven too. It has a double wall on the bottom section and really holds in good heat.

On the ziplock bags vs. containers front, we use both. We really like lock'n'lock containers. For ziplock bags I recently found these on amazon that have a hand pump to make them into vacuum sealed bags.

Silicon collapsible anything is great for a boat. Saves a lot of space and works really well. We have a colander, dish washing tub (we only have a single sink), bowls, food containers, etc.

Go with good quality SS flatware or it might rust up. I use plain wooden mixing spoons the most for cooking in the galley. On the grill I use thongs, I would recommend 2-3 pairs to have on the boat because they are pretty universal.

I would just hope you go in a more sustainable direction than paper plates/disposable items. If you actually go out cruising that will be a lot extra to carry as both new material and waste.

Good luck and fair winds,

Jesse

[savoir]

Whatever plastic tubs you get they must be the ones with a locking flap or latch on each side. There are lots of brands. Here's one
everyday | ClickClack Storageware

[mbianka]

One or two quart saucepan
12" cast iron skillet
(covers for the above)
4 quart pressure cooker
Tea Kettle

Start off with those and add items if you feel the need. I've taken a number of items off that where on the boat when I bought it. Found the above list meets all my cooking needs nicely.

[Driftwoods]

My wife is a great cook, we're foodies. Continuing to engage our eating habits was a big deal for us. We started with the Boat Galley site, it's a incredible resource and highly recommended (as you can see from all the mentions above).

The Magma nestable cookware is expensive but it's pretty high quality stuff, as good or better than the cookware we used on land - it comes in blue enamel now as well as the unadorned stainless steel, looks very nice. Worth every penny if you're going to use them regularly. We supplemented it with a small frying pan from Sur la Table (also blue enamel, matches the Magma set perfectly, I think it was a Rachel Rey thing).

Pressure cooker, it's da shizzle. Can't recommend it enough. After much research, we bought a Kuhn Rikon 3916. A wallet groaning $220 but so worth it. It's quiet, no noise at all, very easy to use, super safe. Cuts cooking times substantially, 50% or more, so it saves propane making it a investment that will pay off in the long run. The pressure cooker is quickly becoming our "go to" cooking device, right up there with the grill. Amy makes a chicken and andouille gumbo in the pressure cooker that I literally cannot quit eating until it's all gone.

We bought some ceramic kitchen knives too. Very light weight, hold their edge insanely well and will never, ever, corrode (a big deal in marine environments).

Throw in a spatula set that can take high temperatures and you're ready for a gourmet galley.

[Curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by Es00079

I second Curmudgeon's recommendation of zip lock bags. You can measure out a single portion and put it in a bag for easy cooking when you are underway.

When a rigid container is half full, you've wasted half the space.

[Amapola]

Magma nesting pans are pricey but well worth it.

[Mike OReilly]

Another vote for Magma set here. Excellent quality, stackable and stores in a small space. Well worth it. I've had the non-stick version for going on seven years now (pretty much since they came out). Works great, and we cook all the time when on the boat.

We also have silicon collapsable bowls, colander, a larger mixing tub (for mixing breads or other similar things) and various spatulas. We even have a collapsable dish drying wrack.

Don't forget a french press for coffee, and a good quality pressure cooker. Cooks stuff in a fraction of the time.

Oh, and bring a good selection of dried spices. With the right spices you can turn anything into a gourmet offering (well ... almost anything ).