Concerned about lingering cooking odors

[Dr. D]

My wife is wonderful (and she may read this thread). However, at home when she cooks certain dishes she is bothered by the lingering smell in the house afterwards. Pan seared salmon is an example.


As we began preparing for more time on the boat and real cooking on the boat, she asked me about whether lingering odors on the boat is a problem and, if so, how to minimize them. I told her I don't have a clue.


Is this really a non-issue with the volume of sailboats and the ease of getting air flow through, or do any of you find cooking ordors hanging around long after cooking? If so, what do you do to minimize this?

[belizesailor]

My wife has a sensitive nose too. So, at home, and aboard, we minimize cooking odors and mess by cooking outside. Fish we almost always cook on the grill.

[Bill O]

+1 for cooking fish on the grill, especially oily ones like mackerel, bluefish, salmon. Haven't caught a salmon off the boat (yet), but fresh mackerel, wahoo, etc. can be pan seared w/o it lingering too much.
Similarly, oily or heavily seasoned meat like lamb, best to use the grill.


Bill O.

[a64pilot]

Usually the difference is if your at anchor the boat is opened up and there is a good breeze blowing thru, so there is actually less smell than a closed up house.
When in a Marina we leave the hatch open to ventilate and just let the AC air out too.

[Sojourner]

We take our portable induction cooktop outside in the summer, no worries. Also pressure cooking you can release steam outside. It doesn't bother us in any case 😅

[john61ct]

A high CFM venting fan will do wonders.

MaxxAir or Fantastic Fan.

Also reduce humidity / mold issues, and of course just help keep cool.

Now, as to howto, depends on your boat, but

people do figure out how to drop in a window aircon unit for use parked in a marina, a fan's lots easier than that. . .

[roverhi]

A64pilot speaks the truth. Never a problem in our boat with the hatches open. If you're buttoned up in Maine might be another story. At a dock AC is usually available for a fan and probably needed to stay cool in the summer let alone vent cooking odors. In any case, a fan in the galley area is nice to have when cooking to counter act the heat of the stove.

[JPA Cate]

Originally Posted by Dr. D

My wife is wonderful (and she may read this thread). However, at home when she cooks certain dishes she is bothered by the lingering smell in the house afterwards. Pan seared salmon is an example.


As we began preparing for more time on the boat and real cooking on the boat, she asked me about whether lingering odors on the boat is a problem and, if so, how to minimize them. I told her I don't have a clue.

We minimize cooking odors by opening the port by the stove. With the draught through the boat from the bow (at anchor) the odors are carried away from the boat.


Is this really a non-issue with the volume of sailboats and the ease of getting air flow through, or do any of you find cooking ordors hanging around long after cooking? If so, what do you do to minimize this?

Never LONG after cooking, and if the boat were closed up, we can aim the saloon fans to exhaust the air, too. Not a problem for us, but we've never stayed long close to the equator, either.

I think the hottest place I've made bread, was in the Solomon Is. (~ 6 deg. south), and then i made it on the stove top, in a pressure cooker with the gasket removed, and with an aluminum foil tent over it, and the galley port open! (Use regular bread recipes. May want to brown the top of the bread in the cooker afterwards.)

We usually grill fish, too. However, we make bouillabaisse inside, and the odors go right away.

Ann

On edit: while baking bread, especially if you like fruit & nut loafs, and add a pinch of cinnamon, it smells lovely and inviting. Not all odors are bad.

[Don C L]

Don't worry, the musty mold and bilge odors will overwhelm the residual salmon smells and you won't notice them anymore.
ok, just kidding... a bit. with the main hatch and others open it'll be fine. and if you have a windscoop in the forward hatch, even better.

[jrau18]

Originally Posted by Don C L

Don't worry, the musty mold and bilge odors will overwhelm the residual salmon smells and you won't notice them anymore.
ok, just kidding... a bit. with the main hatch and others open it'll be fine. and if you have a windscoop in the forward hatch, even better.

Nailed it.

Also, any long term odors tend to hide in cushions. If you do end up with a musty smell from bilge water and humidity, look there first.

Cooking smells tend to disappear fast on a boat. The less fabric and cushions, or the less "breatheable" they are, the faster its gone. It should be a lot less residual smell than in a house.

[john61ct]

also bit of a tangent, but check out PureAyre

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...d.php?t=209960

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/....php?p=2562095

[NYSail]

My wife Loves to cook elaborate meals on the boat. Have a fan to help vent when needed and clean real good after..... no worries!

Cook away!
Greg

[Pete7]

We deliberately cook smokey bacon and sausages normally on a Sunday morning and preferably when rafted alongside lots of other boats

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by Pete7

We deliberately cook smokey bacon and sausages normally on a Sunday morning and preferably when rafted alongside lots of other boats [emoji3]

Ding! There is the best solution...cook lots of bacon w the boat closed up tight...now those pesky boat odors will be masked by the lovely smell of bacon!!!

[Sojourner]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

while baking bread, especially if you like fruit & nut loafs, and add a pinch of cinnamon, it smells lovely and inviting. Not all odors are bad.

I was also gonna say this.... food odors don't bother me at all. The smell of garlic and ginger frying up in some ghee, maybe some cumin and mustard seeds, is a fragrance to encourage, not an odor to banish!