dishes for cruising

[Bowdrie]

I bought a set of Corelle in '73, (Jeepers, that's 50 years ago).
Anyway, still have most of it, yeah some have broken, that's life.
The cups were worthless, too dainty/effete, gave them away, much prefer heavy/thick mugs for coffee, the kind that will dent the cabin sole without breaking.
Weather too rough? then eat your Dinty Moore stew out of the pot you heated it up in, (with your wooden spoon).

[John_Trusty]

We elected Corelle as full time cruisers and have broken only one plate per year. The new corelle sets come with stoneware china mugs, so I guess they gave up on the corelle ones. Can attest that it shatters like glass when it breaks, but it takes a trip to the galley floor in a sea to do that, and we’re pretty careful about stowing stuff (normally). If the weather gets really perky, we’re reduced to hand food anyhow, and unless I’m in prison, I will not eat out of a dog bowl.

[ozolli]

Originally Posted by Kello

Regardless, gourmet cooking is a hobby of mine, one of my teachers was a Cordon Bleu graduate. Please share your favorite bread recipe that I don't already know. Tomorrow I will buy a whole chicken, so a new chicken recipe would be welcome as well. FYI, I only eat in-season and organic, so I am limited to available seasonal ingredients at 30N. Currently my garden has collards, kale, basil, dill, carrots and cilantro. I look forward to your suggestions!

Hi Kello,

Sorry but I'm very bad at cooking. Lack of imagination, lack of interest.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

Well, we have used heavy pottery dishes, for years. There has been some breakage. The downside has mainly been their weight. I'd replace them with the same, or add to them if there were a direct replacement...

Indeed.
We used commercial restaurant/diner dinnerware [economy grade]; but I don’t recall whether it was Stoneware, vitrified Porcelain, or ceramic China, etc.
Although it was heavy & breakable, it lasted about 8 years aboard, and a further 10 years ashore. We broke many more dishes on land, than we ever did afloat.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by GordMay

... We broke many more dishes on land, than we ever did afloat.

I fact, the only breakage event, I recall, was when a gallon polyethylene jug of sodium hypochlorite bleach [somehow] got punctured, in storage.
Maggie made a protective ‘cosie’ [koozie?] sleeve/jacket, for the jug[s], and we never had another notable incident.

[Benz]

Melamine for cruising with kids, though we still have some normal porcelain plates and bowls we got in the "mercado" in Cartagena twenty years ago and still in use today.
I prefer porcelain, especially for mugs, because it transfers heat at just the right rate: an insulated steel mug, like a Yeti, will neither warm your hands nor cool off before the watch is over.
Unlike Corelle, if a porcelain plate breaks it's usually just into big pieces, rather than scatter-bombing tiny shards everywhere. The only downside is the weight, but my boat can handle weight.
I would not eat out of stainless steel--too....clinical. Enameled steel looks better, but still undesirable in the heat transfer department. Porcelain or melamine all day.

[mvweebles]

I had Corelle 35 years ago when I had my first apartment. Felt cheap and thin then and time hasn't improved. When I first started living on a boat 25 years ago, tried melamine. Felt cheap and light then and time hasn't improved. 15 years ago I bought high quality ceramic dishes from Heath in Sausalito. Still have it and going strong. Pleasure to eat on. Have recently augmented with crockery dishes from a mercado in Mexico which are also a pleasure to eat on

What is it with you sailors and dog food bowls?

[Kettlewell]

By the way, you can make the entire table nonskid with rubber shelf liner. We keep a bunch of this stuff onboard, and roll it out when offshore so even regular china won't go flying off the table. Works much, much better than silicone rings on the bottoms of the dishes. It's also great for lining a cabinet to keep stuff from rattling and sliding around offshore. My chart table is covered with it too, to keep things from sliding off.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by Kettlewell

By the way, you can make the entire table nonskid with rubber shelf liner. We keep a bunch of this stuff onboard, and roll it out when offshore so even regular china won't go flying off the table. Works much, much better than silicone rings on the bottoms of the dishes. It's also great for lining a cabinet to keep stuff from rattling and sliding around offshore. My chart table is covered with it too, to keep things from * off.

Yup. Cheap and easy if you need to make something stay. But seriously … I’ve broken one place in over two decades. What’s with all you butter-fingers? 😉.

[carstenb]

Originally Posted by Kettlewell

By the way, you can make the entire table nonskid with rubber shelf liner. We keep a bunch of this stuff onboard, and roll it out when offshore so even regular china won't go flying off the table. Works much, much better than silicone rings on the bottoms of the dishes. It's also great for lining a cabinet to keep stuff from rattling and sliding around offshore. My chart table is covered with it too, to keep things from sliding off.

We use this everywhere. RE: dishes. We have been cruising for 8n years now and the china (yes real china plates) are still going strong. One small plate cracked and broke a month ago - that's ok, we have full service for 8 (now 7 , the 8th is missing the small plate)
We also drink from real glasses.

We have a set of crystal wine and crystal martini glasses for when we ly at anchor and are drinking a special wine.

We've never really had a problem despite over 40,000 nm

[Jammer]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

Yup. Cheap and easy if you need to make something stay. But seriously … I’ve broken one place in over two decades. What’s with all you butter-fingers? 😉.

Once (Corelle) was enough for me. It was in our Airstream. The little pointy shards went everywhere and kept coming out from corners we didn't know existed after we thought we'd cleaned it up. It was like sand after, how shall we say, a fun day at the beach. I removed at least once piece from my foot days later.


IMO this is the sort of thing that has the potential to add another layer of difficulty at the worst possible time. Rough seas, everyone's tired, and then you drop a dish and someone cuts their foot. I'll take my melamine plasick dishes instead.

[rls8r]

We use what I think is Corelle on a day-to-day basis. Over several years I've never broken one.

When special guests come over for a meal we have a 4-place setting of Spode Tradewinds. They've held up as well - I've made a wooden storage box for these. I now wish that I had gotten them in blue instead of red since I have a blue boat. Oh well ... at least they go nice with the cockpit table that is made of padauk and the downstairs table that is mahogany.

[Cpt Mark]

Thank yu all for your suggestions. Thinking about it.
SS dog bowls...nope. Not serving myself let alone guests with those. Same goes for aluminum plates etc..

Corelle apparently changed their formula many years ago so it's not what it used to be. Maybe go thrifting one day.

Melamine might be the answer as well as some Dansk.

Like everything on a boat, it's a compromise.

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by Cpt Mark

Thank yu all for your suggestions. Thinking about it.
SS dog bowls...nope. Not serving myself let alone guests with those. Same goes for aluminum plates etc..

Corelle apparently changed their formula many years ago so it's not what it used to be. Maybe go thrifting one day.

Melamine might be the answer as well as some Dansk.

Like everything on a boat, it's a compromise.

Since writing my recommendation, I looked up Dansk on Ebay. Man, the prices are outta sight! Maybe there's a quality, very dense ceramic, lower priced alternative out there..... cheap ceramic just breaks if you look at it wrong!

[Kettlewell]

Since writing my recommendation, I looked up Dansk on Ebay. Man, the prices are outta sight! Maybe there's a quality, very dense ceramic, lower priced alternative out there..... cheap ceramic just breaks if you look at it wrong!

This company has some opinions and sells products that look nice. Personally, I wouldn't worry about it too much. Buy what you like eating out of, and if they break replace them. I grew up in a household that always used mismatched dinnerware to the point it seems a bit odd to me to sit down to a matched set.
https://malacasa.com/blogs/news/porc...s-most-durable