dishes for cruising

[Cpt Mark]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

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!

I found way better deals on Dansk through craigslist and facebook market place

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by Jammer

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.

It's true that Corelle shatters like glass, and is therefore difficult to clean up. But on the scale of boat challenges, this ranks pretty low on my list. Besides, it's pretty tough stuff. It's taken me over two decades to break exactly one dinner plate, and I don't exactly baby it.

BTW, we also have some deep handled bowls which we tend to use if conditions are sporty or lumpy. These are ceramic, I think. And we have a few Melamine plates as well. No biggie...

Like I said, if I were buying new today, I'd look at all the options. I'm not persnickety about what I eat off of, or from. I think Corelle is just fine, but I'm sure the other options mentioned here are fine too.

[Don C L]

I confess to owning a couple of insulated stainless steel bowls that were labeled as "dog bowls," but once the sticker is off, who knows? They don't slide, don't break, easy to clean and the food stays put and stays warm (for a little while.) If they start selling them in WestMarine everyone will be raving about them. The only negative is your dog will be jealous and confused.

[Kello]

Originally Posted by Cpt Mark

I don't have a fav bread recipe yet but I will be happy to give you a pro tip when it comes to baking bread. Don't forget the baking soda. Don't have to guess how I learned that one the other night

Of course I’ve NEVER done anything like that. Pita bread anyone??

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[Kello]

Originally Posted by ozolli

Hi Kello,

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

Mon dieux monsiour ! Vous avez ruiné mon stéréotype de la cuisine française et des Français ! Maintenant je vais devoir trouver une autre cuisine préférée ... peut-être italienne ... peut-être que leur goût pour la nourriture est aussi excellent que leur goût pour les voitures ... Je suis désolé de dire que vous êtes tout en mousse et pas de bière.

[Kello]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

Indeed! Ick!

What is the aversion to dog bowls?? Stainless steel is stainless steel, what is the difference of eating out of an SS frying pan or an SS dog bowl? Assuming you aren’t feeding your dog with the bowl before your dinner … Don CL makes an excellent point about West Marine.

[Kello]

My life revolves around food and cooking, and since dishes are the last link between the frying pan and taste buds I’ll share my experiences.
Gave up on ceramic dishes when I found that some glazes can have toxins that leach into food.
LOVE Corelle, but no way to clean up the shards offshore, and it is too difficult to remove melted cheese from it.
Tried the very expensive “non-breakable” pressure treated stressed whatever glasses, broke three washing dishes in the first month.
Inexpensive glass dishes and glasses from Wal-Mart have been the best option over everything, $0.98 for a big water glass, plates were comparable in quality an price. Excellent at the dock, forget using them offshore, if I had room and patience for two sets of dishes one would be glass for at the dock/anchor and SS dog bowls for underway.
First I bought a set of non-skid dog bowls, but they are annoying to wash so I stowed those for use offshore and bought a set of regular dog bowls for everyday use. Bought SS hamster bowls and such for serving snacks and appetizers.
Here’s some paraphrase from Michael Greenwald’s “Cruising Chef Cookbook”:
PLATES: Most yachtsmen use plastic plates … but they scratch and become dull. Enamelware is tough but gets really hot! Heavy china plates break but are cheap and easy to replace. They are our choice.
Paper Plates: Use paper plates and cups, particularly at sea. Paper plates can be thrown over the side at sea, but at anchor they often float ashore or litter the bottom. Plastic or foam cups and plates should be stores for disposal ashore. (Kello comment: many countries can’t dispose of plastic – it gets burned or dumped in the ocean, avoid disposable plastic.)


Here is the video where I learned of the idea of dog bowls.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqtMEjMZJA0

Other good galley tips as well.


Eat well y’all! Cruising is about culture and cuisine, right?!

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[psk125]

We were in Newport RI on a cruise and realized that we were all tired of the plasticy taste that our coffee mugs were waking us up with. So we spent a day going to every store in town looking for coffee mugs that were not plastic. For $10 or $15 each there were ugly glazed things with rubberized bottoms, labeled with "First Mate" "#1 Captain" "The flogging will stop..." that didn't stack or wouldn't fit on the shelves. No thanks. We finally ended up in front of a Christmas Tree Shop and figured it was worth a look, even if we didn't need any ornaments in July. Inside we found china (real china!) coffee mugs.They were small enough to fit on the shelves and were stackable. "What if they break?" we thought. Then we realized that for $1 each we could simply buy more. Eight years later we still had all ten of them. Use what works. Our other dishes are melamine.

[ozolli]

Originally Posted by Kello

Mon dieux monsiour ! Vous avez ruiné mon stéréotype de la cuisine française et des Français ! Maintenant je vais devoir trouver une autre cuisine préférée ... peut-être italienne ... peut-être que leur goût pour la nourriture est aussi excellent que leur goût pour les voitures ... Je suis désolé de dire que vous êtes tout en mousse et pas de bière.

I love French cuisine, I love the Italian one equally.
I love sailing but I'm not a boat builder.
I love films but I'm not an actor.
I can go on forever...
That's a lot of stereotypes to ruin

[Don C L]

For when I am out in the cockpit, and it's cold, for long periods, here is my go-to coffee/soup/tea mug. Pretty hard to beat. But not stylish.

[JPA Cate]

We had a friend who used to get her China at thrift shops. If you only select something you can live with, not "favorite", you don't spend much, and if you have 3 or 4 patterns going, so what? Guests can remember the dominant color of the pattern.

But then, we've cleaned up broken glass in a fairly lumpy seaway (between Cabo San Lucas and the Marquesas): it shot the trawler lantern chimney right out of the lamp. It's not so hard. First is dust pan and brush. Next, car vacuum. Then carefully with a sponge. Discard sponge afterwards. What made it hardish was the motion.

Most things are subject to breakage. I think strong crockery is probably the best thing to start out with; and with a little inventiveness you can avoid the high cost of Dansk.

Ann

[Amapola]

I still use Corelle. It's light weight and stores in less space. In the last 30 years, I've only broken one dish. I don't like eating from plastic or paper. If you go with stainless steel, why not get a camping set instead of dog bowls?

[ChirpyBird]

Not sure this has been mentioned. Ikea makes a Corelle-like line called Oftast. It is thin, light-weight, microwaveable, easy to clean and good value. Comes in small bowls, large bowls, small plates, larger plates, etc. Not as durable as Corelle, but they work for our current seasonal great lakes cruising needs.

[lestersails]

Originally Posted by ozolli

Hi Kello,

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

Quelle horreur! A Frenchman who is a bad cook? How does such a person maintain citizenship?

[MV Caroline]

Originally Posted by Cpt Mark

In my youth, back i the dark ages, we had Corelle dishware. 3 boys, never a broken dish. I bought some for my boat. Living in a marina or cruising the river already broken 3. Sigh

I see on some you tube channels people have dishes with raised sides which makes sense out at sea.

Plastic dishware doesn't work well with knives and doesn't clean as well.

All that said, what are you using as your cruise?

Melamine works pretty well for me.