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Old 01-01-2019, 10:56   #1
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Kitchen appliance recommendations

I would love to hear about everyone's favourite and go-to kitchen appliances they use on their boats. I have been scouring the message boards and chasing up conversations but haven't found a thread that consolidates what people appreciate most in their galleys. Also, many posts are older so maybe there's a new, cheap, super-efficient gizmo on the market that you've recently discovered... We are making out a list of things to kit out our 42' cat so we'll have a fair amount of space to play around with. We've never kitted out a boat before, so I'm sure we'll make mistakes with regard to space vs usability, but I'm trying to be as forewarned and forearmed as much as poss. Also, I'm sure that there are numerous items that people with far more boat cooking experience than I use regularly but haven't even occurred to me yet!

We be living aboard and and the general plan is sailing around the Caribbean/Med with our 13 year old, but will periodically need to provide food for up to 8. We will have a plancha out on the deck. So please, shower me with your tales of espresso machines, bread makers, pressure cookers, etc. – tell me what you love and what you regret. (In your galley. Not in your love life or career choices. )


Thank you very much for your thoughts and experiences.


Maz
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Old 01-01-2019, 11:45   #2
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Re: Kitchen appliance recommendations

On our cat the only electric kitchen appliance is a hand blender. We intentionally simplified using high quality non electric galley tools, and find no suffering resulted. If anything there is satisfaction resulting from getting by quite favorably with simple tools.

Some of our favorite tools in the galley...pressure cooker, Swedish wisk, high end baking sheets with matching size parchment , a pie plate, cast iron skillet with lid. These get used over and over.

During our first cruising season we carefully evaluated what worked, and made adjustments towards the goal of having good quality tools that are versatile. Kit that is not used regularly found its way off the boat.

At home our Instapot gets frequent use. We might consider taking it cruising in the future. It does a great job with yoghurt, rice, soups, any dish that needs to simmer for a while. The lid locks down reducing opportunity for spills.
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Old 01-01-2019, 11:50   #3
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Re: Kitchen appliance recommendations

Can't say we we've focused on appliances -- although we do have a coffeemaker, a combo microwave/convection oven, a portable ice maker, an electric pressure cooker (Instant Pot), an electric slow cooker, and an electric toaster on board.

Oh, and an electric blender somewhere... but I don't think I've used that in 15 years or so (any drink that needs more than two ingredients is beyond my patience limit these days... and ice is an ingredient).

We're an all-electric boat (aside from the portable propane grill), so all that might not suit everyone...

FWIW, I spend more time selecting cookware (Magma/Cuisinart nesting set), knives (Henckel), dinnerware (Corelle), "glasses" (plastic, several shapes), and various tools (spatulas, ladles, etc.).

And there are several sometimes long threads here on most of those categories -- pressure cookers, slow cookers (and methods), knoves, etc. Try the Advanced Search option...

-Chris
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Old 01-01-2019, 12:33   #4
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Re: Kitchen appliance recommendations

Hello, Maz,

I saw your question about outfitting the galley on your cat, so I thought i'd like to explain how to find other threads on the subject. Some of them are old, and not focused on the specific layout of a cat, but still contain some interesting ideas.

How you get to them is to click on Search, then on CF Custom Google Search, put in "Outfitting a Galley from Scratch", and you will find a number of threads to browse. The regular CF Search requires a perfect match, including being case sensitive, whereas the Custom Google search works quite well for concepts.

We have no appliances, per se, either. But Jim likes his morning coffee, so we have a grinder for the beans, and a thermos style French press pot. You can get the latter in stainless steel, and the finest sieve on the stack will need replacing every year or so, so if you go that way, buy some spares at the time you get the pot. Otherwise the search for spare parts can be a drag...or an adventure, depending on how good the coffee was that morning.

Ann
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Old 01-01-2019, 13:26   #5
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Re: Kitchen appliance recommendations

Been on both sides of the spectrum here, with our smaller boats it was simple simple simple ( percolator/pressure cooker/alcohol stove/ice box) .
When we got the ketch , we had room, and a fridge/freezer, and propane and lots of battery/ inventor power, so we decided if it makes life better, then we should have it ! Isn't that why we do this?
Currently have a small coffee grinder we use with a French press( best taste )
, Instant pot is awesome , Zolgirushi bread maker , portable ice maker and a bullet blender - we went with the smallest sizes of all of them - all under 1000 watt draw and it's only the 2 of us most of the time .
We also have the Magna nesting set for the stove and good knifes and all silicone cookware ladles, etc . Also use our Magma grill a lot!
Obviously if you done have space etc then it won't work but if you do , then why not!
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Old 01-01-2019, 15:17   #6
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Re: Kitchen appliance recommendations

It depends on your energy resources and storage.

We have an all electric galley (see link below).

240V appliances used on board can be anything in a residential kittchen, we use a 4 burner induction hob, sub-size convection oven, Kittchen Aid stand mixer, a Seco espresso machine, ice cube maker, ice cream / yoghurt maker, food saver vacuum bag sealer, creppes maker, blender etc...

We have other 240V stuff on board too, like A/C, various power tools, soldering tools, hot knife, Sailrite sewing machine, a Karcher pressure cleaner, a Dyson hot&cool heater, hair dryer, water boiler, water maker, washing machine...

We are thinking about a diving compressor.

Anything can run on inverter or alternatively generator, we can store 15kWh in our battery and have 1650Wp solar, so we almost do not run the genny.

With the right energy management you can have on board what ever makes you happy
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Old 01-01-2019, 18:14   #7
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Re: Kitchen appliance recommendations

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sparx View Post
On our cat the only electric kitchen appliance is a hand blender. We intentionally simplified using high quality non electric galley tools, and find no suffering resulted. If anything there is satisfaction resulting from getting by quite favorably with simple tools.

Some of our favorite tools in the galley...pressure cooker, Swedish wisk, high end baking sheets with matching size parchment , a pie plate, cast iron skillet with lid. These get used over and over.

During our first cruising season we carefully evaluated what worked, and made adjustments towards the goal of having good quality tools that are versatile. Kit that is not used regularly found its way off the boat.

At home our Instapot gets frequent use. We might consider taking it cruising in the future. It does a great job with yoghurt, rice, soups, any dish that needs to simmer for a while. The lid locks down reducing opportunity for spills.

Thank you so much for these ideas. You mentioned a couple of things here that I hadn't thought of – and I'm definitely going to do some more research on an instapot. I've noticed that they crop up in threads quite a bit. I've never used one. And I love rice and yoghurt! I'm also contemplating a pressure cooker, but I'm not sure. I don't use one here on land even though I've owned one before. I'm vegetarian and have never really needed to cook things that long. However, with a mind to being courteous to the meat-eating members of my squad, maybe I will look at them again.

Maz
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Old 01-01-2019, 18:22   #8
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Re: Kitchen appliance recommendations

Quote:
Originally Posted by ranger42c View Post
Can't say we we've focused on appliances -- although we do have a coffeemaker, a combo microwave/convection oven, a portable ice maker, an electric pressure cooker (Instant Pot), an electric slow cooker, and an electric toaster on board.

Oh, and an electric blender somewhere... but I don't think I've used that in 15 years or so (any drink that needs more than two ingredients is beyond my patience limit these days... and ice is an ingredient).

We're an all-electric boat (aside from the portable propane grill), so all that might not suit everyone...

FWIW, I spend more time selecting cookware (Magma/Cuisinart nesting set), knives (Henckel), dinnerware (Corelle), "glasses" (plastic, several shapes), and various tools (spatulas, ladles, etc.).

And there are several sometimes long threads here on most of those categories -- pressure cookers, slow cookers (and methods), knoves, etc. Try the Advanced Search option...

-Chris

Thanks – I never even knew that portable ice makers were a thing until I started this thread. It's brilliant. One is definitely going on the list. We're getting a new cat and had the option of an ice maker installed but decided against it as we don't use ice that often and it was something else to break. Figured we'd just use trays, but they can be a bit precarious in a boat's freezer. And you lose the little buggers in the depths. Love this idea, ice when and where you want it. And thank you for the search tips as well as kitchen cookware/tools suggestions. I'm obviously pretty new at this and am grateful for guidance.


Maz
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Old 01-01-2019, 18:30   #9
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Re: Kitchen appliance recommendations

Quote:
Originally Posted by JPA Cate View Post
Hello, Maz,

I saw your question about outfitting the galley on your cat, so I thought i'd like to explain how to find other threads on the subject. Some of them are old, and not focused on the specific layout of a cat, but still contain some interesting ideas.

How you get to them is to click on Search, then on CF Custom Google Search, put in "Outfitting a Galley from Scratch", and you will find a number of threads to browse. The regular CF Search requires a perfect match, including being case sensitive, whereas the Custom Google search works quite well for concepts.

We have no appliances, per se, either. But Jim likes his morning coffee, so we have a grinder for the beans, and a thermos style French press pot. You can get the latter in stainless steel, and the finest sieve on the stack will need replacing every year or so, so if you go that way, buy some spares at the time you get the pot. Otherwise the search for spare parts can be a drag...or an adventure, depending on how good the coffee was that morning.

Ann

Thanks Ann, I will try the google custom search. It's a bit of a headache to go through all the threads trying to find a comment on your search subject; I hadn't thought of bypassing the CF search. Lots of French press mentions, both here and on other threads. I've never used one as I'm not a coffee drinker, but I want to have some way of having coffee available for others who want (NEED) it. Research awaits me!



Maz
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Old 01-01-2019, 18:37   #10
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Re: Kitchen appliance recommendations

Quote:
Originally Posted by CatNewBee View Post
It depends on your energy resources and storage.

We have an all electric galley (see link below).

240V appliances used on board can be anything in a residential kittchen, we use a 4 burner induction hob, sub-size convection oven, Kittchen Aid stand mixer, a Seco espresso machine, ice cube maker, ice cream / yoghurt maker, food saver vacuum bag sealer, creppes maker, blender etc...

We have other 240V stuff on board too, like A/C, various power tools, soldering tools, hot knife, Sailrite sewing machine, a Karcher pressure cleaner, a Dyson hot&cool heater, hair dryer, water boiler, water maker, washing machine...

We are thinking about a diving compressor.

Anything can run on inverter or alternatively generator, we can store 15kWh in our battery and have 1650Wp solar, so we almost do not run the genny.

With the right energy management you can have on board what ever makes you happy

Crikey, there's a plethora of ideas here! Don't think we'll need everything, but it's certainly sowing seeds in my imagination as to what we could take. I just don't want to overcrowd the limited space. Love the idea of a vacuum bag sealer – hadn't thought of that.


Thank you everyone – this should keep me quiet for a bit!


Maz
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Old 01-01-2019, 18:40   #11
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Re: Kitchen appliance recommendations

I agree with the positive comments about the Instant Pot (we have the Mini) and immersion blender. We also use an electric tea kettle so we don't have to start the stove to make tea or coffee.
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Old 01-01-2019, 19:04   #12
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Re: Kitchen appliance recommendations

We cook rice, curry, cakes, frittata and bread in our tefal multicooker. 700 watts max for a few minutes then very low power once it is hot. The more versatile the appliance the better.
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Old 02-01-2019, 17:29   #13
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Re: Kitchen appliance recommendations

Quote:
Originally Posted by No Sprogs View Post
Thank you so much for these ideas. You mentioned a couple of things here that I hadn't thought of – and I'm definitely going to do some more research on an instapot. I've noticed that they crop up in threads quite a bit. I've never used one. And I love rice and yoghurt! I'm also contemplating a pressure cooker, but I'm not sure. I don't use one here on land even though I've owned one before. I'm vegetarian and have never really needed to cook things that long. However, with a mind to being courteous to the meat-eating members of my squad, maybe I will look at them again.

Maz
An instapot is just a programmable pressure cooker. If you have enough electricity sounds great. But my understanding is you cannot can with them because they don't have high enough pressure. I recommend a stove top pressure cooker with an insulated box. it can do basically the same thing with a slight learning curve and the need to control cooking time. Leaves your amps for other things and no electronics to go bad.As far as pressure cookers being just for meat eaters- absolutely not. Beans and vegetable broth are just two examples. my favorite is to have a bowl that fits inside the pressure cooker with rice in a broth and a sweet potato. It comes out perfect every time! If I'm in a rush I cook it full on the stove or if I want to prepare the meal in the morning and have it for lunch, or dinner, I'll cook it partly on the stove and the rest of the time in the insulated box.
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Old 02-01-2019, 18:13   #14
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Re: Kitchen appliance recommendations

Quote:
Originally Posted by sparrowhawk1 View Post
An instapot is just a programmable pressure cooker. If you have enough electricity sounds great. But my understanding is you cannot can with them because they don't have high enough pressure. I recommend a stove top pressure cooker with an insulated box. it can do basically the same thing with a slight learning curve and the need to control cooking time. Leaves your amps for other things and no electronics to go bad.As far as pressure cookers being just for meat eaters- absolutely not. Beans and vegetable broth are just two examples. my favorite is to have a bowl that fits inside the pressure cooker with rice in a broth and a sweet potato. It comes out perfect every time! If I'm in a rush I cook it full on the stove or if I want to prepare the meal in the morning and have it for lunch, or dinner, I'll cook it partly on the stove and the rest of the time in the insulated box.
The Instant Pot is indeed "just" a programmable electric pressure cooker. I've used pressure cookers for 50 years (I currently have three including a tiny camping model and a 32 qt one) and I am a big fan of the Instant Pot (I have a 6L version).

It is great for cooking beans and chick peas from dried state, 40-45 mins...It can also sterilize food/milk, so I don't see why it couldn't be used for canning, although mine has a relatively small interior, not for large jars. I use it to sterilize small jars for jam and chutney making.

The main thing is you set it up and leave it alone. Fool proof. No hissing or loss of steam. Very little heat escapes. Several non-lethal safety cut-outs if you forget to put water in etc. Delay start. Presumably internet connection within the next year or so...lol

These multi-cookers used to be many hundreds of dollars, mainly Japanese brands. You can now get them for $60-$100 Canadian. Probably soon to appear in thrift shops...

I won't have one on my boat as I don't have sufficient a.c. power underway nor that much room, but for a dockside liveaboard or large cruising boat, I can see these as a good buy. I'll just take my camping GSI Halulite and tough it out

Another cooking gadget is the Wonder Pot. It means you can bake bread, cakes, pies and other food on a simple stove top. Invented in Israel when everyone has to cook on kerosene stoves. There is a small Swedish one available, ridiculously priced, called an Omnia pot. It works really well on an Origo wicking alcohol stovetop - I don't have an oven on the boat.

We also bought a Grillex portable Brazilian stovetop grilling device. It's good, but a BBQ does the same job. But you can do it inside on rainy days...
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Old 02-01-2019, 18:56   #15
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Re: Kitchen appliance recommendations

I always wish I did a quick Google search before I post. But I just did one and instapots cannot can. Not to be confused with water bath like tomato sauce and jams. And not to belittle advantages of programmability. Set it and forget it one of my favorites
PS. I can can six pint jars in my 6-quart Fagor
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