Need Cooking-While-Under-Way Advice for a Work of Fiction

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by JBChicoine

That's kind of what I thought. Thanks for confirming it! Seems it would be smartest to keep the really cold/frozen stuff closer to the bottom and plan meals accordingly.

Yes many have frozen in the bottom working up to just cold at the top. So to get the frozen meat out you have to unpack the whole bloody thing... at a 30 degree heel...

[CaitB]

LOL! I cook and bake on board. Years ago on a San Diego to Hawaii with my dad (on a 28' Erikson) I did all the cooking. 2 burners, a small oven and an electric skillet. Once a week I baked bread and I can still remember that smell... My boat has an cooler and I pack everything in Tupperware. If it goes flying, I don't want to clean up glass shards, and it all stacks nicely in the chest. biggedt success in the tiny galley was home made brioche which I then used for bourbon glazed bread pudding. Biggest failure was a sneaky wave in the middle of the Pacific that sent spaghetti flying, thus resulting in garlic bread and bourbon for dinner...

[Utahsailor]

We use a stick blender (with inverter) to make a variety of soups. Served in a thermos, they make a great treat on a cold night watch. Our friend, Bebe Wunderlich, is a master of these and can improvise from anything left on the boat (a skill gained after two circumnavigations).

[JBChicoine]

Thank you everyone so much for the really helpful responses and encouragement--I'm a bit overwhelmed by all your generosity!

I will definitely be writing in the belt that several of you mentioned, and the pressure cooker, and so many of the great little details of food storage, preparation, and service--exactly the kinds of information I've been hoping for.

Since I want to include primarily Cajun cuisine, I think it would be prudent for the cook to make the roux ahead of time and freeze it--I need to brush up on the actual recipes, too, but the Cajun cooking does raise the question of a cast iron skillet on this voyage. Any thoughts on that?

[hamburking]

We had a crew of 4 to cross the atlantic, one was cook.

At first the food was ok...mimicked food ashore, but it was tough to eat politely in the cockpit with a knife and fork while holding your plate and cup and trying not to fall or slide around (big seas). Pretty quickly we switched to big bowls and just a spoon (or fork). The cook had a mad-on for me, so every meal, to be "fair" we had to pick a number (1 to 4) for which plate (or bowl) you would get. Inevitably, there would alway be one plate with only one piece of chicken, when the others had 2, or somthing like that. No matter what number I chose, or if I chose last, I ALWAYS got the short plate. I didn't complain, but man did I get hungry fast. I also did not know the others were having snacks on night watch. And since I stood the graveyard shift, I missed breakfast every day.

We had a big ham hock that turned all green and fuzzy. I was tasked to scrub it clean with seawater. The cook then hung it from the boom to dry. Needless to say, the swinging ham hock hit the cook in the head hard enough to give him a big welt. Did I mention I don't eat pork?

When we caught a fish, the cook would cut it up, rinse it with seawater, and boil it into a soup. But he would use every part... fins, tail, head and all. We would be eating the thick soup, and spitting out eyeballs, eyesockets, or bits of brain. A big fin got caught between my teeth.

The cook would make "potatoes in a jacket" night after night, which was just potatoes baked in foil in the oven. He'd cook em for hours. When I'd get up for my night watch, I would jam a few in my pocket. I would eat them till I was sick of potatoes.

Finally we were down to black beans in sauce. Fortunately, I love black beans. The rest of the crew hated them, and tried to catch more fish.

[Calif.Ted]

Cook discovers bugs in flour

I noticed the flour beetles about halfway thru the bowl of rice I was served, just wouldn't have been polite to object at that point.

[JPA Cate]

Also, good idea for the cook to wear weather gear">foul weather gear when cooking in rough weather, esp boots and bib front pants to avoid burns from galley spills.

I used to have a rubberized chemistry apron that i wore in the galley. It finally decomposed.

[JBChicoine]

Originally Posted by Calif.Ted

I noticed the flour beetles about halfway thru the bowl of rice I was served, just wouldn't have been polite to object at that point.

I read someplace that when you buy sugar/flour/pancake mix/dehydrated goods (potatoes), put the contents in non-metallic packages and nuke them in the microwave for 15 seconds on the defrost cycle, then repackage in jars, and/or drop a small piece of dry ice in the jar before sealing it. The microwave is supposed to kill any larvae, and the dry ice turns to carbon dioxide killing any other critters.

Anyone else heard of that?

[JBChicoine]

Originally Posted by Ann T. Cate

I used to have a rubberized chemistry apron that i wore in the galley. It finally decomposed.

I like that idea.

[hamburking]

Originally Posted by JBChicoine

I read someplace that when you buy sugar/flour/pancake mix/dehydrated goods (potatoes), put the contents in non-metallic packages and nuke them in the microwave for 15 seconds on the defrost cycle, then repackage in jars, and/or drop a small piece of dry ice in the jar before sealing it. The microwave is supposed to kill any larvae, and the dry ice turns to carbon dioxide killing any other critters.

Anyone else heard of that?

The dry ice would expand as it warms and burst the sealed jars. Also, most dry ice has a strong ammonia smell that might taint the food.

I avoid anything glass (like jars). Broken glass is a disaster on a boat.

The bugs usually aren't in the food, but the glue of the packaging. I put things like flour, sugar, coffee whitener, pancake mix, into plastic peanut butter jars (cleaned out of course), and leave the boxes ashore.

[JBChicoine]

Originally Posted by hamburking

The dry ice would expand as it warms and burst the sealed jars. Also, most dry ice has a strong ammonia smell that might taint the food.

I avoid anything glass (like jars). Broken glass is a disaster on a boat.

The bugs usually aren't in the food, but the glue of the packaging. I put things like flour, sugar, coffee whitener, pancake mix, into plastic peanut butter jars (cleaned out of course), and leave the boxes ashore.

The dry ice sounded kind of scary to me--just something I read, but wasn't sure. I've never handled it, so wouldn't know about the smell. Thanks!

[hamburking]

Originally Posted by JBChicoine

The dry ice sounded kind of scary to me--just something I read, but wasn't sure. I've never handled it, so wouldn't know about the smell. Thanks!

I worked for a company called Liquid Carbonic, the largest manufacturer of C02 (dry ice) in Canada. The ammonia is the refrigerant used to make the dry ice. You can get medical dry ice which is much more expensive (and rare) which is 100% pure.

There are lots of fun things you can do with dry ice, besides giving yourself a good freezer burn.

[facciatosta]

Originally Posted by JBChicoine

I’ve been posting questions for the novel I’m working on (chose a boat and a route), and now I need a little advice (probably a lot) on what culinary challenges my main character—the cook—might encounter on a 47’ Bermuda yawl making for the Cayman Islands from New Orleans. She has been hired to provide primarily Cajun/Creole fare for a crew of three, herself included.

The year is 1984
Here’s the galley:

Is that a top-access refrigerator/freezer in the far, lower right-hand corner of the picture?


I can employ literary license and embellish where needed, perhaps increasing the stove top to a three burner.

For the most part, she will be cooking while under way. She’s a proficient cook and accustomed to working in a tiny kitchen, but her familiarity with preparing meals in a moving boat might have been exaggerated when she accepted the job. What do I need to take into consideration as far as safety, typical deficiencies with onboard appliances, food storage issue, or anything else that I might get wrong?

Any mishaps or amusing stories to share?

She may need to learn how to secure the pots while under way. That is not to mention that in some latitudes it is stinky hot especially with gas stove on, boat is inclined, water is splashing from portholes etc. Slippery floor.Cook better to have iron stomach too. May be she will reconsider? On the photo it is the stove that is horizontal Not the boat

[JBChicoine]

Originally Posted by facciatosta

She may need to learn how to secure the pots while under way. That is not to mention that in some latitudes it is stinky hot especially with gas stove on, boat is inclined, water is splashing from portholes etc. Slippery floor.Cook better to have iron stomach too. May be she will reconsider? On the photo it is the stove that is horizontal Not the boat

Oh my goodness--mustn't let my cook see that picture! She's not allowed to reconsider--the plot is counting on her boarding that boat! For her sake, though, I will make sure there are "fiddles" installed on that stovetop!

[belizesailor]

[QUOTE=hamburking;1974112...
At first the food was ok...mimicked food ashore, but it was tough to eat politely in the cockpit with a knife and fork while holding your plate and cup and trying not to fall or slide around (big seas). Pretty quickly we switched to big bowls and just a spoon (or fork). The cook had a mad-on for me, so every meal, to be "fair" we had to pick a number (1 to 4) for which plate (or bowl) you would get. Inevitably, there would alway be one plate with only one piece of chicken, when the others had 2, or somthing like that. No matter what number I chose, or if I chose last, I ALWAYS got the short plate. I didn't complain, but man did I get hungry fast. I also did not know the others were having snacks on night watch. And since I stood the graveyard shift, I missed breakfast every day.

...

Finally we were down to black beans in sauce. Fortunately, I love black beans. The rest of the crew hated them, and tried to catch more fish.[/QUOTE]

Opposite experience: helped an older couple move their boat from the BVI to Annapolis. Got into seriously ugly weather for several days, heavy rain, big confused/breaking seas, regular green water over the boat...in the cockpit it was a pretty miserable scene, but then the companion way door would open...it was like a portal into another world...warm, bright, and wonderful galley smells...real meals would appear in the companion way! This guys wife was amazing.

If I had galley duty the crew would haven been lucky to have been sucking cold soup thru a straw! ; )