Is a gimballed stove really necessary?

Arcady

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Let me caveat that question: Is a gimballed stove really necessary on a modern, wide-beamed yacht where the angle of heel is seldom more that 10 to 15 degrees when sailing?

Much of my time in recent years has been spent aboard a beamy yacht and I can't remember when I last used the gimbals on the stove. However, much of that was day-sailing and so the number of occasions we tried to seriously use the stove when sailing were limited. I now find my self specifying electric cooking for a new boat with rather longer passages in mind. Given the lack of choice for gimballed induction hobs, I am wondering whether the combination of deep pans and decent fiddles will be sufficient.

Thoughts please?!
 

capnsensible

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I can say we did ok without a gimballed cooker on our own yacht during a 21 year liveaboard period. Moody 33 and lots of ocean sailing.

I've sometimes found it easier to lock gimballed cookers off when cooking with the top burners and supervise the pans by holding them. I guess it's another one of those neither right or wrong things, just personal preference!
 

dom

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Let me caveat that question: Is a gimballed stove really necessary on a modern, wide-beamed yacht where the angle of heel is seldom more that 10 to 15 degrees when sailing?

.....Given the lack of choice for gimballed induction hobs, I am wondering whether the combination of deep pans and decent fiddles will be sufficient.

Thoughts please?!


I personally dislike deep pans on a yacht given their natural propensity to tip over. Coupled with 'decent' but still proportionately low fiddles that risk would only increase, and increase again if gimbals are omitted.

This wouldn't be my favoured approach. One good beam-on wave, or a big gust and .........?
 
D

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I have sailed on 70' yachts that had fixed stoves and healed a lot. Deep pots were common to cook with. I do remember spills in the oven and on one occassion extinguishing of the oven burner.
 
D

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... I am wondering whether the combination of deep pans and decent fiddles will be sufficient.

Thoughts please?!

To answer your question specifically, the deep pots worked very well and we were cooking for up to 20 persons, the stove had decent fiddles. The worst incident I am aware of was a pot of water that spilled off a gimballed cooker and splashed into the boots of the cook. Also a person who burnt their forehead and nose when they opened a gimballed oven and the contents of a pot spilled over the top, I was on board when that one happened, both examples are for gimballed cookers with normal pots. Pretty sure many fishing boats have fixed stoves as well. So it should not be an issue if designed for that.

Regarding induction hobs, if you subscribe to www.morganscloud.com, they have just completed a series of articles on electric cooking. They concluded that for sailing away from shore power sources, the charging capabilities were not up to it without a lot of engine use. It would be worth taking out a years subscription to read their articles if you are going down that road, in my opinion.
 

Plum

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Let me caveat that question: Is a gimballed stove really necessary on a modern, wide-beamed yacht where the angle of heel is seldom more that 10 to 15 degrees when sailing?

Much of my time in recent years has been spent aboard a beamy yacht and I can't remember when I last used the gimbals on the stove. However, much of that was day-sailing and so the number of occasions we tried to seriously use the stove when sailing were limited. I now find my self specifying electric cooking for a new boat with rather longer passages in mind. Given the lack of choice for gimballed induction hobs, I am wondering whether the combination of deep pans and decent fiddles will be sufficient.

Thoughts please?!
I do not have a gimballed cooker. Mostly sail singlehanded and mostly passages of 12 hours or less. If it's rough enough to need gimballs then I will not want to do anything that more than my pan clamps will safely cope with.

Www.solocoastalsailing.co.uk
 

Arcady

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Thanks for the replies so far: all very helpful.

My experience of working on commercial vessels has been that fixed stoves were invariably fine. A yacht is a bit more tippy though, but I'm encouraged just how many people have responded positively about not having gimbals.

BlowingOldBoots: Yes, I subscribe to AAC/Morgan's Cloud and found John Harries assessment of electric cooking interesting. He did concede that a new installation, purposely configured for the higher electric demands, would probably be OK. I'm hoping he's correct :)
 

Gary Fox

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If you make a gimballed cooker installation, with a solid bolt to lock it when not in use, you have the choice.
I wonder how many gimballed cooker users actually take the decision to leave them bolted solid, at sea? Why would you?

One point is that a swinging cooker, especially a four-ringer with an oven below, uses a huge amount of cubic fresh-air real-estate to swing freely. Especially behind it. Which could fairly be considered wasted space.

Pan clamps are all woefully under-engineered (Taylors are not too bad) and pot lids are crucial. Like the heads, the cooker arrangement is often an afterthought, but is in constant use and vital to a happy and safe ship.
 

Kelpie

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Our first boat had no gimbals, but pretty good clamps. With the right shape of pan this worked well and we never lost a pan on to the floor. We did make use of a pressure cooker with locking lid for a bit of extra security though. We were able to cook in all sorts of conditions on that boat.
The other two boats we've owned both had gimballed stoves. It is definitely preferable, but if for some reason you can't fit one I wouldn't worry about it- just make sure the fiddles/clamps are up to the job, and use appropriate pans, ideally with locking lids.

We are also hoping to move towards electric cooking. I don't think it has to be an either-or matter. The gas system will always be there as a backup for us, but 800w of solar and 280Ah of lithium in the tropics ought to let us cook on an induction hob a fair bit of the time. I just want to not have to worry about gas refills and compatibility, and to have a way of cooking without overheating the cabin.
 

lustyd

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I'm pretty sure Delos gimballed theirs, and they seem a very sensible bunch willing to try new things. I think it was them that put silicone mats under the pans while cooking too, which is a stroke of genius on an induction cooker!
 

RupertW

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Our first boat had no gimbals, but pretty good clamps. With the right shape of pan this worked well and we never lost a pan on to the floor. We did make use of a pressure cooker with locking lid for a bit of extra security though. We were able to cook in all sorts of conditions on that boat.
The other two boats we've owned both had gimballed stoves. It is definitely preferable, but if for some reason you can't fit one I wouldn't worry about it- just make sure the fiddles/clamps are up to the job, and use appropriate pans, ideally with locking lids.

We are also hoping to move towards electric cooking. I don't think it has to be an either-or matter. The gas system will always be there as a backup for us, but 800w of solar and 280Ah of lithium in the tropics ought to let us cook on an induction hob a fair bit of the time. I just want to not have to worry about gas refills and compatibility, and to have a way of cooking without overheating the cabin.
We made the start of that journey last year buying a little IKEA £40 single ring induction which fits perfectly inside the fiddles on top of our gimballed gas stove. So far only used in the marina but it boils the kettle three times faster than full flame on the big ring of the gas, which surprised me. We don’t have a meaty enough invertor or battery bank yet to cope with a full meal but at least cabling will be easy as it will still be a short heavy duty to the inverter, then long mains lead.

Gas still wins though without a lot more solar as that already heats all our hot water.
 

prv

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I like gimbals - even if not actually cooking, it’s a lot easier to make a sandwich (for example) on a level surface using the board that fits into the fiddle frame around the top of Ariam’s cooker. But the square-riggers I used to sail in had fixed stoves, and Lin Pardey was vehemently opposed to gimbals in their books, so clearly it’s not essential.

I would make sure any fixed stove had a well designed means of securing pots and pans in place.

Pete
 

geem

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I couldnt imagine not having a gimballed cooker. We lock it off at anchor sometimes if using the oven as swinging the door open changes the balance of the cooker. At sea gimbals are great with standard pans. If making a cuppa I put the mugs and teapot on the cooker and they dont spill.
 

Arcady

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If it's possible to specify gimballed with option to lock off I can't think of a logical reason why you wouldn't choose that...

It is possible - and I agree it may be the best of all worlds - but it comes at a cost. The few marine stoves incorporating induction hobs run into £££k's and there is a loss of physical swinging space, per post No 10.
 
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