Cooking on a small boat?

[jackgore_TrrYT]

For people on small boats (ie under23ft) , how do you cook/boil water? Looking at alternatives to my camping stove. Ideally it would Need to be gimbaled, but only requires one hob. Jetboil, compass24 1500 etc is what I am looking at, but both are very pricey...

 

[ProDave]

Gimbaled 2 burner spinflow spirit stove on out Horizon 23.

 

[[194497]]

I had an Origo alcohol stove on my old Freedom 21 which I was basically happy with - not much to go wrong, you can get gimbals, went through the meths fairly fast but easy to use.

 

[VicS]

2 burner + grill gas stove
The grill is a must have for me.
Not bothered about not being gimballed.
Even when cruising on a larger boat with a a stove with an oven we kept it fixed even though it had gimballs.

 

[HughClayton]

Gimballed Jetboils work very well if all you want to do is boil water.

The stable stove a gimbal bracket mount for jetboil stove - Safire Waterjet

 

[john_morris_uk]

Our daughter has a two burner spirit stove (gimballed) on her Pandora 700. Works very well.

 

[boomerangben]

Camping gaz bistro single gas ring. Not gimballed as on gets used in sheltered places. Good insulating mugs and food pots for food and drink on the go

 

[Stemar]

How often would you cook at sea? If the answer is rarely or never, you probably don't need gimbals. Far more important would be a frame around the burner so a passing motorboat doesn't dump the kettle on the floor.

 

[B27]

Ideally, you'd have the gas bottle installed in a proper locker, and a gimballed stove with flame failure sensors, so the gas shuts off if a burner blows out.

I know people who compromise on these things, but they know they need to be careful.
Meths cookers are an option, but fuel can be dear and hard to find?
The cheap camping stoves which run on disposable canisters are cheap to run, I know people who use those on deck.
Probably if you change the cartridge 'outdoors' and store it in a locker which vents over the side not into the cabin, it's pretty safe?

 

[LittleSister]

Gimbals are good, but not essential provided you have pan clamps (which I wouldn't be without anyway). A gimballed stove takes up more room, which is often unavailable on a small boat that extra few inches for movement are crucial.

Rarely on a small boat can you get full travel for a gimballed stove, and the stove coming to a sudden stop when it is swinging is more hazardous than the water slopping around in an ungimballed pan when the boat is rocking reasonably gently.

On a small boat there's very rarely room for an oven, and a cooker with an oven requires a lot more space in order to be gimballed. Lack of an oven is rarely a problem, but you can buy a great proprietary gadget to go on the hob to do baking or heat up stuff that would normally go in an oven - I've forgotten the name of it, but it's in in the form of a ring: a circular trough with a lid, and Swedish IIRC.

On one boat I had a cooker that was gimballed, but because of the limitations of space, the gimbals could be lifted and folded down, Unfortunately, if the rolling was severe the cooker could jump up and the gimbals fold down of their own accord, and this did happen a couple of times. For safety's sake I removed the gimbals, and had years of satisfactory use with just the pan clamps (though I would use only a kettle on passage to avoid any spillage from pans), including extensive cruising and long sea crossings.

I had a meths stove on one boat, but strongly disliked the fumes (you can get less fumy fuel overseas, but I was unable to do so in the UK), and prefer a gas stove both because of the fumes and for convenience.

 

[scottie]

pressure cooker saves time & fuel and baking trays to keep warm till being served
I would have loved a microwave at times

 

[LittleSister]

The cheap camping stoves which run on disposable canisters are cheap to run, I know people who use those on deck.

That reminds me of Shane Acton recounting in Shrimpy his first long sea passage - Falmouth to Spain in his plywood Caprice (18' 6"?) . He hadn't finished building his galley. So being Shane, he had a single burner cartridge gas burner wedged between his feet while he steered with the tiller, and was cooking, of all things, chips!

 

[Refueler]

My Alacrity 19 had a Calor two burner gas job .... with grill ... but no oven. I did not like it as it was on the 'pedestal' to stbd midships and only a pans height to deckhead .. No gimbal - so only used "in port" when you could be with it all time.
But we had some good meals of it ...
Next boat was Snapdragon 23 triple keel with again Calor two burner + grill sitting on a pedestal - but to port just aft of midships ... pedestal provided fwd end of 1/4 berth.
The cupboard under was useless being low in hull and with curve of hull reducing its volume. So I cut out the top of pedestal and set hob / grill down in ... removed cupboard door so grill was accessible. That made the unit far more usable. No gimbal again.
Present boats - both have similar two burner + grill but with ovens ... LPG. Superanne is fixed with no gimbals and I have cooked under sail - but stood at cooker all time.

The Conq 38 has same cooker - but is semi gimbal'd ... yes you read that right ... the gimbal only moves a limited range .. but has pan holders fitted. This one is still yet to use.

 

[johnalison]

We had gimballed gas on our 22’ er but ungimballed Origo spirit on our 26. I don’t think we ever cooked seriously on passage but I agree than an holders are more important. Much of one’s passage-making is either motoring or downwind, when gimbals, though desirable, are not absolutely necessary.

 

[Poignard]

2-burner Origo with home-made gimbals.

For use when mains electricity is available, we also have a single-burner induction hob and, joy of joys, a toaster.

We have a small pressure cooker and a double skillet.

 

[PhillM]

Had an origio with gimbals and pan holders on my old wooden Paean. Couldn’t find a sensible priced on e for Sept so ended up buying a look-alike from Compas24. Found some pan holders in Force4 bit no gimbals. So simply screwed the stove down. Has worked really well. Don’t overfill the kettle or pan and you’ll be fine. I’ve thought about a pressure cooker but tbh I don’t like the idea of a pan that can shoot a weight of it’s top. Might be being a bit squeamish, so happy to be corrected.

 

[Supertramp]

Avoid cheap camping stoves. The seal to the cartridge is remade each time it is used. Once mine failed to seal properly and the inferno was terrifying in a small cabin. Luckily I managed to eject the cartridge. Meths (origo) is good. Or properly installed gas. Pan holders more use than gimballs - they would never keep up with the antics of my small boat.

Whichever, have a fire extinguisher mounted nearby.

 

[B27]

Personally, I highly value a gimballed stove.
We don't often actually cook underway, but the kettle sees a lot of use.

Fireblanket is weapon of choice by the way!

 

[steve yates]

I cook a fair bit on an 18ft boat, I have a two burner gas cooker I put in, with pan clamps, which are brilliant. I have actually built two sides to the galley to whoch the cooker will be gimballed, but have never got round to fitting them. It was one of the last touches of her full refit and I was fed up fettling by then Its been absolutely fine without them but Iwill do it at some point.
This is my setup,


and at tea time, brewing up before starting cooking dinner.

 

[William_H]

If OP were to follow and comply with any of the usual regulated environments for boating. Gas becomes a difficult cooking method requiring a proper bottle storage outside and a whole lopt of other requirements including certification by a qualified gas engineer. Certainly the portable gas cooker types are outlawed. The problem, being that gas if it leaks settles into bilges and low areas and can not easily escape so any ignition source means disaster.
That means that methylated spirits (alcohol) or diesel /kerosene is remaining option. (or solid fuel) Kerosene or diesel takes a lot of heat to get it to vaporise and pressurized kerosene can be dangerous in the start up phase.
So really the best option is methylated spirits. Though is does tend to have less heat than gas or kerosene. It can be vaporised fairly easily and a spill can be extinguished with water. Now boat type cookers can be expensive and hard to find. Hiking type spirit stoves can be perhaps an option to be modified for a boat fitment. Don't be too fussed about gimbals unless with experience you find a need.
I have a neat single burner spirit cooker for my 21fter though it has not been fitted for many years. Bought 40+ years ago. Don't see the type here in Oz any more. Has a tank at the back. You run spirit into a cup then turn off the flow. Light the spirit in the cup let it burn till almost gone when pipes are hot enough to vaporise spirit running in to give a nice flame that looks like gas. Origo are very different I believe. So it is a matter of what you can find. ol'will