Diesel fuelled cookers; are they any good?

[Becky]

Our boat has a fairly small gas bottle locker, so our fuel for the cooker is limited; OK for a week or so, but we run out on long trips. At least we would if we didn't carry a spare bottles.

As the locker isn't easily altered to accomodate larger bottles, I was considering selling our Force 10 gas cooker, and replacing it with a diesel fuelled cooker. Saw them at SIBS, but can't remember for sure the name of the company selling them.

So, has anybody experience of using a diesel-fuelled cooker, and how good is it, compared with a Force 10, which is really good IMHO anyway.

 

[roger]

Becky - cant find the info at present but I called at the stand. The basic cooker costs £750 - thats just for two burners. A swinging mount is extra as is the "hood" so you can use it as a cabin heater. Note the hood and swinging mount are not compatible ( as far as I remember) Also I cant remember if the price included VAT.
I was tempted. We dont use the oven - except for storing a spare GPS. The price of a new cooker is high but not as much as £750. The cooker is clearly complicated - but so is a diesel heater and mostly they work.
The glass top looks fragile too.
On the other hand it would be lovely to get rid of gas bottles. We have at least four and of two different types as we are based in the Baltic and each country seems to have incompatible bottles and regulators.
I've stirred the pile again without success. If nobody else can identify the vendor I'll try a third time.

 

[Poignard]

Might it have been : www.dickinsonmarine.com ??

 

[Niord]

Becky
Try Kuranda Marine - They do diesel cookers.
No idea how good they are compared to gas ones
http://www.kuranda.co.uk/

 

[jimking]

Becky
I have a Wallas diesal cooker which was fitted when I purchased the boat. The fan assisted oven is very good, has a thermostatic control, and will cook as well as your oven at home with an evenly spread, easily controlled heat - no burnt pasties.
Because of the start procedure which involves electronic checks, the ceramic hob is slow to warm up. Once it is heated up the control of it is more like an electric top than a gas one. There is also a long shutdown procedure when you switch it off. The top has one burner across 2 rings, one ring providing about 50% of the output of the main ring, The ceramic top is reasonably easy to clean.
Our oven has proved to be reliable but the top has not. This season we have spent more on repairs to the top than the cost of a good quality gas cooker.
Whilist I have not carefully monitored it, I am sure that the running costs are very low compared to gas and diesel is probably rather easier to obtain.
Your batteries need to be in reasonable condition to cope with the startup current draw, and if there is no electricity you cannot cook.
It is a much safer form of cooking than gas.
Would we buy another? not at the premium required over gas.

Regards

Jim

 

[roly_voya]

I wont have gas on board for safety reasons (like it kills you when it goes wrong) and have looked at the Wallas range but got put off by the complexity and electrical reqiurement, worried I would be in the situation Jinking reports.

The alternatives are either the traditional mariners range which is basically a drip fed diesel heater the same as in a cabin stove but biult into a range and works like an Arga. Totally reliable and user servicable mut more a motor boat/motorsailer option because it has a rigid flue so cant be gimbled, also 'always on' so heat in the cabin is a problem in summer but does keep the boat crispy dry.

The other alternative id the taylors which is two or three primus type burners built into a cooker. Again very reliable and user servicable althogh you do have to do a bit of regular cleaning/servicing to keep the burners running sweet basically because most parafin you can get is a bit mucky. Ecconomice are tremedous, wean i lived aboard I still only got through about 2pints parafin per month, in fact you spend more on meths for priming than of cooking fuel. The other plus factor is that the burners are hotter than you home cooker, from cold will boil a pan of water faster than gas even when you include the time to light it. The down side is that lighting it is a bit of an art and can be scary!! Traditional way is to prime with meths and if you do it wrong the burner can flare. Taylors when they test cooker preheat the burner with a gas blow torch which works a treat and takes about 30 sec. I know that lighting liquid fuel stoves does put people off because of the faff and consernes about them faring up but if you follow the gas recomendations and turn off at the cylinder every time its nearly as much performance plus given the chioce of takling a parrafin fire or a gas explosion...

I use the taylors stove and find its ideal but I do have a 230v kettle for quick brews

 

[Abigail]

Hi - we installed a wallas deisel hob and cooker on our boat when we moved board 3.5 years ago, seduced by the no gas argument and nervous of paraffin etc. We would NOT do this again on a sea going yacht. Brilliant for cooking, as described, but far too complicated and service network spread very thin. For the price you could get a top of the range gas cooker, numerous alarms and idiot-stopping mechanisms.

We have too much invested to throw it overboard (or sell it to an inland waterways boat) tomorrow, but would not recommend it if you sail off shore

 

[AngusMcDoon]

I went on a trip on a boat with a Wallas. The engine had to be started to get the cooker going - which indicates how much power they require to start. Also the hob took 20 minutes to heat up - no tea in a hurry. Wouldn't buy one myself.

 

[gecko]

We started on premise did not want gas. So moved a Taylors Ideal K but there is a technique which includes for certainty a gas torch..a bit self defeating. We changed to a Wallas hotplate. It needs to be properly installed with a good if not direct connection to a battery. If it does not work or needs servicing cost fairly high. But you get a clean dry heat. In a hot climate you may find it a bit oppresive. Like all yachtie items if used a lot it will prove worthwhile as very well made.Would I do it again? Well strangely enough in a small boat I would check out the Origo alcohol stoves and on a large yacht with generator diesel electric and thus a/c.
gecko