Help with choosing cooker

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paulingreece

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Hi, need some advice on cookers, at present refitting our boat, a Carter 33, it has at present a 2 burner hob, with the gas bottle attached underneath, needs to go, so looking at gas or spirit stove, your views and advice would be very welcome.

Paul.
 
I recently fitted a Spinflo Nelson cooker in my 34. Very pleased with it and more economical on gas than the old Plastimo. I can thoroughly recommend it.

http://www.force4.co.uk/679/Spinflo-Nelson-Cooker.html


If you decide to install the cooker, pipes, regulator and bottle yourself, please get it checked by a qualified professional who will issue a safety test certificate.
 
Last edited:
theoldsalt said:
I recently fitted a Spinflo Nelson cooker in my 34. Very pleased with it and more economical on gas than the old Plastimo. I can thoroughly recommend it.

http://www.force4.co.uk/679/Spinflo-Nelson-Cooker.html


If you decide to install the cooker, pipes, regulator and bottle yourself, please get it checked by a qualified professional who will issue a safety test certificate.
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Hi thanks, that looks like a good cooker, leaning more towards a spirit type cooker, as there is a severe shortage of gas fitters here, well good ones anyway.
 
If you are starting from scratch there is nothing inherently difficult about installing it yourself. You can get full information on fitting from Southern Calor in Southampton, who can also supply all the components. The Plastimo and Nelson cookers are arguably the most popular of the lower price range. If you do a lot of cooking then gas is probably better than spirit. Replacement gas using camping gaz type cylinders is widely available in Greece.
 
Cooker

As said it depends on how much cooking brewing you do. I have a single burner spirit which resides in the shed. I simply don't need a cooker on the boat. (cold drinks needed) I don't sail in winter.
On the other hand some live on board and want hot brews often so a gas cooker would be quicker to boil a kettle. Certainly if you can cope with less heat ie slower boiling then a spirit stove is safer and easier to refill. I would go for spirit but you may be disappointed.
good luck olewill
 
cooker

We bought a Pastimo 3000 last year and are not impressed with it, the top bars, that sit the pans on are right above the burners and get RED hot, and I mean cherry red. Spoke to Norfolk marine who we bought it from and they advised us that Plastimo have a design problem that they are looking into............needless to say we are still waiting of a reply from Plastimo.
 
Another what not to buy - Techimpex. It looked great when new but after a few years the bi-metallic safety sensors started to fail. Pain in the neck to refit with replacements. After 10 years it was in a bit of a sorry state - grill half working and other parts rusted so it was impossible to refurbish it. Wish we had spent more and got something decent.
 
paulingreece said:
Hi, need some advice on cookers, at present refitting our boat, a Carter 33, it has at present a 2 burner hob, with the gas bottle attached underneath, needs to go, so looking at gas or spirit stove, your views and advice would be very welcome.

Paul.
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we have a Plastimo Atlantic 2 burner, grill and oven going to upgrade to the Plastimo 4500 excellent cookers burn Calor red or Blue camping Gaz which is great if your cruising , it means there is always gas available and you can buy the cheapest. I'd recommend these cookers, all I did was install a twin valve change-over switch £20 from Ebay. We have both bottle types connected and it's saved us a fortune.
 
paulingreece said:
Hi, need some advice on cookers, at present refitting our boat, a Carter 33, it has at present a 2 burner hob, with the gas bottle attached underneath, needs to go, so looking at gas or spirit stove, your views and advice would be very welcome.

Paul.
Click to expand...

I must agree that the Nelson is a very good cooker, I have had one for over 10 years with no problems. Minor quibbles would be the open insulation to the rear of the stove (easy to fit an ally, or Formica, cover if this is a problem to you) and iffy plating on the pan holders (though ten years is stiff test and it is by no means poor). I would have no other. (c£450)

The downside is putting gas in from scratch. This will be a real pain and, if you want to meet all regulations, it may be dam near impossible. If you have a good spot for a gas tight locker with suitable draining, it could well be worth doing though.

The alternative could be a new meths Origo stove (c£850). I have used a hob, but not an oven. I found the burners a bit slow and they tended to dry out between use, though they seem to have improved the covers now. They are very safe. Useful info here:

http://www.sailnet.com/forums/gear-maintenance/48501-origo-oven.html

Apart from that you may be looking at secondhand parafin stoves of the Primus type. The pre-heating is a bit of a chore, they make a fair roar in use and parafin stinks if you spill it. You also have to carry some means of heating the burners; a small blowlamp or meths. Having said all this a lot of people do love them.

Americans were quite keen on pressure meths stoves. These are similar to the parafin models but the main fuel was meths spirit as well. The advantages were that you could pre-heat on the same fuel, did not need smelly parafin and the spirit is safer in that it can be doused with water. You could probably get a secondhand hob from the US on ebay.
 
Thanks for all the replys, some very good points and opinions there, i could easily fit the new gas system, its the space for an airtight gas bottle locker thats leads me towards spirit cookers, gas would be better, love me brews as you do, it all comes down to where the hell do i put the locker,?.
 
I think the absence of a gas locker in the C33 may be what is disposing the OP towards spirit stoves. I went to view a C33 that had an Origo spirit stove so that might suit. There's one here at an eerily good price.

Personally I'd rather have a gas stove and you can get aftermarket gas lockers from here though I'd rather have one big enough to take a 6.5kg bottle myself.

Hth,

Boo2
 
paulingreece said:
Thanks for all the replys, some very good points and opinions there, i could easily fit the new gas system, its the space for an airtight gas bottle locker thats leads me towards spirit cookers, gas would be better, love me brews as you do, it all comes down to where the hell do i put the locker,?.
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Well, that depends on the boat. The locker needs to be sealed from the rest of the boat and have a drain overboard above the waterline. The most common arrangement is to partition part of a cockpit locker, but you can buy self contained gas proof lockers which can make the job easier - again Southern Calor is a good source. it may also be possible to build a locker above decks, say on an aft deck or even around the mast area.

Get the guidelines for installations and that will give you more idea of what is possible.
 
Boo2 said:
I think the absence of a gas locker in the C33 may be what is disposing the OP towards spirit stoves. I went to view a C33 that had an Origo spirit stove so that might suit. There's one here at an eerily good price.

Personally I'd rather have a gas stove and you can get aftermarket gas lockers from here though I'd rather have one big enough to take a 6.5kg bottle myself.

Hth,

Boo2
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Thanks Boo2, have been looking at the Origo, the C33 has a small cockpit and i am struggling to find a space to fit the locker.
Tranona, if i go for gas then Southern Calor would be my preferred supplier, will have to dive down in the locker again, and see what can be done, will let you know how i get on. Many thanks.

Paul.
 
I've found that the trouble with the 2-burner Plastimo is that the depth is inadequate - standard size metal pans get red-hot at the back and pyrex dishes crack. The Spinflo Nelson has the crucial few cm more and has given us no problems.
 
theoldsalt said:
Paulingreece,

I found this video of a 33 Carter online. Is this like your boat?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3jbAENzwh0&feature=related

If it is, could you separate part of the cockpit locker for the gas bottle and incorporate a drain out through the hull?

Regards
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Hi theoldsalt, yes apart from mine is tiller steering, was trying to hang on to locker space, will have another look and try and figure out some way of doing this,
dulcibella, thanks, i quite like the look of the spinflo, and heard some good things about them.

Paul.
 
I have the 2 burner origo which is good if a little slow. The only grumble is that I've not successfully made toast yet. It's quite safe as it is more or less a giant zippo.
 
for cost go for the nelson spinflo, its alll stainless. i bought one last year and am very happy with it. got mine from marinemega store, they are the cheapest
 
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