OceanChef cookers

[rolf.nielsen]

I am in the market for new cookers for both my boats - a 65' trawler on which we live and a 36' trawler that's our vacation home (yes I know, I'm a lucky guy). Our 65's kitchen is full-size and I could use standard house appliances but I prefer to stay LPG to avoid dealing with power supply issues. Our 36' has a standard galley that can fit a 20" cooker. I wouldn't say that money is no concern but I don't want to compromise and the Admiral needs the best tools. My research has brought me to Oceanchef, the XL for our 65' and the regular size 3-burner for the 36'. The models are here: https://www.gn-espace.com/yacht-galley-equipment/marine-gas-cookers/.

GN Espace refers to a test that found the Levante (the baby brother of the Oceanchef) as the best and some basic googling has led me to satisfied users here and there. Does anyone here use Oceanchefs and can you recommend them? I'm particularly interested in the evenness of the oven heating on the XL - our present cooker only heats from the bottom so it's challenging to bake bread etc. Does the XL heat from both bottom and top and is the heating even? Anything else we should consider? Any worthy alternatives in that quality range (or higher)?

 

[ip485]

Yes., me, installed one a few years back on my IP. Love it.

To be fair, I have to say it isnt totally without fault. The build quality is very good, but, it could be even more solid, if only they used perhaps slighly thicker gauge stainless. Also I have had some issues getting a consistent grill light, and also one burner not staying a light. That said all resolved and the suupport is very good from the guys at Espace.

All that said, the cooking is excellent. Full roast the weekend before last and as good as the AEG at home, and way better than any other "boat" cooker of which I am aware. The grill is also a world apart from "boat" cookers which typically only cook half the grill area.

As I say I only wish it were even more solid, but it is way better than anything else on the market I have seen and very pleased with my purchase. For someone spending lots of time aboard it is as close as you will get to a domestic oven and hob, if not quite to the bulild quality as the best of the domestic range.

 

[ip485]

Oh as to even cooking, of course it isnt fan circulated so inevitably there is some difference in heat between top and bottom I would guess, but the oven cooking is very good as I indicated above. The oven gets properly hot and maintains its heat. Compared with my home AEG fan I am guessing you need to allow about another 15 minutes for properly crisp roast potatoes for example, and it cooks souffles very well, which is a challenge for any oven. Bread is great. So overall, very comparable with a good domestic oven, if maybe a little slower than a fan operated domestic oven.

 

[pvb]

Oh as to even cooking, of course it isnt fan circulated so inevitably there is some difference in heat between top and bottom I would guess, but the oven cooking is very good as I indicated above. The oven gets properly hot and maintains its heat. Compared with my home AEG fan I am guessing you need to allow about another 15 minutes for properly crisp roast potatoes for example, and it cooks souffles very well, which is a challenge for any oven. Bread is great. So overall, very comparable with a good domestic oven, if maybe a little slower than a fan operated domestic oven.

I've never tried a soufflé on the boat.

 

[ip485]

You are welcome to.

 

[stranded]

Three years now with an ocean chef and entirely positive except for the effect of it not being a circulating oven I.e. it will get hot enough to do a seriously good pizza but the heat rising from the burner at the back is wicked so you need to turn things regularly.