Taylor's cooker.

KINGFISHER 9

KINGFISHER 9

Well-Known Member
Joined
21 Mar 2007
Messages
4,745
Location
South of France.
Visit site
Taylor\'s cooker.

Does anyone use a Taylor's 030 cooker, or any other model, and how easy are they? Is it a real nuisance going through the lighting up routine, or not? Do you skip your quick cuppas because you can't be bothered, or do you fire the thing up first thing in the morning and fill a flask with boiling water? Would you avoid buying a boat with one (new) fitted? Do you curse the thing for an all-round b*stard and threaten to use it for a mooring block? Main question really - are they easy to light? Thanks for any enlightenment (!)
 
Re: Taylor\'s cooker.

One of the things that helped me to decide to buy my boat was her Taylor's cooker. They are undoubtedly a little more difficult to manage than gas stoves but the quid pro quo is safety, simplicity and reliability. No flame failure devices to fail, no gas to collect in the bilge.

Mine starts up easily using meths to prime, and I tend to leave one burner going continuously while on passage, especially overnight or in cold weather. The big thermos is a useful adjunct certainly. Don't throw it a way, try using it and if you don't like it you should give or sell it to someone who will. If you are not used to them they may seem a little complicated to start with. I used a paraffin primus for camping as a lad so the basic technology was familiar in a way that it may not be for so many people now, but it's easy to learn and very satisfying.
 
Re: Taylor\'s cooker.

Having used both (and currently looking to install a mini Taylors on Roach) I would say the advantages far outweigh gas. There is a knack lighting them, but one gets used to that.

Having had to clean a 028 model after a lumpy passage, I would say that the taylors is poor in this respect as there is no drip/overboil tray as gas cookers tend to have and encrusted sauce is hard to clean down under the burners. For your grands investment, I think they could have designed this better IMHO.
 
Re: Taylor\'s cooker.

I don't have a Taylors but my spirit cooker works on the same principle, pre-heat the burner, pump the tank, turn on and away you go.
I don't bother pre-heating with meths as a small blowtorch is quicker and a less dramatic.
Pre-heating is no more time consuming than turning a gas supply on and off at the bottle.
 
Re: Taylor\'s cooker.

You may end up loving it or hating it.

If you buy a boat in the damp winter months,you may choose (as I did) to light it in the morning and leave it on all day on a low flame-very economical,safe and providing a warm cabin for stopping for a cuppa between jobs onboard.If you consider the number of posts on here regarding the hassle of Corgi gas installers and Eberspacher heating systems comsider yourself ahead of the game,in a nice retro way!

If you dont get on with it,it will sell without difficulty.
 
Re: Taylor\'s cooker.

Whe I preheat with meths, I put the kettle on so the flame form the meths start to heat the water before the burner is on.

I have the 030 and wouldn't swap for any other cooker......
 
Re: Taylor\'s cooker.

Installed an 030L couple of years ago as replacement for OE Vanessa. It's a KISS bit of kit and not difficult to learn how to use it to good effect both as cooker and cabin heater. We use solid fuel to pre-heat; flask for on-passage - but did that with Vanessa as well. Also adds a pleasing and special ambience to the boat.
 
Re: Taylor\'s cooker.

I have one too. It took a while to get it sorted out properly.
(One of the offshore geezers in either YM or PBO just gave it a bad review. Can't remember which.) I love it. My dear wife use to make me take it all to bits in the winter to get it really clean. It was always a wee bit of a hassle to get it all going properly again after that. Now my view it that it is to be left alone if it is working well no matter how grotty it has got. Nautical hygiene differs from domestic hygiene.

The biggest danger is setting your boat on fire. Meths is good for that. Watch out with your meths bottle if you have an adjacent ring going already, or if the oven top is hot.

I use a syringe (no needle) to put 15 ml of meths in the cup and don't bring the meths bottle near the stove. This means that if a lurch causes a spill, all that can burn is the amount in the syringe not the whole damned bottle. I have kitchen timer set to 5 mins. I start it when I light the meths and then know that it will ping when the preheat is finished. This avoids the common frustration of getting engrossed and forgetting about it only to find that it's too cold to burn and too hot to reprime.

Some carry a gas blowtorch to preheat. My chemical friends tell me there is enough gas in one of those wee cylinders to cause a serious explosion, so it seems to defeat having no gas on the boat.
 
Re: Taylor\'s cooker.

Well, they can be very cantankerous if you don't take the time to find out how to light them properly. But, once you've done that, and it isn't rocket science, they are better IMHO than any other cooker. They only take a couple of minutes to light, and can be left running for hours as a supplementary heater, use little paraffin, and best of all, your boat stands no chance of blowing up! Yes, they are stupidly expensive new, but I've used quite a few other gas stoves on other boats and I've been impressed by non of them. Yes, I'm a convert, and within reason, an evangelist. I'd recommend them, and lighting them isn't hard. If you use a small swan necked squeezy bottle (I dunno if taylors still supply one, but I have one and it works well) You can also use (I've been been told) firelighters. They need a couple of minutes so it isn't instant heat, but after that, they kick out far more heat. I also think they look better as well.
 
Re: Taylor\'s cooker.

Having recently purchased a boat fitted with a taylors cooker and a heater, i am trying to pick up info on 1. in depth cleaning,2 method of operation. could one of you please proffer advice. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif
 
Re: Taylor\'s cooker.

I had one for five or six years, there was no way of organising a gas locker etc in that boat and so paraffin was the way to go. I kept a cook's blowlamp in the galley and that was helpful in lighting the meths and in relighting the burner when it went out! I found it wise to keep a full set of spares including one complete burner because, if it was run at low level for long, the burner would soot up and misbehave.
Be careful how you use the self pricking system, it is easy to do it too hard and break off the pricker in the jet, and it is then a dismantle job to clear it.
French meths is cleaner and smells better than English.
I also kept a camping stove with small gas cartridge which was useful if I only wanted a cup of coffee and it was not worth while going through the lighting procedure for the Taylors
 
Re: Taylor\'s cooker. Expensive?

It hurts to pay so much. However: I have an old wooden boat. Although I could have bought a flimsy self-tapper-assembled gas cooker at a third of the price, if I did all the correct installation it would have cost me as much and involved a lot of effing and blinding. I could simply bung the Taylors in and know it was safe. And I'm willing to bet it'll live ten times as long as a cheapo gas one.

I too espouse the "carry a spare burner" view. If I have a problem with a burner I simply exchange it and take the faulty one home to dismantle and clean up.
 
Re: Taylor\'s cooker. Expensive?

Hmmm! Bit worrying reply from FrancisRutter above who says he keeps a camping gas ring for when he just wants a cup of coffee! Maybe one of those large Thermos flasks with a pump on top, as I pondered about above, is the answer to 'just a cuppa' worries and fill it up first thing in the morning. I won't turn down the boat on the strength of the cooker being a Taylor's but I can't help thinking about it!
 
Re: Taylor\'s cooker.

It looks like you're considering buying a boat with one fitted. I've never used a Taylor's but we've got an Origo 6000:

1757118817_1f0dca49f0.jpg


I think it's magic - it's not pressurised but works brilliantly, and was bought for the same reasons stated above - there's no room for a safe gas installation. So if you get bored of the Taylor but don't want gas, it's a good alternative! And there are no fiddly parts...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top