Which cooker/oven/stove?

We have a SMEV. Looks nice, has four burners, etc., but doesn't work too well. Oven doesn't get very hot and doesn't stay lit. I've had much better in other boats.
 
Having over the years used loads of different cookers, my present Spinflo Nelson is the best of them all.


Except that the decal on the front goes wrinkly, which doesn't detract from it's basic functionality, but is aesthetically irritating.
 
Our boat is only 6 years old, and we threw the 'orrible ENO Gascogne off in place of our new best friend, the Nelson Spinflo.

The Spinflo was a bit taller than the ENO, as the grill is separate, so a bit of galley mod needed to be done.

The spinflo grill pan handle is an abomination of a plastic thing, which will be changed for a folding handle this winter, but other than that, its a cracker.
 
aluijten said:
I just saw the (Dutch) prices on the GN-Espace models.

And I thought the Force 10 models were a bit pricey :(
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I have a 4 burner GN Espace Levante.

Pricey, yes, but worth every penny. I've sailed with a lot of different cookers, including Force 10, and this one beats the lot hands down.

Excellent grill - perfect toast and powerful enough to grill meat, fish etc. Yes, it can't be used with the oven door closed, but that's not unusual. I use a small round cap at the base of the hinge to keep it from being closed accidentally and as it is gimballed, the pan doesn't slide when heeled. Burners and oven pretty much the same as a domestic cooker. Good small company to deal with as well.

I don't think anyone who bites the bullet and buys one of these will regret it.

I wouldn't consider a Smev at any price. We had one for a while and the oven never worked properly.
 
Litotes said:
I have a 4 burner GN Espace Levante.

Pricey, yes, but worth every penny. I've sailed with a lot of different cookers, including Force 10, and this one beats the lot hands down.
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Can you let me know how much you paid for it? In Holland the listprice for your model is well over 2000 Euros, which I consider a bit too much for a cooker.
In our boat the cavity in the galley is big enough for the Ocean Chef model (despite being only 36 ft.)
But with a listprice of more then 3000 Euros, I'd say leave it to the superyacht guys.

Cheers,

Arno
 
Dockhead said:
We have a SMEV. Looks nice, has four burners, etc., but doesn't work too well. Oven doesn't get very hot and doesn't stay lit. I've had much better in other boats.
Click to expand...
I've been considering the SMEV but the oven has half the kw per litre of ,say, the Plastimo Nelson 4500. No wonder it doesn't do the job!
 
aluijten said:
Can you let me know how much you paid for it? In Holland the listprice for your model is well over 2000 Euros, which I consider a bit too much for a cooker.
In our boat the cavity in the galley is big enough for the Ocean Chef model (despite being only 36 ft.)
But with a listprice of more then 3000 Euros, I'd say leave it to the superyacht guys.

Cheers,

Arno
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When I enquired in UK, the were £1650, so 2000Euro sounds about right.

Pricey, but very Rolls Royce.
 
Scotty_Tradewind said:
I'm considering buying a new cooker to replace the 1980's 3 burner+oven one that I have.

What recommendations please?
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You can't be a fully paid up member of the "old fashioned long keel is best" club unless you have a Taylors paraffin (031 or 031L) - your rufty tufty boat deserves it!

Seriously though anything other than a Plastimo or a Nelson Spinflo is a complete waste of money for the average leisure sailor who will likely use the cooker less in its 30 year+ plus lifetime than you use your home cooker in a year.

The simplest, most basic cooker will do everything you need - Neptune 2500 if you don't want the bother of a grill or a Spinflo if you do. Avoid cookers with the in oven broiler - whoever desigend such a useless device for a boat - and anything made by Techimpex.

Rather limits the field to the two suggested (or a Taylors if you are really serious about cooking and don't want gas).
 
FullCircle said:
When I enquired in UK, the were £1650, so 2000Euro sounds about right.
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We've have had one for about 3 years, so prices have gone up. I think we paid about £1200.

Yes - very Rolls Royce. Not only an efficient cooker, but also a very solidly built one that is obviously designed by people who know boats and cooking. We spend a lot of time afloat and I think good food (and good wine) is an essential part of the pleasure involved. I also like cooking and don't really do "instant". I wouldn't have a Fray Bentos pie on board at any price. I would rather not eat at all....... Or, at least, eat a bit of bread and decent cheese.

I've never regretted spending that money.
 
I dug up this old thread to add some comments to the Force 10 stove.

I just bought a new version of the European Compact and I must say I'm quite disappointment.

This is actually the second time I bought one and compared to the first one bought this one is by far not as nice as the first one.

For starters the new model clamps that are supposed to hold cooking pots cannot be used if stove is mounted in a cavity (so between two cabinets or so). My guess this is the situation in 95% of all sailing yachts.
They also changed the ignition. In the old model it just required one hand. Now it takes two.
The locking mechanism (for fixating the gimbals) has been changed to the same flimsy mechanism as used on the standard ENO models.
The overall build quality seems to have suffered quit a bit. The stainless backside is replaced with galvanized steel plate and there are a lot of sharp edges.

I've send customer support a mail about these observations and haven't received any response.

They did manage to increase the price by the way in the past years.

All in all I consider the list of really nice stoves to be used in a sailing boat to have shortened by at least one.

Cheers,
A.
 
i just replaced an old eno with a smeg unit, the fitting design is not the simplest, but the cooker is great, proper adjustments not either full or min, has electric ignition and light inside oven.
 
>Wouldn't consider anything other than a force ten . They are not cheap but they are made for marine use and not caravans like many others .

Agree, ours has been on the boat for eighteen years with liveaboard use for thirteen years. The previous owner and I have had no problems with it.
 
KellysEye said:
>Wouldn't consider anything other than a force ten . They are not cheap but they are made for marine use and not caravans like many others .

Agree, ours has been on the boat for eighteen years with liveaboard use for thirteen years. The previous owner and I have had no problems with it.
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Did you see my post #35? I think you'll be disappointed by the current product.
I was.

Cheers
 
aluijten said:
Did you see my post #35? I think you'll be disappointed by the current product.
I was.

Cheers
Click to expand...
A couple of years back I bought a 1990's 4-burner American size model off ebay. Very pleased with it (though I think the oven on the Spinflo was better).

I compared my Force10 to the recent models displayed then at Fox's, Ipswich. The quality was much poorer - someone said they were now built in China but I have no proof of this.

I notice Fox's no longer stock Force 10 & stock GN Espace models instead.
 
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