Induction stoves for boats

[weavis]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

I agree that the question of gimbals is very important.


But I could not cook on passage without a gimballed cooker, not even in moderate weather. Any kind of heel at all really screws up the cooking.

In fact I would go further and say that besides a gimballed cooker, you really need some kind of gimballed working surface as well, to cook with reasonable comfort. I find cooking offshore a real laborious hassle except in a dead calm, and I bet I'm not the only one. It's bloody hard to live on a heel altogether, even if it's only 5 degrees and no big boat motion, and I do really understand cat sailors on this.

I've just finished 1500 miles of sailing in May, much of it upwind, and was reminded again of how hard it is to cook offshore.

Was all that needed to be said. DO 1500 miles on a cat and cooking food is not something to worry about...

This is perhaps one of the major enticements of living on a Catamaran full time... along with the other benefits....

[Auspicious]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

Most cruisers do most of their cooking at anchor or dockside, so fixed cookers will work most of the time, I guess.

Which was one of my points. Thank you for reinforcing it.

Originally Posted by Dockhead

But I could not cook on passage without a gimballed cooker, not even in moderate weather. Any kind of heel at all really screws up the cooking.

Yep. I don't get a lot of customization on deliveries but I try hard to make sure I have a cutting board I can use on top of the gimballed cooker for prep. Mise en place. *grin*

Cooking offshore is a skill. The boat can make that easier or harder. You really need someplace to wedge yourself in without a galley belt (a real danger in my mind).

I do prep on the cutting board on the gimballed cooker in the order that ingredients go in the pots and pans so I can move the cutting board aside and start cooking. A wet tea towel or paper towel on the counter keeps the board in place (mostly - still want fiddles). Most foods are damp enough to not slide around on the board.

You are certainly not the only one who finds cooking offshore challenging. You can do it. It takes longer than on a fixed platform. There is certainly more planning.

I recently presented a webinar called "A Delivery Skipper Cooks" that goes into detail. Like everything else on a boat there are lots of disparate issues. You can still feed people well almost all the time.

Every Moody I have been on had a darn good galley. There was always a place to wedge in, places to put things without having the entire contents of a locker fall on your head, good storage, and a decent work triangle.

Originally Posted by Dockhead

I don't see any reason in the world why an induction cooktop (and electric oven) couldn't be gimballed just like a gas one. I don't know why that is supposed to be a "major con".

Certainly it can be done. It hasn't been. Doing it as a custom installation is going to be expensive. That's why it is a major con to me.

Originally Posted by Fuss

Gimbals don't work in big storms and are dangerous. Strong well engineered pot holders that actually hold the pots tight do.

I challenge your assertions. I've cooked on a gimballed cooker in F8 rising 9. I rarely see a cooker hit the stops. Where is the danger? Certainly how is a fixed cooktop in any way safer?

On a Hatteras 48 LRC with a fixed cooktop, we ran out of deep enough pots to keep food from slopping out even after we got cookware secured. Tying pot handles to locker knobs rapidly goes through a lot of string.

"Strong well engineered pot holders" is a non sequitor. I have seen too many pots launched across galleys and salons.

On a fixed cooktop in a sea the contents of a pot slop around even when the pot itself is adequately fixed. Lids aren't good enough to keep contents constrained. A pressure cooker with the gasket removed will still leak. I love my pressure cooker but some things are just a pain to cook under pressure.

A percolator on a fixed cooktop in a sea will make a mess. A tea kettle is a hazard.

If you only cook at dock, anchor, or benign conditions sailing a fixed cooktop will have only minor compromises.

Offshore you need gimbals.

Even ignoring the cost premium of induction cooking, until induction cooktops are commercially available on gimbals, that is a major con.

[weavis]

My Centaur has gimbals. Without the stove swiveling there would be a huge mess...

[msponer]

FWIW, we have both an induction cooker and a gimballed propane stove. We almost always use the induction cooker: at sea, anchor, whatever.

If the boat is heeling we use a large pot with little liquid. The range faces forward, so simple fixed wooden rails keep the pot from sliding sideways. If it's rough we put a silicone anti-slip mat between the inductor and the pot, to further keep it from sliding. Nothing has ever fallen on the floor, and we've used it for whatever distance is from the Caribbean to New Zealand.

The induction range works super well for us. It's hot enough at low power, so it works fine on the batteries. I like that it has a 'temperature hold' mode and so we can set it to 40 or 60*C for a stew, or to keep leftovers warm for the night watch. Or make rice by setting it to 100*C and walking away without worrying about it boiling over.

[Pelagic]

I think this argument about cooking in rough conditions is as stupid as a competition on who can pee the furthest directly upwind in a Gale!

You prep and make single serving Ready to Eat meals when conditions are good, then defrost and microwave to warm up when off watch crew feel hungry.

Why destroy a perfectly nice galley or a willing cook, when conditions are rough?

[Matt Johnson]

Here you go:

Induction stove-ovens / for boats / two-burner / three-burner - tom logisch - exploring the world in a better way


Matt

[Pelagic]

Originally Posted by mrm

I respectfully disagree. Pot holders and gimbals supplement each other very well. Cannot speak for 'big storms' situation, but had been sailing Baltic (known for its nasty short chop) in F8 (bordering on F9) enough to appreciate a gimbaled stove.

I see two engineering challenges with gimbaled induction stoves (cooktops?). One is choice of type and routing of the power supply cable to make it least affected by movement, the other may be a non issue but it is worth investigating whether standard metal pot holders can be used with induction stoves and with what limitations if any.

Very interesting question about whether magnetic metal pot holders will heat up dangerously if connected to an induction pot.

I was planning on installing 2 on my new range from the old gas system....will need to test that first
Thanks for the warning!

[CarlF]

Steve Dashew's FPB powerboats use induction stoves with pot holder rails but no gimbals. Certainly an offshore boat. And designed by a guy who certainly knows about cooking at sea. He likes them a lot because they use so little electricity that they can run off of a standard inverter and even can work with solar panel charged batteries. The pads in the picture are silicone to keep the pots from sliding.

http://www.yachtworld.com/boats/2014...m#.WTTd0zPMz1I

[CarlF]

I don't believe that the rails would get any hotter than with a propane stove. I think that the induction vibration only occurs in a small area on the bottom of the pot directly over the magnets. But in any case, most induction cookware has a magnetic bottom bonded to non-magnetic metals for the rest of the pot. The rails would be rest against this metal that is only heated by conduction as with a propane stove.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by msponer

FWIW, we have both an induction cooker and a gimballed propane stove. We almost always use the induction cooker: at sea, anchor, whatever.

If the boat is heeling we use a large pot with little liquid. The range faces forward, so simple fixed wooden rails keep the pot from sliding sideways. If it's rough we put a silicone anti-slip mat between the inductor and the pot, to further keep it from sliding. Nothing has ever fallen on the floor, and we've used it for whatever distance is from the Caribbean to New Zealand.

The induction range works super well for us. It's hot enough at low power, so it works fine on the batteries. I like that it has a 'temperature hold' mode and so we can set it to 40 or 60*C for a stew, or to keep leftovers warm for the night watch. Or make rice by setting it to 100*C and walking away without worrying about it boiling over.

That is extremely interesting!! "FWIW" is a lot in this case -- you're speaking from experience, not speculation like the rest of us!

Could you post some photos of your setup, particularly photos of it being used, if possible?

[Pelagic]

Originally Posted by CarlF

I don't believe that the rails would get any hotter than with a propane stove. I think that the induction vibration only occurs in a small area on the bottom of the pot directly over the magnets. But in any case, most induction cookware has a magnetic bottom bonded to non-magnetic metals for the rest of the pot. The rails would be rest against this metal that is only heated by conduction as with a propane stove.

Hi Carl
Reading a bit about Induction Cookware, some of it will energize up the sides for more even cooking.

Probably not an issue as you say, but will test first
https://foodal.com/kitchen/pots-pots...uction-ranges/

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by Pelagic

I think this argument about cooking in rough conditions is as stupid as a competition on who can pee the furthest directly upwind in a Gale!

You prep and make single serving Ready to Eat meals when conditions are good, then defrost and microwave to warm up when off watch crew feel hungry.

Why destroy a perfectly nice galley or a willing cook, when conditions are rough?

You are better prepared than I am!

There is a point of course, as conditions get rougher, where you stop using the stove altogether if at all possible. However, the microwave isn't necessarily any better! At least not on my boat. My microwave is built-in (was part of the original build of the boat), and almost amidships, but on a heel stuff slides around inside it. Can slide off the rotating glass tray and slam against the back wall (or door, depending on tack ), and spill. I'd really like for the microwave to be gimballed.

What I'd really like would be to replace my existing SMEG four burner gas stove and large oven, with something of the same size but with induction burners on top, and for the oven to be combination convection and microwave.

[Fuss]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

You are better prepared than I am!

There is a point of course, as conditions get rougher, where you stop using the stove altogether if at all possible. However, the microwave isn't necessarily any better! At least not on my boat. My microwave is built-in (was part of the original build of the boat), and almost amidships, but on a heel stuff slides around inside it. Can slide off the rotating glass tray and slam against the back wall (or door, depending on tack ), and spill. I'd really like for the microwave to be gimballed.

What I'd really like would be to replace my existing SMEG four burner gas stove and large oven, with something of the same size but with induction burners on top, and for the oven to be combination convection and microwave.

Don't put a microwave with a rotating glass tray on a boat.
This does not work at all. The only sort of microwave to use is an inverter microwave with a flat base. You then put an oversize silicone mat on the bottom and cook in all conditions....force 12 if you like.

[Pelagic]

Hi Dockhead,
many years of ocean crossings where half or sometimes all the crew are incapacitated in rough conditions and there is nothing to eat, taught me to insist on ready to eat meals prepared.

(Even on super yachts with stabilizers and tonnage, I think it is sadistic to expect the chefs to crank out daily meals on a rough delivery.

For the microwave in rough conditions I have this plastic microwavable pressure steamer that is the exact size as the glass tray. I remove the tray and it still turns on the plastic carousel

Frozen Food pouches go inside with a bit of water and it nicely defrosts steams and heats up while still sealed. Takes from 4 to 8 minutes depending on what is inside...Stews/Pasta/ Soups/Steaks/ Pizza etc...

This plastic steamer almost fills the microwave, so it slides a bit, but does no damage.

Something like this, only round
https://www.amazon.com/Sistema-Micro.../dp/B005D6XZ4O

Works great!

[Fuss]

Originally Posted by Pelagic

Hi Dockhead,
many years of ocean crossings where half or sometimes all the crew are incapacitated in rough conditions and there is nothing to eat, taught me to insist on ready to eat meals prepared.

(Even on super yachts with stabilizers and tonnage, I think it is sadistic to expect the chefs to crank out daily meals on a rough delivery.

For the microwave in rough conditions I have this plastic microwavable pressure steamer that is the exact size as the glass tray. I remove the tray and it still turns on the plastic carousel

Frozen Food pouches go inside with a bit of water and it nicely defrosts steams and heats up while still sealed. Takes from 4 to 8 minutes depending on what is inside...Stews/Pasta/ Soups/Steaks/ Pizza etc...

This plastic steamer almost fills the microwave, so it slides a bit, but does no damage.

Something like this, only round
https://www.amazon.com/Sistema-Micro.../dp/B005D6XZ4O

Works great!

Yes, this is what I use too, you have to do some research to find the good containers ....at the moment there are new collapsible ones that take up little room an enable you to throw our some of the bigger ones.