Has the all-electric galley come of age?

[RaymondR]

I like the redundancy aspect of having both a gas stove and an inverter driven microwave and I quiet often boil a cup of water in the microwave for a quick cup of plunger tea or coffee. The 1 1/2 to 2 minutes it takes in a 1,000 watt microwave does not drag the batteries down excessively.

With the amount of problems we have with battery and charging systems as indicated by the prevalence of threads and posts herein I'm not sure I'm ready for anything which intensifies electrical power use just yet, however the thought of not having potentially explosive gas piped into my boat through an open ended system does appeal to me.

[Sojourner]

I have the usual propane stove/oven on my Amel, but I rarely use it. With solar/wind and enough sun where I go, instead I have a rice cooker to make lots of things with (you can do full meals in one of those things), a magic-pot type electric pressure cooker, an electric kettle for coffee and tea, a bread machine, an electric fryer/sautee pan thingy. Between those appliances, I haven't touched the gas for weeks on end. So while I don't have an electric kitchen, I live like I do Works well enough so far...

[CatNewBee]

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...d.php?t=201795

For me, definitely YES!

We use all kind of home appliances on board, all powered 220V by 5kW Quattro inverter + solar / LiFeYPO4.

4 - burner induction cooktop, convection oven, espresso machine, kittchen aid, ice maker, microwave...

[Pelagic]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

Man, don't forget safety. Propane has more explosive power per gram than TNT. In my opinion, the number one reason for ditching propane is safety, and all the precautions we have to take to make using it reasonably safe. It would be fantastic to be free of that risk and that hassle.

Absolutely! That was my number one reason to switch to Induction.
Second was the heat factor of cooking in the Tropics.

However, we kept our two stainless propane bottles and they will now only be used on the Weber BBQ at the stern.
So I guess we are really hybrid

[mikedefieslife]

To me it’s still not practical to have an all electric galley without a good generator. Just an oven alone is a good 2000w. Do say you use an induction hob to make a chilli, then another to boil the rice, and are also having some potato wedges with your meal. Thats a good 3500-4000w just for a relatively simple meal.

Butane (I know people on here seem to live propane) is cheap and easily available here in Europe and what’s more, it’s pretty safe too. I’m willing to bet there are more electrical fires on boats than there are gas.

Now if you only ever cook something on a hob and perhaps use a pressure cooker, then the electric galley is already here. I oven/bake/roast far too much for that though.

[Attikos]

Originally Posted by rsn48

How about fuel cells as "generating" source?

I suspect people who don't want propane aboard would be even more averse to hydrogen.

[travellerw]

Originally Posted by Attikos

I suspect people who don't want propane aboard would be even more averse to hydrogen.

All the RV/Boat fuel cells I know of use methanol as the hydrogen source. However its insanely expensive methanol (like $80 for 2 gallons).

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by Attikos

I suspect people who don't want propane aboard would be even more averse to hydrogen.

Hydrogen is quite safe, being extremely light. It can't collect in a bilge to form a fuel-air bomb, as propane does. I think there is practically no risk posed by hydrogen on a boat. We already have hydrogen on board -- produced by our batteries in fairly large quantities, while charging.


People are killed in propane/butane explosions on boats almost every year, just in the UK. LPG is a major safety issue on boats -- that's a fact. And not just the risk, but the expense and hassle of maintaining and operating the system in a manner that makes it reasonably safe.



The all electric galley is a great thing which I am sure we will see more and more of very soon, as battery systems get better and boats become more electrical power intensive. My next boat will not have any propane or butane on board for sure.

[Chotu]

The electric galley has certainly come of age. With a generator, definitely. I had bought a gas wall oven to install but the clearance required around it wasn't possible. So I got the largest toaster oven made. It does full size pizzas. This has proven very reliable and easy to use.

I can't, however, bring myself to cook on a non responsive electric cooktop. Gas is so very much better for controlling your pan temperature that I'm not willing to go electric.

You can get around an inferior electric oven by putting a small bowl of water in it with breads and cakes to keep the moisture at better levels .

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by mikedefieslife

To me it’s still not practical to have an all electric galley without a good generator. Just an oven alone is a good 2000w. Do say you use an induction hob to make a chilli, then another to boil the rice, and are also having some potato wedges with your meal. Thats a good 3500-4000w just for a relatively simple meal.

You're confusing power with energy. It doesn't make any sense to say "3500-4000w for a simple meal" -- how many watts over how much time are you talking about? That's what's significant, not the momentary draw in watts. As someone above stated, you need about 1.5kWh to 3kWh to cook three meals a day for three or four people. That wouldn't include baking, however.



Whether that's a big challenge to supply or not depends on the boat. On shore power, it will not be a problem for most boats, and most meals on most boats most of the time are cooked while on shore power. For boats with a lot of solar, it will probably not be a problem. For boats with a decent generator it will probably not be a problem. I guess a lot of boats could use an electric galley.


Baking is a special case, which requires a lot of energy compared to running a hob. I experienced propane consumption of 3x or 4x whenever I had someone on board doing much baking. It will be more challenging to do this, compared to just a hob. Not just because of the increase in energy required, but the longer periods over which it needs to be delivered. Still, I think it will not be out of reach for many boats.

[StuM]

Originally Posted by Chotu

I can't, however, bring myself to cook on a non responsive electric cooktop. Gas is so very much better for controlling your pan temperature that I'm not willing to go electric.

Induction plate is very responsive (and energy efficient)

[mikedefieslife]

Originally Posted by Chotu

.....

You can get around an inferior electric oven by putting a small bowl of water in it with breads and cakes to keep the moisture at better levels .

That's interesting, as many find gas to 'wet' so to speak. You can't dry anything out. Cooking some sweet potato fries in a gas oven takes an eternity compared to electric.

Originally Posted by Dockhead

You're confusing power with energy...

you're right, though I wasn't confusing it as such, I just didn't list the time (forgot, honest mistake). The meal I mentioned would take about an hour using two hobs and an oven, at least it does on my appliance.

A frozen Pizza on the other hand might take 10mins for the oven to heat up and another 10 to cook.

One huge mistake I made was using the over power rating as opposed to the energy consumption. Once up to temperature the oven will cycle on and off. A 2.9kw oven might only use 0.9kw in fan assisted mode once properly pre-heated.

That brings me to another thing. Marine/RV ovens seem to lack insulation and good sealing compared to domestic units, at least the Smev ones that I've come across. Better insulation will again improve energy efficiency.

[ZULU40]

I went halfway with Zaya, but managed to toss the gas kit overboard which I was never very fond of.

Installed a methylated spirits stove and an electric convection oven. Meths stove are around half the efficiency of gas so I guess they use more of a cheaper fuel. The good thing is there is almost nothing can go wrong with this Swedish design stove, and even if it did the fire can be put out with just water

I manufactured gimbals out of castor wheel parts so that the stove and oven could be locked level. With the stove top coming from ebay for $200 and a new oven for $100, I had $200 left from the sale of the oven.

The plan is to use the meths stove as necessary and the oven off the dock on shore power. Lets not kid ourselves here Im no culinary master, but its good to have an oven, just in case.

images show the old gas oven and the test fit of the new Dometic stove and Cuisinart convection oven on gimbals.

[Ferrari]

Originally Posted by Jammer

10 years ago there was really no practical possibility of running a galley solely on electric power on a smaller sailboat. The motor trawlers had them because they always had an engine running.

Times have changed. Battery and inverter systems have come down in price, solar has dropped considerably in price, and installation practices are better understood.

I have always had gas stoves in my house and prefer them for cooking.

But the tradeoff seems like a good one aboard because of the costs, space, complexity, and fuel availability problems with propane. Ditching the entire propane system leaves space/weight for additional batteries if needed.

Are we there yet?

You bet we are.
In addition to your points, No more multiple gas tanks and fittings to store and negotiate refills

[ZULU40]

Originally Posted by StuM

Induction plate is very responsive (and energy efficient)

Thats the thing, efficiencies vary quite a lot. Ive yet to see how long it takes to boil a liter (ok a pint) of water on an induction plate but thats the way to make comparisons.

My own meths stove takes 2x that of LPG gas so I accepted a compromise to get gas off the boat and save some legislative issues. But the boat is safer and I no longer have to lug gas bottles off the dinghy to the boat.