Planning a Pots and Pans System

[JDGreenlee]

Originally Posted by MicHughV

the secret to success in cooking on a boat...is to keep it simple.

I have perfected the one pot meal...this requires only one pot...one burner...only one thing to wash up.....before I hear snickering, let me tell you I have pulled off some pretty amazing meals in this way... there are even cook books available to guide one's way in the one pot cooking approach...my method was trial and error....but, by jove, could write a cook book myself now.....

Whole-heartedly agree. One-pot cooking during passage in a small yacht is perhaps best accomplished in a stainless steel pressure cooker with or without the pressure. On passage in a small yacht, even with H2O maker, galleyware see a lot of seawater and typical 316 stainless will suffer pitting corrosion. 304L (low carbon) may be the best choice for cookware and silverware. Aluminum, too, but it doesn't brighten up was well. Bi-metallic galleyware can suffer accelerated corrosion rates in seawater. Cast iron rusts quickly in marine environment so you are faced with oily spots that collect boat debris in the pantry or rusty spots: it's a buck dancer's choice, my friend. Cast iron grills suffer on passage, too - stainless is better, or coated. And get a good filet knife that holds an edge for the fresh fish. Don't forget a knife sharpener.

[wsmurdoch]

Originally Posted by Jammer

Since my prior post I've taken a decision to replace the saucepans in my stick house with Cristel Strate ones, that are stainless steel with removable handles and flat glass lids. They are expensive, time will tell if they are worth it.

It was the only system I could find that had a sensibly designed double boiler, with a round bottom that extends well below the point of support. The well thought out removable handles were a bonus.

I bought Cristel Strate for the boat also. It was a wedding anniversary present. My wife took one look at them, she bought more, and they are now at home in the kitchen replacing everything that she had before. After that raid on my purchase, I bought Tefal Ingenio for the boat replacing a much used and much loved set of Fagor nesting cookware that are no longer manufactured.

Bill

[Dobiegirl]

Although we are "retired" from sailing, when we did, as liveaboards, our galley had a double sink. To keep from using too much water, we kept "rinse" water in one sink, scraped the dishes/pots/pans, and soaked them until it was time to wash them. If food wasn't burned to the bottom of the pot, this made cleaning easy and saved water. Of course we would empty the dirty water and wash them properly after soaking. For the griddle, we were lucky to find an antique cast iron griddle in great condition that fit perfectly over two burners. I love that griddle, and still use it today in my landlubber kitchen! It was heavy enough that I didn't need to worry about it falling off the stove and that was important because the fiddles that secure regular pots won't secure the griddle (insufficient height). An alternative to scotchbrite is what I call a plastic "tuffy". Sort of like a sponge encased in plastic but won't damage nonstick pans. These wear out over time, so I kept (and still do) plenty of new ones in reserve. In addition to other ordinary pots, pans & skillets you have already mentioned, I also had a double boiler with a separate strainer insert (for steaming), and a pressure cooker.

[Amapola]

I love my Magma Stainless Teflon coated pan set. Handles are removable so they stack nicely and take up less space. The main lid fits most all the pans so no hunting for the correct size lid.

[johnn33]

In the USA at Walmart - Scotch-Brite non scratch scour pads in a pack of three
John

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[Sofa King Fishy]

Magna nesting nonstick with silicone tools and a dedicated 10-12” omelet pan with a venting lid. Throw in an instant pot and electric kettle for Shore Power/Gen Set time, and a grill on the rail. Baking sheets (2) & a thick ceramic pie pan. This lineup has served us very well and it’s easy to clean and stow. K.I.S.S. We hand wash all, but do have a double sink should we need it.

[rossdv8]

Originally Posted by MicHughV View Post
the secret to success in cooking on a boat...is to keep it simple.

I have perfected the one pot meal...this requires only one pot...one burner...only one thing to wash up.....before I hear snickering, let me tell you I have pulled off some pretty amazing meals in this way... there are even cook books available to guide one's way in the one pot cooking approach...my method was trial and error....but, by jove, could write a cook book myself now.....

I've given up trying to live aboard after losing a second yacht to cyclones, but by my last two yachts I had also perfected the one pot meal.
In the last two yachts I also had a cockpit mounted 'galley tap' with a weighted hose that hung into the salt water.

I washed dirty pans in a big plastic bowl in the cockpit and just pumped water up into it. Of course, then I had to sneakily empty a bowl of the stuff washed off the pans. Actually, since I sailed/owned Quarter Tonners, I didn;t have a dishwasher either, unless one had asked if they could come sailing. So the plates and things were also washed in the bowl, in the cockpit. Even in the rain (under the cockpit cover/bimini). Dishwashing was a shared social experience :-)

Ok, so to make a long story longer.
I discovered that the people who supply cooking stuff to restaurants wholesale, sell a very coarse stainless steel wool.
Looks like the spirals of metal from a lathe cutting heavy machinery components.
Really rips the baked on grunge off steel pans and saves a lot of time.

I favoured one small stainless pot about 6" x 3" for a few boiled eggies and simple 'food in a hurry' for one, especially if I was cooking under way and self steering, popping into the galley while falling off waves.

And a stainless 'general pot' about 8 inches x 6 inches. It's amazing what you can cook in a pot that size.

And nice large heavy based frying pan about 12 inches by 2 inches with a stainless lid. I also had a little 8 inch frying pan made of copper, but that was simply because I was wandering around a second hand goods shop one day and saw the thing.

I liked nice thick stainless bases, because, well, they felt great, and they don;t burn food as easily as thin bases (although I did burn food rather often if I was not in the galley when I was cooking) and even though they discoloured when burnt, they still cleaned up ok (with the very coarse steel wool).

After the last boat was wrecked I managed to salvage them (among the few useful things that survived) and I'm still using the things 3 years later.

[theBigKahuna]

Originally Posted by ranger42c

Magma nesting stainless steel pot/pan set. These are pretty much like Cuisinart with a different/removable handle system. Stainless with a fully encapsulated aluminum bottom for heat distribution. Works great. (These were actually also sold under the Cuisinart brand name too, long time ago.)

Our set is about 30 years old now, looks new. Dishwasher safe, demonstrated by the near identical Cuisinart pieces we use at home.

Apparently you need the NOT non-stick version. Or maybe get a whole set of NOT non-stick, augment with once or two non-stick pieces, and lock those pieces away from your girlfriend.

We have augmented our set with a few more Cuisinart lids, exact fit, and with a completely separate (different brand) non-stick griddle.

Our utensils are a mixture of metal, plastic, and a very few wood. Different tools for different jobs.

Our dinner service is all Correll; two boxes of one basic pattern, plus some augmentation pieces for serving and so forth.

we LOVED our Magma's so much we evaluated replacing our home pots and pans

[jtsailjt]

We have an IMUSA Dutch oven that we like a lot. It’s aluminum with an aluminum cover so quite lightweight. Ours is supposedly nonstick but the surface doesn’t feel like plastic, more like just aluminum. We use it for a high sided frying pan to fry bacon in to avoid splatter, to a big bowl to make soup in, to a bowl to knead and let bread rise in, to a pan to cook a whole chicken in or a boiled dinner. It’s big so to save space it is stored in the oven.

[ranger58sb]

Originally Posted by theBigKahuna

we LOVED our Magma's so much we evaluated replacing our home pots and pans

Yep, I get that. When we replaced our very (VERY) old cast aluminum home stuff, we chose the Cuisinart version... i.e., with real handles instead of removable. More space at home and stacking works OK enough (though not as well as the Magma version).

-Chris

[Bill_Giles]

We generally sail with three or 4 of us and find our square frying pans are much used, not merely for frying. There must be square saucepans available. As for washing up - thread a cord through a hole in the handle and hang over the side, the fish will clean off the food stuck there and then you just need a rinse.

[Chotu]

Thanks for continuing to add your favorite cooking setups. Still looking forward to getting these items.

We are full time aboard so we will be doing all our multiple pan, everything from scratch cooking, doing all sorts of complex things. The one pot cooking will be done a little differently. We have a lot of one portion Pyrex food storage containers already And have dedicated freezer space for a week’s worth of singles serving meals. So thawing and heating those is our daily way of one pot cooking.

The heavy galley use will be at anchor. That’s what we’re looking to set up best for. When doing long passages, pre-making and freezing food is our strategy.

I particularly like the idea of the natural dishwasher in the last post. If there was an easy method of doing that with all the dishes, it would be great!

Definitely a lot to think about here. Non-stick safe scouring pads are definitely something to look into for right now.

[rslifkin]

Originally Posted by Chotu

Definitely a lot to think about here. Non-stick safe scouring pads are definitely something to look into for right now.

They're worth having around even if most of your cookware doesn't need them. If you go uncoated stainless, for example, you'll probably still want a non-stick pan around for fish and eggs. Cast iron could work (especially for eggs), but it's heavy. I've never gotten either to work well in stainless, so I just revert to non-stick for those 2 items.

[jmh2002]

Originally Posted by Bill_Giles

We generally sail with three or 4 of us and find our square frying pans are much used, not merely for frying. There must be square saucepans available. As for washing up - thread a cord through a hole in the handle and hang over the side, the fish will clean off the food stuck there and then you just need a rinse.

SmartSpace Cookware

SmartSpace Cookware

Induction cookware, stackable, teflon, removable handles, lids, heat mats, etc, etc.

Price list in NZD: http://smartspace-cookware.com/#shop

Reviews on YouTube.

Designed by Graham Dalton, yes Grant Dalton's brother.

[Tonali99]

I may have missed it, but I've not seen anything about the lids for the pots/pans.
I refuse to and have rid myself of all that had glass lids. Everything I use is (less than) stainless steel.
Accidents happen and the last thing I want to do is have broken glass scattered about.
*
Say what ya want, it does stain/discolour.