Calling All Cooks! Gas, Electric or Inductive?

How many people are you going to be cooking for?

I've come to the conclusion there is very little need for a 'conventional oven' on a vessel, when a combo microwave/convection oven can cover most of those bases.

And I would definitely think of installing a multiple (maybe just 2 element) inductive cooktop,....less current draw and safer than conventional electric cooktop. I like gas cooktops but they really add to the moisture content (open flame) inside the cabin.

This simplifies the galley 'gadgets' and gives you most of your cooking needs, and more storage for food stuffs, particularly for liveaboard situations

small galley

Thats what Brian had in mind and I fully agree upon. A 2 place 120 Volt AC electric cooktop plus microwave / convection oven, more is a wast of space. And this little galley can be powered by an inverter for a quick meal or making a tea.

I've been led to believe that the 'inductive cooktop' is that much better then the conventional electric cooktop? The heat gets transferred to the pot and food much quicker, and expends less electrical energy doing it. Plus there is no chance of getting accidently burned by the inductive cooktops, nor leaving them 'on' by accident??

Oops, is that an inductive cooktop you pictured there?

Correct, but you need special pot and pan for that type of cooktop. An aloy or glass type pot would not heat up.

You're dealing with some things that are both very much personal choices and dependent on your existing layout and space.

As to electric versus gas, we made the choice there up front that we don't want to introduce gas on a boat. Not in the galley, not for the grills. While chefs prefer gas and we have gas at home, this isn't the place for it. Now, we prefer induction for both speed and safety. As to two versus four burners, four are preferred because we do a lot of onboard cooking, but if space doesn't allow, just make sure one of the two burners is large. We have two burner tops where both are large. Can always put a small pot on a large burner but not so good the other way around.

Also, get the best grills you can. That's the fun cooking. At home we grill about 60% of our meals. On a boat we grill about 80% I'd guess. Two reasons. First we like grilled foods. Second, we like being outdoors if the weather allows it.

Now to ovens, on a 50 to 60 foot boat galley space is still precious and so many things you'll likely use more. More refrigeration/freezing, more storage, more dishwasher. Just given those three things and oven I'd personally put over 4th in priority. Now that means make sure your microwave/convection is quality convection. Not just a microwave with convection as an after thought.

On a 100' or larger boat then it would be a different answer if space wasn't at a premium. Plus they are more likely used for heavier entertaining and more likely to be used at least occasionally by a professional chef. There we still wouldn't do gas, but the oven normally fits in while still leaving space for other things.

We've lots of experience with both induction (at home) and microwave convection on the boat. Our new house has a fancy gas cooktop. We much prefer the induction top in our previous house because it is faster, more controllable and no excess heat to overpower our AC if you live in a warm climate.

I'm trying to locate a nice drop in induction for the boat to replace the Princess electric cooktop. We do have a "portable" induction top for the boat already.

Induction pots and pans are nothing special, they need to be magnetic and can be purchased at IKEA if you don't already have some.

Yes and some cooks just hate having to change to anything but the pan they're used to. However, there are so many choices in inductive cookware, unlike when it first came out, that you should be able to satisfy any cook. When we went to an induction cooktop several years ago in our former home, the cookware search was not as easy.

I did not say inductive cooktops are fancy by any means. I just said, you have to be aware that the bottom of your pot and pan has to be magnetic. Especially on a small galley, the inductive cooktop is very handy, because you can use the cooktop seconds later for placing items (except magnetic ones ). The galley layout and equipment is a totally different story on a liveaboard or a longe range trawler. Here, you want household type hardware and more space for cooking and baking plus trash compactor and a large fullsize freezer / fridge like on this circumnavigator.

The energy source of your cooking or baking hardware in the galley is a matter of believing. For me, LPG or any high explosive stuff like Methanol or whatever is a nogo. After having seen a sailing yacht exploding in a marina in Denmark many years ago and the owner and his wife dying on that accident, just because of a faulty shutoff valve, none of my boats was ever equipped with any type of flamable gas or high explosive fluid.

Its either AC power or on a smaller boat without Geni, I would go for a diesel cooker and stove, period.

Our decision and opinion was no gas on the bridge either. None anywhere. No LP bottles. Too many times in too many places it's been tied to fire. Plus, there are some absolutely great electric grills. Kenyon is one very popular brand. Gaggenau is a more expensive brand on many yachts. They both have emphasized boats. Then there are others like Fire Magic and Electri-chef. The Kenyon and Gaggenau have minimum smoke. Now compared to gas, the temperatures aren't quite as high. However, they are high enough to give you good markings and taste on steaks. Even at home I have one in my kitchen for rainy days and just for ease on certain days. While I would give a huge gas grill a slight edge on steaks, I wouldn't give the smaller gas grills that edge. And I love doing chicken and fish on the electric.

If I'm going to err it's going to be on the side of safety. I know many use LP on boats and have no issues but that's not for me. One other thing. With electric I don't have to keep extra tanks, I don't have to find places to fill near marinas or get transportation. I don't have to give it any thought. Just fire up the grill and enjoy.

Better yet, light up the grill and enjoy.

Our current galley has a two-burner glass cooktop. Not induction. Works well, but I'd prefer induction when/if replacement becomes necessary... or if I stumble across a few pennies and can't think of anything else to spend them on. Three burners might be a luxury, but we probably wouldn't use the third very often... and in fact, lack of more separation between the two existing burners is really the only serious deficiency I could identify in the current set-up.

We also have a combination microwave/convection oven, and that works like a champ. We use it more as "oven" -- except for popcorn

I like the power-source simplicity, and we usually don't need anything more than that.

That said, we also have a couple table-top appliances that augment, and these are easily customizable (?) for any chef's particular situation. Our needs are easily satisfied by a toaster (not toaster oven) and a slow cooker (with removable serving insert, which makes clean-up easier, too). Others might prefer various grills and so forth...

We do keep a propane grill onboard, easily mountable in one of our cockpit rod-holders, and easily fed with one of the small screw-on canisters. This one has pros/cons: wind can be an issue, temp control on our particular model isn't broad, clean-up after preparing greasy food like bratwurst and so forth can be tedious, and the overall size makes clean-up slightly more awkward anyway -- but on the other hand, it would work even if our electrics were having problems, some foods sometimes taste better -- or seem to taste better -- over fire, etc. But I find I only get the thing out a few times per year these days, calm anchorages, larger than usual crowds (as perhaps during a raft-up) so more food choices becomes useful...

And an electric version may eventually appear on the boat, so we can "grill out" while in the marina...

-Chris

I have lived aboard two boats.

Both had the three burner Princess electric stove and oven.

I am very happy with the unit and the ability to cook almost everything.

I have cooked everything aboard from grilled cheese to Full Holiday Turkey meals.

I also have one of those electric sandwich press gills that I use all the time.

I prefer the electric and the capability to cook a full meal if needed.
I would agree that I do not often use all three burners.
I would also agree that with a 110 unit it does seem to take a while to boil water.

If I was designing a new boat, I would consider a convection cook top and maybe a convection/microwave oven.

I do have one of those single burner butane burners that I can use if I don't want to start the generator, but I almost never use it.

I do not like the idea of a gas/propane stove on a boat.
Several of my friends have propane stoves on their trawlers and swear by them. But they also do not use their generators that often.

Oddly enough they often say how "dangerous" it is to have a gasoline boat, but they have propane and gasoline onboard for their stove and dingy?

I prefer electric inside and a flat top in addition to a nice built in propane grill outside. I do most things on the grill when on a yacht and keep the cooking smells out of a boat.

I fully agree on that. Improperly stored gasoline is at least as dangerous as LPG. Anything that can built up a self igniting mixture with ambient air, does not belong inside a boat!!! That is the reason, why the design of petrol stores on classed yachts and ships is such an issue. Gas bottle lockers and petrol storage belong to the upper decks, where they have to be naturally ventilated. But you are still transporting a potential hazard.

My solution was and always will be, to have only one source of energy on my sailboat (besides the wind of course ), diesel fuel and only diesel. For propulsion, producton of electricity and for the Zodiac. That excludes toys like Seadoos or outboard engines on my boats, but thats more than ok.

I was unaware Zodiac had diesel tenders. I have looked at Williams and Castoldi diesel and now Aquascan. Unfortunately on our smaller boats, gasoline is the only tender choice we've seen. We do not however store any extra gas anywhere on the boat. I don't feel like then we've exposed ourselves, just the inconvenience of two fuels. On a larger boat we haven't decided yet. We are leaning toward two tenders rather than one larger tender and PWC's.

small diesel outboard engines are not available in the US.

They are available overseas

My tender is a gasoline outboard.
The storage of gasoline is always a concern.
It is always in an approved container on deck, but that doesn't mean it is not a hazard.