Galley . . . comforts of home?

[john6206]

Hey Everyone -
I'm really just starting a conversation.
Even though it's been a super mild winter in my part of the internet so far - I already have spring fever.

If you had a 28 - 32 ft sailboat, what would your ideal galley look like?

I've almost exclusively been trailer sailing for most of the last 30 years or so, so my "galley" is currently a cooler. I made a "galley box" with a one burner camp stove and some other stuff in it, but I've never used it.

We've been looking at boats in the 28-32 foot range. The most trimmed out ones have all the comforts of home (except counter space), the most stripped down one ONLY has a counter and an icebox.

I've sort of decided I don't want a microwave. I never use the one at home anyway. A stove would be super nice. I really like the look of an oven in a boat that size - makes it look like a proper yacht, but I think the extra storage space where the oven goes would be more useful.

Ultimately age, price, condition and a half dozen other things would be more important than the galley, but I'm curious about your thoughts. '

Do you use the oven?
Do you use the microwave?

 

[kappykaplan]

I've never used the microwave in my boat. The oven has been used far more.

 

[Don S/V ILLusion]

A stove is ESSENTIAL. Neither my wife or I cook. I use the stove to store my tools.

 

[Ralph Johnstone]

I use the stove to store my tools.

PERFECT.

I'm getting overloaded to the point where I don't know where to put all the new tools. The stove would be perfect. Lots of storage shelves and a little light inside so you can find the right tool you want.

 

[nightowle]

Stove is good. IT's the oven that's useless. Now for me, I MUST have a toaster. I likes me toast in the morning.

 

[dlochner]

Hey Everyone -
I'm really just starting a conversation.
Even though it's been a super mild winter in my part of the internet so far - I already have spring fever.

If you had a 28 - 32 ft sailboat, what would your ideal galley look like?

I've almost exclusively been trailer sailing for most of the last 30 years or so, so my "galley" is currently a cooler. I made a "galley box" with a one burner camp stove and some other stuff in it, but I've never used it.

We've been looking at boats in the 28-32 foot range. The most trimmed out ones have all the comforts of home (except counter space), the most stripped down one ONLY has a counter and an icebox.

I've sort of decided I don't want a microwave. I never use the one at home anyway. A stove would be super nice. I really like the look of an oven in a boat that size - makes it look like a proper yacht, but I think the extra storage space where the oven goes would be more useful.

Ultimately age, price, condition and a half dozen other things would be more important than the galley, but I'm curious about your thoughts. '

Do you use the oven?
Do you use the microwave?

How you intend to use the boat should dictate the equipment you put on the boat, including cooking equipment. There is a trend among boat designers and less experienced sailors to cram too many creature comforts in too small a boat. This leaves the boat feeling cramped and often without sufficient storage for the important things, like tools.

Think about it. A microwave requires a fairly large AC current to run. That requires being connected to shore power or having a large inverter with a big enough battery bank to power the inverter and microwave. A large battery bank requires larger, more expensive charging sources, high output alternators, lots of solar, and a high output charger. Of course if you stay at the dock and on shore power, then all this isn't necessary. And if you stay at the dock, only day sail, and rarely if ever sleep on the boat, then a microwave may not be necessary at all.

Likewise, ask some of the same questions about the stove top only or stove top and oven range. How is the boat being used? How often do I use the oven at home? How much propane storage is there? How easy is it to refill the tanks? How much do I want to bake and heat the oven and by extension the cabin in the summer? Could the space dedicated to the oven be better used?

I've sailed with no fixed cooking heat sources, with a 2 burner alcohol stove, and a 2 burner range with oven. Got along just fine with all of those boats. On our current boat, a 36 footer, we have an oven and we rarely use it. Mostly it is used to store pots and pans. However, with our cruising we do occasional overnight passages and fresh baked brownies are essential for getting through the night. The oven is worth its weight in gold for baking those brownies.

If you have 2 boats that are otherwise identical, one with an oven and one without, then the oven might tip the scale. However, unless you are planning a lot of long distance and long duration cruising, whether a boat has an oven or not would be way down the list on important features.

The take home message, how you plan to use the boat determines what you will want on the boat. Focus on the use and all the other features will fall into place on the wish list.

 

[garymalmgren]

Do you use the oven? No.
Do you use the microwave? No.

In summer you want to cook as fast as possible below.
For obvious reasons.
So what you cook is as important as how you cook it (stove or oven).

Firstly how to cook in summer.
An outside Magma grill is the way to go. Either gas or charcoal.
Smells and heat stay outside.
A cheap two burner gas camping stove allows you to cook in the cockpit.
If you want cookies, bread or tortillas you can do it in a cast iron pot or skillet with a lid.
Stick some tomato paste and what ever on the tortilla and you have a pizza.
Boiling spaghetti below adds a lot of heat and condensation.


What to cook.
Boiling spaghetti below adds a lot of heat and condensation.
Preparation is the key
If you pull one ziploc bag out of the fridge/freezer with all the ingredients prepared, cooking will be faster, easier and safer.
ie: Serves of frozen vegetables plus a steak
Good quality store bought or hame made precooked frozen meals save time and effort

Lastly, you will notice that I mentioned a fridge/freezer.
Instead of an oven, microwave, toaster, coffee maker or whatnot, a fridge/freezer is a must have!!

gary

 

[Calif. Ted]

I really looked forward to having an oven only to discover they don't work well at all. If you don't use insulated cookware everything burns on the bottom and is raw on top. Stove is essential for french press coffee, oatmeal for breakfast and soup and grilled cheese at lunch. Giant icebox/refer large enough for a body is a godsend on passage. A couple buckets of ice in the bottom for sundowners and reduce electrical load, stuffed full of "scoop and eat" food.
In 14 years I've made popcorn once in the microwave.

 

[Michael Davis]

IT's the oven that's useless

How do you bake fresh bread without a oven?

 

[Tally Ho]

I mostly daysail on my O’Day 322, but a do try to spend a few long weekends each year out on the lake. I generally single-hand, especially on my weekend trips.

My O’Day 322 has a pretty nice galley…propane stove with oven, refrigerated icebox with a small freezer compartment, and hot &cold running water in a double-bowl sink. Those amenities cover most of my needs. I cook frozen pizza in the oven, and when out on the hook, I have baked biscuits, etc.

In addition, I have a small propane grill I can mount on my rail for grilling a steak, or hamburgers.

I tried a microwave when I was on shore power, but didn’t really use it much. Instead, I keep a small toaster oven and a Kuerig coffee maker that I can use when on shore power.



About all I need!

Greg

 

[dLj]

It really depends how you will use the boat and especially how you like to cook. I spend quite a bit of time on my boat so having a full fledged kitchen is a desire of mine. I put a new stove/ oven combo in my boat and a requirement was an oven that really works! A lot of boat stove/ovens really don't have an oven that is worth using as an oven....

I've baked breads, cookies, cakes in my oven and it's excellent! I have three burners on top of the oven. But I could make due with two. If I was in a 30 footer I'd stick to two. I've had single burner stoves but it was always a pain. Two burners is a minimum for me - with a good oven.

So kitchen - sink, stove/oven, frig or ice box depending how long I'm sailing for. Weekend sailing, icebox is fine. Going for a week or so frig is nice. Going for a month or more, frig/freezer is nice. Storage space for: cooking utensils, plates cups and such, pots and pans. I store some pots and pans in my oven.

I have excellent tool storage elsewhere, but I'm not on a 30 foot boat...

dj

p.s. one item I love is my pressure cooker. That is a HUGE energy saver in long trips! And a HUGE time saver cooking.

 

[degas]

I have a Tanzer 29. It has what I call the "French" galley layout: it runs about the whole length of the starboard side of the main cabin. It's got a 2-burner propane stove, lots of counter space, an ice box, and a deep single-basin sink with pressurized cold water.

I don't use a microwave, don't have an oven. But I do use a small dutch oven for, among other things, "baking" bread.

I've been trying out various stove-top toasters and none seem to do a good job without constant vigilance. Nature of the beast, I guess.

 

[dLj]

But I do use a small dutch oven for, among other things, "baking" bread.

I've been trying out various stove-top toasters and none seem to do a good job without constant vigilance. Nature of the beast, I guess.

I've used dutch ovens to bake bread, but mainly on open fires - I'd like to learn how to do it on a stove top. How do you heat the top?

For toast, I butter the bread and then fry it in a fry pan. It's actually my favorite way to make toast.

dj

 

[Hayden Watson]

My wife, who goes by the title of The Galley Winch, had full veto power on any boat we purchased, When we desided to get a larger non-trailerable boat 26-years ago, she looked at all of the offerings in our price range from 28' to 34' and selected the Catalina 30 as having the best galley in the class. We have H/C water, gimbaled propane range and a surprising amount of storage. She still loves this galley and we cook almost all of our meals when out on the boat because neither of us care much for eating out.
In the intervening years, we have prepared everything from light snacks to full Thanksgiving feasts with all of the trimming.

 

[Hayden Watson]

I really looked forward to having an oven only to discover they don't work well at all. If you don't use insulated cookware everything burns on the bottom and is raw on top. Stove is essential for french press coffee, oatmeal for breakfast and soup and grilled cheese at lunch. Giant icebox/refer large enough for a body is a godsend on passage. A couple buckets of ice in the bottom for sundowners and reduce electrical load, stuffed full of "scoop and eat" food.
In 14 years I've made popcorn once in the microwave.

Good pans are the way to overcome the bottom burn / top raw problem. We use only heavy aluminum bread pans or cookie sheets, such as Nordic Ware. Sue used two pans or sheets to cook on to allow the heat to pernitrate slower to prevent burning the bottom and cooking the top. She bakes all the time in our oven and everything turns out fantastic. We have had pies, bread, cookies, brownies, cinnamon rolls...

 

[Hayden Watson]

How do you bake fresh bread without a oven?

And cinnamon rolls, cookies, pies, roast turkey, beef, chicken, ...

And without the oven I would not be known for my syops. In the Round Whidbey Race, Papillon is famous for our olfactory attacks. We will time the pulling of the evening meal until just as we are passing to windward of some poor competitor who is sustaining body and soul during eh 30-hour race in chilly May in the Pacific Northwest on snack bars and bottled water. On one particular race, we had a close crossing of another boat in our class just as we pulled the perfectly baked lasagna from the oven [which I dutifully carried into he cockpit for max effect].

It was obvious that our timing was perfect because a few seconds later we were rewarded by a loud "PAPILLON, YOU SUCK!" Life is good when you sail with The Galley Winch. Since then, I regularly get asked if we are having lasagna this year so that they know if they need to stay well clear of us. Apparently, it is rather demoralizing to the crew to get hit in the face with that smell as they are heading into a long and cold night of racing.

 

[kappykaplan]

Apparently, it is rather demoralizing to the crew to get hit in the face with that smell as they are heading into a long and cold night of racing.

 

[dLj]

I have never understood why good food isn't part of every camping/adventure/sailing trip... Certainly when sailing I can't see any reason not to have good food....

dj

 

[kappykaplan]

Certainly when sailing I can't see any reason not to have good food....

 

[FastOlson]

When moving up to a cruise-and-overnight type boat, be sure to get one with a gimbaled range. And such a "range" will have an oven.
Even when most of your boating is in (subjective word) protected waters, you will learn to appreciate the always-level stove top. Other than the galley sink it's the only place to park a kettle and have it safely stay put.
As others have noted, whether or not you choose to do a lot of cooking, the oven will enable cinnamon rolls and chocolate chip cookies. A vital service on any boat.