Use your oven?

[shorty]

Winter project has been to completely disassemble, clean & reassemble my 2 burner Hillerange gas range. Also see if I can't get the oven to work, which looks like it was never used. I've had the boat three seasons. 1985 Pearson 34, the stove is most likely original.20+ years of accumulated scuz in the hard to clean areas. These stoves are very well made. Came apart & reassembled easily, cleaned up real nice.Oven suffers, I believe, from lack of use. With help from Seaward I think I've determined that it needs a new thermostat, which is the main control. At $175+/- I'll probably pass, strip out controls & burner & use the oven for storage space. If the safety valve does not work after the new thermostat, that's another $100+.I wanted the oven once last summer to warm up a baguette at dinner. Otherwise, I don't see baking brownies etc, even on an extended cruise.Do you use your oven?

 

[Robert Gainer]

In all my sailing I have never used the oven

In all my sailing I have never used the oven on any of my boats and on my current boat I don’t have one. I have storage space instead and that’s worth more to me then the oven. At sea I just heat a can on a seaswing and call it quits. In port I will sometime use the stove to make very simple meals. And by simple I mean just one step above dumping the can into a pan instead of heating can and all in the seaswing.All the best,Robert Gainer

 

[Capt. Ed]

electronic stowage ?

Great stove and great service .Do we use it ? Twice in 7 years . One time to take the chill out of the cabin . The first mate insists we have it ,so there it sits. We place the portable electronics in the oven when we leave ,in the hope that it will protect them from lightning .Does it work? I don't know ,maybe someone out there does know if works. One thing may work is that theaves may not look there . I place a tag on the stove to remind us that the electronics are in the oven . P.S. It also makes the boat look better ,it also make the boat look better if that matters .

 

[Maine Sail]

Shorty..

Don't throw the baby out with the bath water just yet. Many of the internal components of a marine stove/oven are taken straight from, and right off the shelves, of standard appliances. Thermo couples, thermostats, orifices and even gas valves can often be found for MUCH less money through an appliance parts distributor. My wife is into "gourmet" boat cooking and as such we use the oven quite a bit and we do enjoy it. We also find the oven uses less gas because, unlike a burner, it does not run continuously and cycles on and off to maintain a temperature. There is nothing like baked stuffed lobster & a fine bottle of wine while anchored Seal Cove or any one of the other 700+ places to anchor in Maine. We use our stove for storage but we still use it.. Just a thought..

 

[DannyS]

We do

I can't say i'd ever bake a turkey or anything but I do like to make biscuits and gravy in the morning while swinging on the hook. Or how about cinnamon rolls and coffee, warm cookies for dessert, heating up a quick pizza... we have kids and for us, it adds to the comfort of everyone on board with us. I think that by providing the same foods on the boat that the kids are used to at home, we can stay on the boat for longer stretches before they get restless and want to be home.We have an Origo stove and cooktop that uses denatured alcohol in the large sterno type fuel pucks. Very few moving parts to the stove and other than the fuel being more expensive, I have no complaints about it.

 

[DannyS]

lightning

P.S. I was going to mention something about putting our handheld electronics in the stove for the lightning protection but was a little hesitant thinking it may have been an old wives tale and that I might get lit up for suggesting it. Glad to see someone else is braver than me!

 

[Grizz]

Beer Can Pizza

Back when I owned a boat w/ an oven (unlike the current mistress), occasionally I'd remember to buy a good frozen pizza (oxymoron?) and bring it along on a Wednesday night. Towards the end of the race, especially if it was a downwind leg, we'd fire up the oven and have it ready to heat the pizza as we returned to harbor.Back at the dock, while our neighbors were (maybe) looking forward to day-old dogs w/ suds @ the yacht trailer, we'd have the boat put away, tunes on the stereo and the smell of pending hot pizza enhancing the taste of that 1st cold beer. Is an oven that saw 6+ uses in 3 years worth it? Can't tell, but the memory sure sounds wonderful with temps in the teens and ground covered in snow. Come on Spring!

 

[Ross]

You bet I use the oven!! we anchor out always

and treat the boat the same as we would a cabin. Biscuits, muffins, cassaroles, I have a recipe for a single 8 inch layer cake that makes a great upside down cake, baked cut-up chicken. We eat well on our boat. The oven has a broiler that makes toast as well as an electric toaster and will do a fine job on a fish.

 

[Jadedcrew]

Use the Oven

Yes, we use the oven all the time. Biscuits, muffins, bread, lasagne, blah, blah, blah!

 

[Rich (P303)]

All the time...

when it is not too hot down below.Rich

 

[Ross]

Maybe this question should be :

When your oven does get used , who uses it? You or your galley slave.

 

[Don S/V ILLusion]

just like the oven at home

my wife thinks they are both storage cabinets.

 

[Robert Gainer]

A metal oven is like a Faraday cage

A metal oven is like a Faraday cage and it does protect electronics during a lighting strike as lone as you put them inside and the oven isn’t part of the ground system.All the best,Robert Gainer

 

[newly anonymous]

we used our faraday cage two nights ago...

...for a gorgeous roast and some baked potatoes. Then, last night, the admiral baked a meat pie with the leftover roast.In February, the oven gets a bit more work than the barbecue on our boat. In June, the opposite happens.

 

[shorty]

aftermarket parts

yes, I have looked into aftermarket parts but have not gotten any responses from the 2-3 places I have tried. Looks like the controls are Robertshaw.I don't use an oven (on land) a whole lot in the summer anyway, and we do have the barbie off the stern.

 

[larry w]

You might try

an RV parts place. The stoves are identical and it's probably the thermocouple that's heated by the pilot light to open the main gas valve that's the problem. You might be able to reactivate it yourself. take it out and place the business end in a pan of hot water. We use our oven a lot to heat stuff and bake things aboard. Don't use an oven to heat the cabin, tho. Better to place a clay flower pot upside down on a burner turned to medium-low; the pot acts as a heat radiator. Any large pot will do, turned upside down, be sure it does not have a plastic or bakelite handle. Those stainless or enameled iron pots work great.

 

[RichH]

Most ovens ....

use "RobertShaw" controls and valves .... commonly available from most 'wholesale' (to the trade only) HVAC distributors. Just look like a 'tradesman' (not a Yuppy), pay cash on the barrel head (no credit cards no checks, etc.) ....... or get the wrong or not 'updated' part from a 'retail' source. Make up a 'business card' highlighting 'yacht restoration', 'consultant/yacht managment', etc. to be ready if needed. Most 'stove problems' with control and safety valves are attributable to the thermocouples (over the pilot light). The problem is that over time the thermocouples develop a 'glaze' from the impurities in the gas and the 'glaze' will insulate the thermocouple and not allow the 'safety switch valve' to energize. Take some 200 or 320 grit sandpaper and 'clean up' the thermocouples before you replace anything.

 

[higgs]

My oven

While I have used it to cook, I usually use it to store empty beer cans.

 

[NYSail]

Yes

I fixed the oven on our P36-2 and use it all the time. Bake freshly caught fish usually every night while at mooring. It was well worth the cost to fix it. Love the oven!!

 

[Maine Sail]

Rich..

Rich.. Quote;"Make up a 'business card' highlighting 'yacht restoration', 'consultant/yacht management', etc. to be ready if needed. "That's funny and here I was thinking I was the only one to do that. Although, I do some "on the side" consulting work for a marine canvas company and they let me use their account and have my own business cards so I'm not really faking it. The discounts I can get are amazing!! If you do this be prepared to supply a tax ID number as many distributors will not open an account without one these days. HVAC wholesalers on the other hand ALWAYS take cash but with a cash sale you won't get the 10/20/30% volume discount, beyond wholesale, that a large trade company would but you will pay wholesale price.....