What do you cook with?

[Ross]

A small hand pumped spray bottle will put down a grill fire without ruining the food. The local fire department uses a garden sprayer to snuff chimney fires. Finely divided water absorbs a lot of heat and makes a lot of steam cooling the fire and displacing the oxygen.

 

[sailingdog]

Just don't try this on an alcohol fire, as it may end up spreading the fire. The only form of water generally recommended for alcohol fires is HEAVY WATER SPRAY, which the garden sprayers generally aren't capable of providing.

A small hand pumped spray bottle will put down a grill fire without ruining the food. The local fire department uses a garden sprayer to snuff chimney fires. Finely divided water absorbs a lot of heat and makes a lot of steam cooling the fire and displacing the oxygen.

 

[Ross]

Dog, Never one to shrink from a test, I soaked a handfull of cotton balls with 91 % isopropol alcohol and set them on fire and extinguished them with a spray bottle of water. Next I flooded an aluminum pie plate with the same alcohol and added one cotton ball and set it on fire. I couldn't extinguish that with the spray bottle. I would have resorted to a wet towel over the fire if I hadn't been out side.

 

[Joe11688]

Dog, Never one to shrink from a test, I soaked a handfull of cotton balls with 91 % isopropol alcohol and set them on fire and extinguished them with a spray bottle of water. Next I flooded an aluminum pie plate with the same alcohol and added one cotton ball and set it on fire. I couldn't extinguish that with the spray bottle. I would have resorted to a wet towel over the fire if I hadn't been out side.

Ahoy there, Ross!
I'm not very knowledgeable in chemistry, but the stuff that I'm using in my boat stove contains denatured Ethanol and Methanol. The label reads "Denatured Alcohol" it thins shellac, cleans glass, metal & porcelain. It also reads, "Fuel for marine alcohol stoves."
When I said that an alcohol fire can be extinguished with water, I wasn't implying that you take a bucket of water and throw it on your stove to extinguish it. Anyone with the brains that God gave a chipmunk, would use a wet towel as you have just mentioned. I keep a water spray bottle in the cabin for cleaning my eye glasses, and also a damp rag next to my stove for cooling down my stove canister so that I can put the gasket back on it.

 

[sailingdog]

My point exactly, since a wet towel is not "using water" IMHO, but essentially using a fire blanket.

Dog, Never one to shrink from a test, I soaked a handfull of cotton balls with 91 % isopropol alcohol and set them on fire and extinguished them with a spray bottle of water. Next I flooded an aluminum pie plate with the same alcohol and added one cotton ball and set it on fire. I couldn't extinguish that with the spray bottle. I would have resorted to a wet towel over the fire if I hadn't been out side.

Trinkky—

Unfortunately, many people have less common sense than a chipmunk and a lower effective IQ, and unless you mention the wet towel approach, would never think of it themselves.

 

[johnberens]

Love to cook on board

The last Thread that I entered on cooking on a small boat has been languishing. So I offer a question and also no possible answers. You fill in the blanks. What do you use for cooking on your trailer-sailer? Do any of you use a Turbo Cooker, pressure cooker, or stove-top oven on board? I'm just curious.

On KILLICK our 1970 CAL 34 we can cook in three places: an Origo alcohol stove, a propane sea swing for offshore, and a Force Ten barbeque. We've been using a pressure cooker onboard for over 20 years, but I'm not experienced enough to do anything fancy (canning, bake bread etc). We just use it because it cooks fast and has a very tight fitting top. (yup it's fallen a few times).
Although the Origo is alcohol and not propane, it works. It does not have a broiler, the oven is wicked small and there's just two burners. On the plus side,..our coffee is perculating with in ten minutes, the oven can get up to 400+ (home made pizza any one?) and its design is foolproof.

 

[Joe11688]

On KILLICK our 1970 CAL 34 we can cook in three places: an Origo alcohol stove, a propane sea swing for offshore, and a Force Ten barbeque. We've been using a pressure cooker onboard for over 20 years, but I'm not experienced enough to do anything fancy (canning, bake bread etc). We just use it because it cooks fast and has a very tight fitting top. (yup it's fallen a few times).
Although the Origo is alcohol and not propane, it works. It does not have a broiler, the oven is wicked small and there's just two burners. On the plus side,..our coffee is perculating with in ten minutes, the oven can get up to 400+ (home made pizza any one?) and its design is foolproof.

I think that you're better off using a pressure cooker. I cooked a chicken in it a few days ago and it came out pretty good. I've also cooked lentil stews that came out great every time. Last night I tried cooking a chicken in a Turbo Cooker and it came out OK, but what a pain in the neck it is to go by a time schedule that they have set up in their cooking manual which involves adjusting the heat, opening and closing the vent, adding specified amounts of water, and turning the chicken over in the pan. The Turbo Cooker can be really messy while it's cooking. I won't be bringing that on board my boat, and that's for sure. Pressure cookers are great, but even though you can bake in them, you really have to be good at it. This was the prime reason why I started using a stove-top oven. You can remove the cover off the baffle plate, and grab the 10" pie pan with a glove of pot holder a lot easier than trying to get it out of a pressure cooker. The next thing that I'm going to try is the Cameron's stainless steel Smoker that I picked up in a thrift shop for $7.00. It came with wood chips, but I made my own chips by cutting a green piece of apple wood and running it through my Jointer planer. Those Blue Fish are going to taste a lot better cooked in that, I hope.
Joe

 

[Ross]

I guess that I was reading this incorrectly. I cook on a propane fueled stove and I cook with whichever pan or pot is right for that receipe. Biscuit topped cassaroles go into a pyrex dish in the oven, Soup gets top of stove in a saucepan, bacon and eggs get the skillet along with pancakes and english muffins, muffins get a muffin tin.

 

[Joe11688]

I guess that I was reading this incorrectly. I cook on a propane fueled stove and I cook with whichever pan or pot is right for that receipe. Biscuit topped cassaroles go into a pyrex dish in the oven, Soup gets top of stove in a saucepan, bacon and eggs get the skillet along with pancakes and english muffins, muffins get a muffin tin.

Ross,
John brought up the pressure cooker, and I carried on from there. Of course there are certain pans for certain meals. I keep two cast iron skillets on board for certain things that I make up, plus I have a complete set of Revere Ware on board that I use occasionally. Years ago, I met Tristan Jones at the Newport Boat Show. He was having his book signing and wasn't too busy to have a chat with me. One of the questions that I asked him was, if he used his pressure cooker for baking, and he said that he did. He must have been looking at me sideways as I brought that subject up, but I read in one of his books that he used one quite a bit on board his boats. He was a very courteous gentleman and spoke with an English accent.

 

[Ross]

If you have a pressure cooker that looks like this and mason jars with band and lids as in the picture you can can food at home following the Ball Blue book instructions.
That pressure cooker is cooling off with 6 pints of pasta sauce just finished. My cost about 5 dollars.

 

[Ross]

This is the finished sauce.

 

[Stu Jackson]

Pressure Cooker resources

I got a PC fro a birthday gift a few years ago with the intent of doing bread and cooking on board. I sheepishly admit it's still in my basement, but I DO really want to start using it.

Have you folks recommendations for good pressure cooking recipes and bread making? I've searched on line via Google and others and haven't found much. I know "it's out there" and would appreciated any more specific directions.

Thanks, Stu

 

[Ross]

Joe, when Tristan said that he had made bread in a pressure cooker did you happen to ask how it turned out? I tried a small cake in a skillet the other day. It was edible but not very. I wouldn't recomend it.

 

[sailingdog]

Stu—

When using the Pressure Cooker as an oven, don't forget to remove the gasket...or it won't work very well for baking.

A good website for pressure cooker related recipes and techniques is Miss Vickie's website

 

[Ross]

Dog, That is a comprehensive web site. One of the best I have seen.

 

[Ross]

Save 6 bucks and bookmark this page.
http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/can5_meat.html

 

[sailingdog]

Glad to help Ross....that's one reason I like the site...covers just about everything related to using a pressure cooker.

Dog, That is a comprehensive web site. One of the best I have seen.

 

[Joe11688]

Joe, when Tristan said that he had made bread in a pressure cooker did you happen to ask how it turned out? I tried a small cake in a skillet the other day. It was edible but not very. I wouldn't recomend it.

Ross,
To tell you the truth I felt foolish for even bringing it up, but back then I was looking for some kind of an oven to heat food up. After that, our conversation turned to what kind of sextant that he recommended. He tried to sell me one of his books and I told him that most of his books are in my public library. Then he said, "My compliments to your librarian." I did ask him if he had a copy of his book entitled "One Hand For The Ship, One Hand For Yourself" and he said that it was out of print, but he'd try to get it back in the stores again. He did, and I bought it. I agree with you Ross. A pressure cooker is not the greatest thing for baking bread and I wouldn't use it for that.
Joe

 

[Joe11688]

I got a PC fro a birthday gift a few years ago with the intent of doing bread and cooking on board. I sheepishly admit it's still in my basement, but I DO really want to start using it.

Have you folks recommendations for good pressure cooking recipes and bread making? I've searched on line via Google and others and haven't found much. I know "it's out there" and would appreciated any more specific directions.

Thanks, Stu

Stu,
Dog is right. If you ever use your pressure cooker for baking, you need to remove the rubber from it. Take it from me though Stu. It's not worth the trouble to bake with it. It's great for other foods though, but you need to follow the directions carefully. There are certain foods that you shouldn't try to cook in it, but that is all in the manual that came with it. Try Googling "Salty Sailors" there's some PC recipes on that site. I picked up a used PC in a thrift shop years ago and took a recipe out a book entitled "The Compleat Cruiser" by L. Frances Herreshoff. ln his book, he gives a recipe for Lentil Stew. I guarantee you that this recipe will come out perfect every time, and it's absolutely delicious. I like to add a little white wine to the stew and use pork. It's made up of beets, beet greens, I add Kale with it also, onion, Lentils, rice and meat. I may have missed some ingredients, but the recipe is buried in one of the pages in the book. Ross just mentioned a good PC book in one of these threads. I would go ahead and read the manual first, then try some of these recipes at home, then if you like it, stick it on the boat and use it. It will save stove fuel, and that's a good thing.
Joe

 

[Ross]

Stu , as I have said in the past I do all of my pressure cooking at home and take home canned foods to the boat in one or two serving size jars.
If you have a soup, stew, or sauce receipe that you like make a large batch and process some or much of it into jars. Canned meats are useful for many receipes. Canned meatloaf was disappointing for my taste but a friend told me that it was a pleasing change one winter night when they were living aboard. Meat balls are the same way but sausage balls fair better. Turkey cans better than chicken,(it's tougher") Beef makes the best veggie soup for canning . add noodles when you heat the chicken or turkey for soup. Canned stock(broth)is always handy. Much better than water to extend a soup or to make a gravey. When Hurricane Isobel took out our power for three days, I canned the entire content of our food freezer. There was a lot of canned meat and soup as a result. I browned some of the meat on my gas grill and my pressure cooker ran for about fifteen hours a day. Seven pints to the load. If you like split pea or bean soup with ham they work very well and need only to be heated.
The sauce I made today was started about 10:30am and finished by about 3:00PM. I will post some of my receipes as requested.