I've never been a fan of gas on board boats. The last couple of boats that I have owned have had Wallas cookers which have proved to be reliable and efficient albeit expensive. Electric stoves and cook tops are good too providing that you have the battery power and a good inverter and/or generator to power them. My dislike of gas is that the fuel is expensive if you use the boat a lot and that there is the ever present danger of explosion. I once surveyed a steel boat that had had an explosion when a couple of bottles exploded, one person died and the deck was peeled back like a banana, not something that i ever want to see again. The cheapest type of stoves seem to be the Origo range that operate on non pressurized alcohol. In my experience the people that complain about them the most are those that have never used one but like east european cars have just got a bad reputation that is hard to shake no matter how good they are.
So this post is my plug for these stoves, cheap to buy and install, they work a treat, you don't need heavy gas bottles or plumbing and they are easy to light and install. If you are in the market for new stove they could be worth a look. They come in a variety of styles, there is even a two burner cooker and oven which works as a direct replacement for many of the gimbled gas varieties.
I have a single burner flush-mount Origo on my Cal 2-27 and I'm very happy with it. It's probably a little slower at bringing a full pot to temp than a propane stove, but it doesn't take all that much longer. Most of my "cooking" on the boat is just heating up prepared foods anyway (and making coffee, or tea, etc.), so the added safety and peace of mind are well worth any slightly longer cooking times.
Posted by: Ed | October 12, 2009 at 09:38 PM