Cooking on a cruising sailboat

When it comes to cooking on a sailboat, a propane stove-top and oven is the popular way to go. It is also probably the best thing to cook with. Propane burns pretty hot.

Here are the major drawbacks:

1. It is an EXPENSIVE setup. The oven alone is going to set you back a few thousand. Not to mention the special connections you will need to make your propane system "boat safe" - which brings me to point number 2:

2. Propose is heavier than air = BOOM! If you are going to go with propane, don't skimp. Take the proper precautions. If you have a leak, the propane will accumulate in the bilge of the boat, building higher and higher until one day you unsuspectingly light a watermelon scented candle and KABOOM! The bottom of your boat blows off.

All I am trying to say is that if you go with propane, spend the cash to do it right.

So what are the options for a poor HoboSailor? Well this is what we did....

We used a non-pressurized alcohol stove-top made by Cookmate.

The two biggest benefits to these guys are that they don't blow up, and they are cheap! They typically cost about $250.00 - which is pretty cheap compared to the $1,000+ you will spend on a propane range, not including the hose and connections.

The cookmate uses re-fillable wicks. You simply pour in more alcohol when the wicks stop burning.

Alcohol can be purchased at hardware stores or painting supply stores. Don't believe me? Read the back of the can! You will see a section titled "cooking fuel"

A lot of sailing books recommend buying high grade cooking alcohol because it burns "clean". We never had a problem with standard hardware store alcohol. I recommend you experiment and do whatever works best for you. If your pots and pans are all turning black, you have probably gotten a hold of some crappy alcohol.

If you are going for a long cruise... make sure you buy just one can to test out house it burns before you stock up with a 5 gallon jug.

The alcohol you pour into the wick will evaporate, so it is worth your while to buy these little rubber seals for the stove. These seals might come standard on a new stove. Our stove came with the boat... and it was missing it's seals, so we bought new ones.




The major draw back to an alcohol stove is that they don't burn very hot, so it takes a little longer to boil water for Ramen noodles :)












Another item that was missing from our inherited stove were these little flame diffusers.

Clearly labeled "do not remove" - the flame diffusers from our stove were missing! These probably come standard on a new stove. We ordered a pair while we were holed up during bad weather in Annapolis. I was so excited to be able to cook more than one pancake at a time!








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All these things can be purchased from my friends at Mackin Marine - Why buy from a corporate bigwig when you can get what you need while supporting a few cruisers!

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Boat Food!

When you are a cruising sailor... your eating habits might change a little.

Some people are lucky, and have huge freezers to stock up with tasty treats.. like ground beef... and steak... Yummm!!

If you aren't one of the lucky ones... don't fret! You have lots of options:

Popcorn,
Chicken Ramen Noodles,
Beef Ramen Noodles,
Shimp Ramen Noodles,
Oriental Ramen Noodles,
Chocolate covered Ramen Noodles!

Just kidding, there are more things to eat than that...

There is also Spam!

Seriously not kidding, fried spam is delicious. Try it. It's like bacon... but more mysterious!

Forget fresh milk. Learn to live without it.

We used powdered milk for cooking. There is also some type of boxed milk (like a juice box!) that will last for months. Some people like it. LeeAnn didn't mind it, it was much better than powered milk by far. But by the time she had tried it, she had already gotten used to not having milk and decided to use the extra money for the occasional treat of ice cream!

You can do a lot with canned chicken.

For example, chicken Alfredo is good. Just use a McCormick package for the sauce, canned chicken, maybe some canned mushrooms, and a fair amount of garlic salt. This is a great meal to make in a big batch when there is bad weather. The rain adds to the flavor :)

Another canned chicken dish: Put the chicken in a bowl, adding a little mayo and all the curry powder you can handle. Toss it on a tortilla shell and you are done! MMMM mmm!

It might sound lame, and it is. But it's a change from ramen noodles.

A tip for condiments: mayo, mustard, all that stuff. Go to SAM'S Club, and pick up a box of each condiment in the little restaurant package style. Like you would get a package of ketchup at McDonalds. If you have a big boat with plenty of fridge space, this wont matter to you. If you have a boat with no fridge (many do) this will save your life!!

Here is my big finale for this post, my FAVORITE boat recipe... one I couldn't live with out.... PIZZA!!


What you will need:

Tortilla shells (You can make your own dough (we actually made our own tortilla shells!), which is fun, but use a tortilla shell if you are short on time.)

Pizza sauce (Non-perishable)

Mozzarella Cheese (buy it in blocks, it will last longer. Just cut off the mold, you will be fine.)

Pepperoni (Non-perishable, Thank God for that!)

So, make a pizza!

then put a little bit of oil in a pan, and toss the Tortilla shell pizza in the pan. Spin it around a few times so the oil coats the whole bottom.


Put a lid on a frying pan, and when the cheese melts... it's ready!

Fried Pizza = delicious

What kind of stove top did we use? An awesome non-pressurized burner that runs on alcohol. If you think you want one... buy it here. This website was made by cruisers, for cruisers.

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