2 or 3 burner stove and "why would I want a microwave...?"

[F15EWSO]

All,
As I shop I wonder if a 3 burner stove is much more useful than a two burner. It will be just two of us 90% of the time and portions (and pots) will be generally smaller, do we NEED the third burner? If you have two do you find yourself wishing for a third or vice versa, you have three and two would be plenty?

As we will be travelling and on the anchor most often w/out shore power what use is the microwave? We never cook with one at home, we only re-heat leftovers (hope to have little of that on board) and heat up beverages.

Do any of you feel the microwave is a must have? I see some built in and others held in by bungees and the like taking up valuable space.

Thoughts?

[Faster]

We chose a 3 burner... and may have used all 3 once or twice in 6 years. One of the advantages may simply be the aft burner is larger than than the two twin burners on a 2 burner model (thinking Force 10 here) but I'm not positive on that.

As to the nowadays ubiquitous microwave - not practical to run on an inverter so I suppose it will depend on how often you're likely to be plugged in. We don't have one, never felt the need for one while cruising, and would likely remove it if we bought a boat that had one.

btw here's an east coast search result for your parameters (at $55K for some play money)

(Sail) Cruiser/Racer Boats For Sale

[F15EWSO]

Originally Posted by Faster

We chose a 3 burner... and may have used all 3 once or twice in 6 years. One of the advantages may simply be the aft burner is larger than than the two twin burners on a 2 burner model (thinking Force 10 here) but I'm not positive on that.

As to the nowadays ubiquitous microwave - not practical to run on an inverter so I suppose it will depend on how often you're likely to be plugged in. We don't have one, never felt the need for one while cruising, and would likely remove it if we bought a boat that had one.

btw here's an east coast search result for your parameters (at $55K for some play money)

(Sail) Cruiser/Racer Boats For Sale

Thanks for the info on the stove top, I like the different size burner (if that is in fact the case) option and will look at that. Appreciate the search on possibles on the east coast? It's a bit daunting as there are so many variables between brand, age, outfitting, $$ spent etc etc...

good words on the "play money"

[bljones]

We don't have a microwave, and have never felt like we have needed one. In fact, most of those we know who do have a nuker on their boat very, very rarely use it.

[tdw]

Originally Posted by bljones

We don't have a microwave, and have never felt like we have needed one. In fact, most of those we know who do have a nuker on their boat very, very rarely use it.

Jonesy...mates of ours who have a bloody great big Beneteau 52 with every bell and whistle money can buy reckon they make a fabulous, albeit expensive, bread bin.

We've got a Force Ten two burner with grill (broiler) and oven. We consider the grill to be indispensible and use the oven all the time. If I was doing it again I'd definitely go three burner if only for Fast's reason that the thrid burner is larger. We spend a lot of time onboard and there have been plenty of times I've wished for that extra large third burner.

If your use is only going to be the occasional ovenighter, three burner is probably overkill.

BBQ is for me an essential however. We have one of those round Magna jobbies and while I sometimes wish for the larger rectangular shaped models it gets extensive use even down to stir frys in a wok.

[Minnewaska]

I've never used all three burners at once, ever. The one larger burner, is helpful, but not mandatory.

Microwave actually comes in handy. Yes, it is the bread bin most of the time. Its actually surprising how much longer fresh bread lasts in it. However, our local grocery makes pretty reasonable pre-made meals and they warm in 3 minutes in the micro. Sometimes, that's about all the energy we have at the end of the day and its a good hot meal.

Totally agree on the BBQ recommendation. Couldn't go long without it.

[brokesailor]

I would go for the 3 burner stove because the stove top has a larger area to put potsand pans, not because I need to run 3 burners at the same time.

[Faster]

Larger (deeper) oven too, most likely, with a 3 burner....

[tomperanteau]

I agree with all of you, and have experienced the same.

We are on our third boat. This one has a three burner Force 10 with the oven/broiler. We have used the oven several times and, although we have only used a max of two burners at once, having the small and large burner combo is great. Also the increased stove top area is good.

This summer when we have the kids aboard it will probably be completely utilized and we will be glad to have the extra burner, but the other 99% of the time we normally cook our dinners in one pot.

[svHyLyte]

We have a 3 burner stove and which of the 3 burners is used depends upon what my wife or I happen to be cooking. Something that only needs be kept on low heat for some while does qute well on the small center burner at the back of the range-top. Other things that need more heat go on the front burners and we have used both at the same time. Rarely 3 however.

On the Microwave front, we have an Origo that is very efficient. It allows us to re-heat preprepared meals while underway pretty much regardless of weather conditions, even if we have to eat from a pouch (rarely), and does so without overheating the cabin as would a stove top. With the micro-wave we can prepare "mid-rats" easily and efficiently without disturbing the off-watch and pop-corn becomes an easy treat without stenching out the boat.

While I fought the micro-wave idea, having conceded the matter, my wife was correct. It is a valuable asset.

FWIW...