electric cooktop

[QuickMick]

Does anyone have experience with the electric cooktop? Do they get hot enough to be effective? I was looking at the Force10 two burner ceramic/glass jobby....

I need to refit my galley and am not sure the best way to go. I was thinking electric inside/magna outside...


any suggestions would be great.

[mitiempo]

It'll work at the dock but not unplugged. Yes they do get hot enough though.

[Zanshin]

The electrics are great and keep nasty flammable gases outside of the cabin, but they require a lot of battery power. I took a look at the manual and it states 4900W or 41A (at 110V 50/60Hz), that means you will need a very big inverter and even just using one plate at 1200W you would be drawing over 100Amps at 12V from your batteries;that kind of a discharge would be pretty high even for an 800Ah battery bank and if you intend on running the engine to charge/power the system you would also need to beef up those cables.

[mitiempo]

Not to mention alternator and regulator as well. If you plan on cooking when away from the dock best to get a stove that uses propane or another fuel. To beef up your electrical system to handle running a stove with 12 volts through an invertor would cost much more than the stove itself.

[btrayfors]

Forget the electric cooktop. Takes WAY too much power, as others have said. And, any cook worth their salt (says my gourmet cook Admiral) won't use an electric stove, anyway.

Gas is the way to go, especially on a 30-footer. Just make the installation proper and in compliance with ABYC specs.

Bill

[SVAuspicious]

I had an electric cooktop on my powerboat. It was generally a pain, as we had to run the generator every time we wanted to cook. Aside from the inconvenience there are all the other downsides of electric cooking. There are good reasons that professional kitchens use gas of one sort or another.

Very happy with the propane cooker in my current liveaboard sailboat.

[sailingdog]

I don't think you could carry a battery bank big enough to run that sucker at anchor. You really need to have a stove that isn't electric, unless you plan on NEVER anchoring out. The grill is nice, and I have one on my boat, but if you want coffee in the morning, the stove is the way to go. Propane is pretty safe if properly installed, and far more convenient than diesel or alcohol.