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Must Haves On Board?

37K views 152 replies 48 participants last post by  hellosailor 
#1 ·
Not new to teh boards, just never posted, this board allows me to post in comfort.
Here is where I am at...
Within this next year my hubby and I will be living out our lifelong dream and buying a sailboat and moving in. Live Aboard
This means, for me , getting rid of all the crap ive collected over the years, which I will gladly do but want to know what to keep for the boat. I am thinking more in the lines of the Galley. I LOVE to cook and am having troubles with the thought of parting with my kitchen toys even though i know there will be no room.
So..whats in YOUR galley?
So far...I know I will bring my Magic Bullet, its small, so now what?'
I guess I should say we will be slipped snuggly into a marina with electricity so size is the only issue, right?
 
#3 ·
Overall, it seems pretty personal - I'm a coffee junkie so the French press, filters, and thermos were a 'must.'

In general, we find that the amount of water to clean something is as much a limiting factor as space - that's why we have a couple of really nice knives but no food processor, for example.
 
#4 ·
Here is a list in my galley of must haves:
Wok, I use this for everything.
Slice and dices hand machine - Plastic with stainless blades ( got it at the state fair)
Great knife set not good or OK but great knife set.
Large wide mouth thermos - I use it for keeping soups, chili and other foods hot during the day and for watches
Peculator coffee pot - I am addicted to coffee
Plastic bread pan that can be used in the oven. I cook not only bread but casseroles in it as well.
Hand chopper for ice and vegetables - Also bought at state fair.
Pressure cooker - Still learning how to use it
Just my short list. For a great book on the Galley I would highly recommend Amanda Neal's - The Essential Galley Companion.
 
#6 · (Edited)
We also have lots of Tupperware containers or click-clacks for pasta, rice, flour, beans - you don't want to keep anything in cardboard or paper; transfer it to plastic. A good pan for broiling fish, one or two platters useful for appetizers (living aboard at a marina is a very social life), and a good rum punch recipe.

As for the gadgets, here's what we used to advise when we had the kitchen design-remodel business: Take everything out of your cabinets and drawers and put it in the basement. Now, go about your normal life. When you need a kitchen item, go downstairs and retrieve it and put it back in the cabinet. At the end of about a month, reevaluate. You will have a kitchen full of things that you really use. Then look at what's left downstairs. Sell it on ebay. Obviously you didn't need it.
 
#7 ·
We also keep: A cast iron skillet, nesting cookware (if you have not bought it you will love it... kinda expensive though), and totally agree about the good set of knives and pressure cooker and AManda Neale's book

Regarding the knives, we mounted ours on two magent bars behind a cabinet door. It would not seem to be safe to mount them out in the open (for obvious reasons) but truth be told, even during the hurricane, we did not have one come off (inside the cabinet). Get a little LED light to put in the dry storage and fridge. They mount really easily and last a long time. Makes getting in/out of it a lot easier as you can see what you are doing.

- CD
 
#8 ·
I've not had too much success with my pressure cooker, standard advice though it is. I find my burners cannot put in enough heat to reach the higher pressures and hence cooking speeds and its a big thing to wash up.
Its actually amazing how little you actually need to cook, the advice to put it all away and only put on the boat what you actually use is good advice.
 
#20 ·
I've not had too much success with my pressure cooker, standard advice though it is. I find my burners cannot put in enough heat to reach the higher pressures and hence cooking speeds and its a big thing to wash up.
.
Idiens: I'm not sure I understand - it shouldn't take more heat than you would otherwise need to boil water. Is it possible that the gasket is not seated well, or is too old, and hence letting steam escape before pressure builds up?
 
#9 ·
We have some non stick pots and pans. If I were to live aboard I would add a 12" cast Iron skillet.

We have a cutting board which is attached to the gimballed stove which ables us to pour a cup of coffee on the tilt.

We use individual cup sized mellita paper filters for coffee... coffee ground to espresso or turkish makes a great cuppa. No coffee makers to break or clean. You can even get gold mesh filers and not even use paper. A paper towel works in a pinch. We use them at home and never use the numerous coffee makers we have.

Good knives especially some serrated... they double for cutting tubing.

Small can opener.

Veggie peeler.

Large pot for pasta with a lift out colander. You don't want to be pouring huge pots of boiling water. You lift out the SS colander to drain in the sink. Deal with the cooled water after dinner and you can use it for wash up a bit too. A pasta scoop is an alternative.. if you transfer the pasta to the sauce to finish it off. A good approach.

Sealable salt and pepper shaker

Garlic press.

Small vacuum... like a dirt devil. We do the vacuuming while the engine is running and someone is showering... replenish hot water, doesn't use amps and do all the noisy stuff at once.

Vacuum sealer for foods, spares etc... preserves and keeps moisture out. A must! Spare sealer bags.

Jef
sv shiva

Kitchen scissors
 
#16 ·
Try the ultralight, ultracompact stealth version of the fly swatter.

Take a good 1/4" wide rubber band and cut off the curve from one end. Now, with some care, you can pull it back to full length and get close enough to any fly to zap it. The rubber moves fast enough, with so little ai pushing in front of it, that they can't escape unless your aim has been horrid.

If the fly is on a flat surface, you can also sneak up on it with a plain butter knife from above. Apparently the reflection of a fly above them is not perceived as a threat, so you can come within a few inches and then...SMACK!

Just remember that knife doesn't go in the galley drawer.< G >
 
#18 ·
My wife and I are planning to go cruising in a couple of years and I thought I would check out this forum to help us get ready. We use a Galloping Gourmet convection oven at home that is awesome. You can cook almost anything in it much quicker than an oven and with less power. Has anyone tried one of these on a boat?
ruggster
 
#21 ·
Ruggster...if you have the GG convection "perfection-aire" model...it draws 1200 watts....or 10amps of AC power at normal 120V household current.
If you have an onboard large inverter, you can use this item but you will be constrained in that use by the size of your battery bank.
The oven will use around 125 amp/hours for each hour of run time. So...you need a battery capacity of 250AH's simply to run the oven ALONE for an hour without damaging your batteries. Obviously you need additional battery capacity for other things like refrigeration, so plan your batery bank size accordingly.
(Note...for the techhies here...I have assumed a 25% loss of AH's in the inverter conversion to AC process...so no notes about my math please! ) (G)
 
#23 ·
My wife loves to cook and she often is cooking for 8-10 on our boat (As a side note, when our 'land' neighbor stepped on our boat for the first time and went below, she laughed saying she would have known this was our boat because my wife had more herbs and spices on the boat than the neighbor has in her kitchen back home). She loves her nested cookware. A year after she bought it, she ended up buying a pressure cooker from the same vendor. That was a waste of money. It simply does not fit her style of cooking and the way she wants to do things.
 
#24 ·
Welshwind-

Who makes your nesting cookware? Is it aluminum or stainless steel??
 
#25 · (Edited)
About 6 months before we moved onto the boat, I purchased the cookware I thought I would want to have on board and packed up all my cast iron. I then used the new cookware to get used to it and did fairly well, however, I was never happy with the SS fry pan. After one year of living aboard, I finally gave up and pulled the cast iron pan out of storage and have been using it for the past two weeks. I gave my stainless one away yesterday. All my pots are good stainless and I like them just fine.
About 6 months ago, I purchased a rather new product for bake ware. It's blue, is flexible, and can stand the heat of the oven. What is nice about this stuff is it does not rust, its easy to clean, and because it can be folded or stuffed into a small space, I was able to get rid of my bake, cake, and muffin pans. The only down side to this product seems to be because it is so flexible, I have kept my metal cookie sheet and use it when I pull said cookware out of the oven to keep it sturdy.
My husband insisted on the microwave and like most of us who have one aboard, I use it as a glorified bread box.
While you are still home, figure out what you have space for on the boat and do not use anything else for a while. See how that works for you and then you can modify as necessary.
Top draw for silverware for six persons, second draw for all my cooking utensils, and the bottle opener attached to the cabinet. My 4 wine glasses are attached easily and securely to a wood strip with rubber holders the stems slide into. This has been mounted on the cabin house side in the galley and is nice for keeping them safe and out of the way.
One other note about pots. I have several on board but one in particular is very tall. This one is great for using less water because of the depth of it, however, not so large in diameter. Great for pasta, lobster, or steaming. You may want to also try to have pots with the same size lids so you do not have to carry so many. One of my lids fits three pots/pan. One lid fits one pot and one small fry pan. Just another way to save some space.
On my wish list is a pressure cooker. I want to get a good one and they are not cheap but from everything I have heard from all our cruising friends, you will not be disappointed.
Kathleen
aboard
Schooner MISTRESS
 
#151 ·
About 6 months ago, I purchased a rather new product for bake ware. It's blue, is flexible, and can stand the heat of the oven. What is nice about this stuff is it does not rust, its easy to clean, and because it can be folded or stuffed into a small space, I was able to get rid of my bake, cake, and muffin pans. The only down side to this product seems to be because it is so flexible, I have kept my metal cookie sheet and use it when I pull said cookware out of the oven to keep it sturdy.
Kathleen
aboard
Schooner MISTRESS
Schooner Mistress
what is the name of these flexible blue pan thingies and where did you get them?

sk
 
#28 ·
zip-loc or similar sealable plastic bags in 2 1/2 gal to 1 quart size. Great for everything from clothes to not often used items (for instance, I have a fanny pack I use to carry my pipes in, if not in a bag, the zippers rust up). Moisture is a killer on a boat, so anything you can do to keep it away from things is a plus. I also put a dryer sheet in drawers and cabinets to absorb moisture.

Back in the water at Deaton's Yacht Service, Oriental, NC
 
#32 ·
SailingDog -

Sorry for the delay - I hadn't followed this for a couple of days --

The cookware is definitely SS. My wife thought it was RapidChef or something like that. We're going up to the boat this weekend. If I remember (not a sure thing - comes with age), I'll look at the bottom of a pan and see if I can get more information.

It was bought from a vendor we saw at both the Strictly Sail -Chicago boat show as well as the Racine Boat Show.
 
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