Cooktops
- Thread starter Jake
- Start date
South of Heaven
New member
Which model boat do you have Jake? My new boat has a Wallas diesel cooktop/heater (I can't remember the model). I love it. It heats the cabin nicely with the fan that's part of the unit. It cooks very well too, although I never really "cooked" anything. I usually just reheated precooked food or sandwiches. But I'm certain it would cook if I needed it to.
It virtually odorless too. I use the diesel alternative. It's a clear liquid and burns good. I forgot the name of that too! But it's a great product. I would never use diesel in my boat. It's a smelly fuel IMO. But that's just me.
You can see my cooktop in my 25 album.
It virtually odorless too. I use the diesel alternative. It's a clear liquid and burns good. I forgot the name of that too! But it's a great product. I would never use diesel in my boat. It's a smelly fuel IMO. But that's just me.
You can see my cooktop in my 25 album.
Induction is nice, and I think lots of boaters who don't want propane in the boat, and have been disappointed by reliability issues with their Wallas have used it. Two big drawbacks to me are that it doesn't provide heat (that might not be an issue - or it might even be a feature if you live in the south - but it's a big issue if you live in Alaska), and it requires you to either be docked in a Marina with shore power, or haul around and run a generator to provide adequate juice. If you carry a generator anyway (as some do), and don't care about having heat - I think it's a great option (just make sure you have induction ready cookware).
I've had
ALCOHOL STOVE: Tricky to light and had flare-ups. Never trusted it.
Cannot recommend this type.
PROPANE BURNER/OVEN: Great cooker. Tank changes were a pain especially
before the dish was finished cooking. Gives off water vapor in cabin adding to
inside humidity. Gas leaks were always a concern.
DIESEL COOKTOP/HEATER (Wallas): Probably the safest of the three. No
diesel odor or humidity problems. Somewhat slow heat up and cool down
compared to others. Gets plenty hot and heats cabin with dry heat. A
little noisy for my ear.
My preference is a Wallas cooktop/heater in the cabin and a 1 lb bottle propane
Magma grill on an outside rail or take it ashore. Best of both worlds.
Aye.
ALCOHOL STOVE: Tricky to light and had flare-ups. Never trusted it.
Cannot recommend this type.
PROPANE BURNER/OVEN: Great cooker. Tank changes were a pain especially
before the dish was finished cooking. Gives off water vapor in cabin adding to
inside humidity. Gas leaks were always a concern.
DIESEL COOKTOP/HEATER (Wallas): Probably the safest of the three. No
diesel odor or humidity problems. Somewhat slow heat up and cool down
compared to others. Gets plenty hot and heats cabin with dry heat. A
little noisy for my ear.
My preference is a Wallas cooktop/heater in the cabin and a 1 lb bottle propane
Magma grill on an outside rail or take it ashore. Best of both worlds.
Aye.
We use the NuWave induction cooker on top of the Wallas when at the dock, on when it is hot in Florida.
A built in induction burner/burners may be expensive, and as noted above, you have to have a sizable 110 V supply. In the other thread about induction burners, several of us have noted what the amp draw is on the new wave. I can run up to the mid range of "medium" with the Honda EU 1000-you could use an inverter--have to be 2 KW---and that takes a lot of battery power. In my RV it is 4 75# Golf cart batteries to give me a 440 amp hour bank--which will an induction burner fine thru a PSW 2500 watt inverter. (Again the inverter is expensive, with the batteries, y9u are probably looking at close $3,000)
Pricing induction built in cook tops they run from $275 to about $4,000. So it is certainly do-able. For us the single burner induction works fairly well.
All of my C Dorys have had a Wallas, and I have not had any problems. But that may just be my luck. We do carry a back up single burner propane, with the propane kept in the aft lazarette. Never had a problem with a bottle running out.
A built in induction burner/burners may be expensive, and as noted above, you have to have a sizable 110 V supply. In the other thread about induction burners, several of us have noted what the amp draw is on the new wave. I can run up to the mid range of "medium" with the Honda EU 1000-you could use an inverter--have to be 2 KW---and that takes a lot of battery power. In my RV it is 4 75# Golf cart batteries to give me a 440 amp hour bank--which will an induction burner fine thru a PSW 2500 watt inverter. (Again the inverter is expensive, with the batteries, y9u are probably looking at close $3,000)
Pricing induction built in cook tops they run from $275 to about $4,000. So it is certainly do-able. For us the single burner induction works fairly well.
All of my C Dorys have had a Wallas, and I have not had any problems. But that may just be my luck. We do carry a back up single burner propane, with the propane kept in the aft lazarette. Never had a problem with a bottle running out.
Marco Flamingo
Active member
I use a single burner induction top. Price for the simple little ones has gone up a bit to about $60. The inverter needed to run them cost several times that. I'm still convinced that it's the way to go even though I can't really think of another use for my inverter other than running the induction top.
Induction has almost too many benefits to list. No open flame to light, blow out, blow up. I can move it back to the fish cleaning table and cook outdoors by using a little extension cord. No odor or water vapor. Even if something is spilled on the cook top, it doesn't burn. Easy clean up. Cools almost immediately. Super stowable. As fast as a microwave.
I have to watch the power consumption since I have just two group 24 batteries. But my inverter actually beeps a low voltage warning and would completely shut down before drawing a battery too low to start the engine. The induction top also shuts down if the voltage drops. So there are several overlapping features that prevent me from drawing a battery low.
And the seemingly large amount of draw is offset by the efficiency. I set up my espresso maker in the evening (if at a quite anchorage) and then just turn on the induction burner in the morning without having to get out of bed (one of the benefits of cruising in a midget boat). With power set at about 1/3, it takes four-five minutes for coffee. I show a substantial voltage drop from the inverter, but if the battery started out at 12.2V, it ends at about 12.1V, so not much actual usage.
Same with cooking something like a can of chili for lunch. It's so quick that the large momentary draw isn't too much concern. If I were boiling a gallon of water for crab, I'd probably run the engine.
I took my portable butane cook top with me the first couple of times in case there was a problem. It takes up twice as much room and I had to carry a spare canister in case of an unintended leak. Never again. I'd rather eat cold chili right out of the can than mess with a gas flame again.
Mark
Induction has almost too many benefits to list. No open flame to light, blow out, blow up. I can move it back to the fish cleaning table and cook outdoors by using a little extension cord. No odor or water vapor. Even if something is spilled on the cook top, it doesn't burn. Easy clean up. Cools almost immediately. Super stowable. As fast as a microwave.
I have to watch the power consumption since I have just two group 24 batteries. But my inverter actually beeps a low voltage warning and would completely shut down before drawing a battery too low to start the engine. The induction top also shuts down if the voltage drops. So there are several overlapping features that prevent me from drawing a battery low.
And the seemingly large amount of draw is offset by the efficiency. I set up my espresso maker in the evening (if at a quite anchorage) and then just turn on the induction burner in the morning without having to get out of bed (one of the benefits of cruising in a midget boat). With power set at about 1/3, it takes four-five minutes for coffee. I show a substantial voltage drop from the inverter, but if the battery started out at 12.2V, it ends at about 12.1V, so not much actual usage.
Same with cooking something like a can of chili for lunch. It's so quick that the large momentary draw isn't too much concern. If I were boiling a gallon of water for crab, I'd probably run the engine.
I took my portable butane cook top with me the first couple of times in case there was a problem. It takes up twice as much room and I had to carry a spare canister in case of an unintended leak. Never again. I'd rather eat cold chili right out of the can than mess with a gas flame again.
Mark
Thanks for the great responses. Just asking in hopes of a future cruiser. Better half is not in favor of an open flame and I have read of some having problems with Wallas.
Thanks for the numbers thataway, I had a feeling a good amount of battery power was required. The one setup I had read of was a 2 burner induction with a 3KW inverter using ?# of golf cart batteries. Am I reading you correctly, each 6v battery is 75 pounds? (I can look that up).
Thanks for the numbers thataway, I had a feeling a good amount of battery power was required. The one setup I had read of was a 2 burner induction with a 3KW inverter using ?# of golf cart batteries. Am I reading you correctly, each 6v battery is 75 pounds? (I can look that up).
Jake, yes each golf cart I have is 75#, four are 300 lbs,but not on the 22 C Dory. Mark is correct that the induction burner is very fast, and so the total current draw is very low. I just have not put an inverter in the 22's I have owned--in the Tom Cat and 25, I did have inverters, and ran microwave ovens. Back then (8 to 10 years ago) I didn't remember seeing all of the TV ads for the induction burner, and they were more expensive. Now about $60 at Walmart or Target. I do wish they were smaller--and I may be missing on one which is better.
We use a induction top cooker with some Magma induction nested cookware. Quite happy with the results. We use a Dickinson grill that uses the little green 0ne pound cylinders. We carry a small rice cooker and when we don't forget it; a small crockpot. We use the induction cooker to do pasta, fry or sauté stuff. The grill does steaks or chicken and we like to do garlic bread from a baguette. We use spray butter and some weber seasoning and put the cut sluices of baguette on the grill while the steak or chicken is resting. I often will do fish in a tin foal packet or tent on the grill and make fish cakes using a crab cake recipe and substituting cooked fish for crab meat. Use the same method for fish tacos. As a backup those little butane grills in a case can come in real handy if you want to cook on shore off the boat. Make up some tunafish salad to ahead of time to eat either on the road on while traveling on land or in the boat with either saltines or Triscuits. Nice snack. Restaurants are budget killers.
Life is Good
D.D.
Life is Good
D.D.
starcrafttom
Active member
I have had the following
1) Origo Alcohol gas stove ( current stove) . Love it will never have another type. lights easily and everytime. never a problem, easy to control heat. No motors or control boards to fail. easy to refuel .
2) wallas stove/heater. Loved it then hated it,now band from mentioning it in front of the wife. I have had two and both sucked. nothing but problems after the first year. expensive to buy but more expensive to maintain if something goes wrong. Was on a boat in Alaska last summer for a cold wet week on a cd25 and on day two the wallas took a shit. I hate them. do not cook that well and do not heat as well as a stand alone diesel heater heater. We run a separate diesel heater on the 27. Love it.
3) Propane. I love propane stove. Easy to use, few parts and easy to maintain. I have a back ground in propane and propane accessories so for me its comfortable. A proper designed system should have no problems .
4) Electric is not a option for me on a boat. You have to have a large battery system of run another motor/ generator. This is what happens on my dads boat and you can keep it. Noisy and too many things to go wrong. No thank you.
1) Origo Alcohol gas stove ( current stove) . Love it will never have another type. lights easily and everytime. never a problem, easy to control heat. No motors or control boards to fail. easy to refuel .
2) wallas stove/heater. Loved it then hated it,now band from mentioning it in front of the wife. I have had two and both sucked. nothing but problems after the first year. expensive to buy but more expensive to maintain if something goes wrong. Was on a boat in Alaska last summer for a cold wet week on a cd25 and on day two the wallas took a shit. I hate them. do not cook that well and do not heat as well as a stand alone diesel heater heater. We run a separate diesel heater on the 27. Love it.
3) Propane. I love propane stove. Easy to use, few parts and easy to maintain. I have a back ground in propane and propane accessories so for me its comfortable. A proper designed system should have no problems .
4) Electric is not a option for me on a boat. You have to have a large battery system of run another motor/ generator. This is what happens on my dads boat and you can keep it. Noisy and too many things to go wrong. No thank you.
I have a propane Dickerson cook top, two burner stove...I also have a Dickerson fireplace... neat stuff...and cooks super...just like at home...I had a marine surveyor help me lay it our...I have a 2 gallon aluminum tank in the port lazarette... has a electric solenoid shut-off and separate fuel lines with valves...it was not cheap ...but what I wanted...
Joel
SEA3PO
Joel
SEA3PO
Certainly we should always be concerned about safety. Sometimes it is taken too far--there are places in Europe which ban the use of microwave cooking (of any sort) because they believe it may cause impotence eating the food--not from the microwaves!--cooked on or in in a microwave atmosphere.
We met a delightful Greek couple when cruising Greece--and invited them aboard for dinner. When the wife started to descend the companionway to the pilothouse, she spotted the microwave oven. Immediately she began screaming and ran off the boat. She thought that being even within 15 feet of a non functioning microwave was dangerous!
The best study I could find showed that induction cooking or properly shielded microwaved cooking was not dangerous. Probably more EMF from the cell phones or other electronics--or even proximity to high voltage lines. Of course we are all subject to some EMF from sunlight, earth's magnetic field etc--just cannot get away from it.
The study was specifically concerned about fetal developmental abnormalities in pregnant women and children. Also the size of the pan was important. With a smaller pan, there was more radiated EMF.
Of course one uses precautions--such as not putting the part of my chest which as the implanted pacemaker directly on the surface of the induction cooker!
We met a delightful Greek couple when cruising Greece--and invited them aboard for dinner. When the wife started to descend the companionway to the pilothouse, she spotted the microwave oven. Immediately she began screaming and ran off the boat. She thought that being even within 15 feet of a non functioning microwave was dangerous!
The best study I could find showed that induction cooking or properly shielded microwaved cooking was not dangerous. Probably more EMF from the cell phones or other electronics--or even proximity to high voltage lines. Of course we are all subject to some EMF from sunlight, earth's magnetic field etc--just cannot get away from it.
The study was specifically concerned about fetal developmental abnormalities in pregnant women and children. Also the size of the pan was important. With a smaller pan, there was more radiated EMF.
Of course one uses precautions--such as not putting the part of my chest which as the implanted pacemaker directly on the surface of the induction cooker!
bobjarrard
New member
Over the years I have had almost all stove systems:
#1 Diesel Stove - not so good if you do not need lots of heat all the time
#2 Propane - on several boats, with double shut offs and a manual shut off. Never an issue but the steel bottles rust. New composite bottle or aluminum bottle solves this and makes dinghy/to the fill station carry easier.
#3 Natural Gas - safer as it rises but it means storing two or more "scuba bottles" at 3000 PSI or so. Heavy and they did not last long in use. Had them on a Sea Dory 36 (first hull made).
#4 Alcohol, safe but I hate the smell, even a little makes me sea sick
#5 Coleman camping propane stove in the cockpit (with drains). Cheap, effective but wind is an issue, especially if you hang it on the rail/out of the shelter of the cockpit coamings.
#5b I also have one and two burner Coleman camp stoves along with lanterns that run on white and/or regular leaded gas. I would use these ashore such as at Lake Powell as that means one less fuel type if running a gas outboard.
#6 Bremer Sea Swing/Force Ten Sea Cook. I finally found one. It is my #1 stove, especially as you can add multiple hanging locations with spare brackets. Mine uses the one pound green propane bottles or an adapter hose. I have used the white gas/kerosene Primus inserts, too much work for me. Same for the Sterno insert.
#7 Sterno stoves, I have to eat the same day I light the stove!
#8 Electric burner with a Honda 2000. Not a bad choice and very safe. I also have used an electric fry pan.
#9 Microwave on the Honda 2000 - great for what it is intended to do.
#9b Black and Decker old style toaster oven (I love mine, down to my last spare). If I buy a new one it will have a convection fan.
#10 Wood stove - I may try one of the Cubic Stoves http://cubicminiwoodstoves.com/, nice design and not too costly but on one boat with a wood fired heater, backdrafts meant hours of work to clean up the interior (I know about barometric/draft devices but everything has is failure point). I love the Navigator stoves but they are not air tight and very pricy.
#11 Induction burner. Only one I have not tried but I can see where it is a better choice for some over a $12 electric hot plate. Looking into the cookware issues first.
#12 Charcoal or wood fired bar-b-q, fine but limited and I hate dumping ashes into the water. All of them: the Egg, the Hibachi, the Magma, the Folding Stainless Thing, the Rocket Stove, the Scotch Box, and on and on are in my garage of have been at one time. Best left in the dry camping box for truck based land adventure.
#12b Just to be sure I miss no alternative, cast iron dutch oven or as we do on river rafting trips, the same item in aluminum for boat use.
#13 And I already know it is not that safe but I use the little table side butane stoves every summer for four weeks when we horse camp. We buy the cartridges for $1 at the Korean market, the stove for $17 and you can toss it away at the end of every season and buy a new one. Some folks are dangerous with a fork in their hand. Seat the cartridge right, keep the pan smaller than the top of the unit so you do not reflect heat onto the cartridge, and I guess you could even use a soap bubble check for leaks if you wish. CanCooker has a model that also uses a propane adapter/hose.
#14 Candle cookers and other low tech devices. A notch below Sterno stoves and only of interest to Englishmen and a few fellas from Poland.
There, another exhaustive (and exhausting) post. And my number one choice is? Honda 1000 or 2000 (I have a 2000). You can run the smallest water cooled AC with the Honda 1000, an ARB cooler (the best hands down), and/or a throttled down Induction Cooker (same for a hot plate). Move up to a Honda 2000 and you can run about anything, add a Polar Cub/Mach AC unit with soft start adapter, a second battery charger, a Scuba compressor or ???
My second choice is my Bremer Sea Swing/Sea Cooker as it is safe to use while underway due to the gimbal feature.
That's all folks.
Bob Jarrard
PS: Another year without a C-Dory, how long can this go on? BJ
#1 Diesel Stove - not so good if you do not need lots of heat all the time
#2 Propane - on several boats, with double shut offs and a manual shut off. Never an issue but the steel bottles rust. New composite bottle or aluminum bottle solves this and makes dinghy/to the fill station carry easier.
#3 Natural Gas - safer as it rises but it means storing two or more "scuba bottles" at 3000 PSI or so. Heavy and they did not last long in use. Had them on a Sea Dory 36 (first hull made).
#4 Alcohol, safe but I hate the smell, even a little makes me sea sick
#5 Coleman camping propane stove in the cockpit (with drains). Cheap, effective but wind is an issue, especially if you hang it on the rail/out of the shelter of the cockpit coamings.
#5b I also have one and two burner Coleman camp stoves along with lanterns that run on white and/or regular leaded gas. I would use these ashore such as at Lake Powell as that means one less fuel type if running a gas outboard.
#6 Bremer Sea Swing/Force Ten Sea Cook. I finally found one. It is my #1 stove, especially as you can add multiple hanging locations with spare brackets. Mine uses the one pound green propane bottles or an adapter hose. I have used the white gas/kerosene Primus inserts, too much work for me. Same for the Sterno insert.
#7 Sterno stoves, I have to eat the same day I light the stove!
#8 Electric burner with a Honda 2000. Not a bad choice and very safe. I also have used an electric fry pan.
#9 Microwave on the Honda 2000 - great for what it is intended to do.
#9b Black and Decker old style toaster oven (I love mine, down to my last spare). If I buy a new one it will have a convection fan.
#10 Wood stove - I may try one of the Cubic Stoves http://cubicminiwoodstoves.com/, nice design and not too costly but on one boat with a wood fired heater, backdrafts meant hours of work to clean up the interior (I know about barometric/draft devices but everything has is failure point). I love the Navigator stoves but they are not air tight and very pricy.
#11 Induction burner. Only one I have not tried but I can see where it is a better choice for some over a $12 electric hot plate. Looking into the cookware issues first.
#12 Charcoal or wood fired bar-b-q, fine but limited and I hate dumping ashes into the water. All of them: the Egg, the Hibachi, the Magma, the Folding Stainless Thing, the Rocket Stove, the Scotch Box, and on and on are in my garage of have been at one time. Best left in the dry camping box for truck based land adventure.
#12b Just to be sure I miss no alternative, cast iron dutch oven or as we do on river rafting trips, the same item in aluminum for boat use.
#13 And I already know it is not that safe but I use the little table side butane stoves every summer for four weeks when we horse camp. We buy the cartridges for $1 at the Korean market, the stove for $17 and you can toss it away at the end of every season and buy a new one. Some folks are dangerous with a fork in their hand. Seat the cartridge right, keep the pan smaller than the top of the unit so you do not reflect heat onto the cartridge, and I guess you could even use a soap bubble check for leaks if you wish. CanCooker has a model that also uses a propane adapter/hose.
#14 Candle cookers and other low tech devices. A notch below Sterno stoves and only of interest to Englishmen and a few fellas from Poland.
There, another exhaustive (and exhausting) post. And my number one choice is? Honda 1000 or 2000 (I have a 2000). You can run the smallest water cooled AC with the Honda 1000, an ARB cooler (the best hands down), and/or a throttled down Induction Cooker (same for a hot plate). Move up to a Honda 2000 and you can run about anything, add a Polar Cub/Mach AC unit with soft start adapter, a second battery charger, a Scuba compressor or ???
My second choice is my Bremer Sea Swing/Sea Cooker as it is safe to use while underway due to the gimbal feature.
That's all folks.
Bob Jarrard
PS: Another year without a C-Dory, how long can this go on? BJ
Like starcrafttom, I'm a big fan of the Origo stoves. I have had one on my sailboat for many years that could optionally be plugged into shore power - very useful when I was living aboard, but I used the alcohol burners when cruising. Some people complain about how long they take to cook but my experience has been the opposite. Other than a high-powered electric or propane stove I've always found it to cook as fast as anything else around. And I don't happen to find the "aroma" of alcohol fuel objectionable at all, nor does my wife (who would turn up her nose at any hint of diesel fumes).
I've had two Wallace stoves as well on other boats, one of which came with my C-Dory. I've not had the reliability issues with them that some others have, but compared to the Origo they take a long time to heat up and cool down, use a lot of electricity, and make a fair bit of noise - and they don't really cook any faster. We had to run the engine to keep the battery charged when we stayed out on the hook for more than a few hours.
I went so far as to find a used Origo and mount it on top of the Wallace stove in my C-Dory, which gives some indication of the strength of my preference.
I've had two Wallace stoves as well on other boats, one of which came with my C-Dory. I've not had the reliability issues with them that some others have, but compared to the Origo they take a long time to heat up and cool down, use a lot of electricity, and make a fair bit of noise - and they don't really cook any faster. We had to run the engine to keep the battery charged when we stayed out on the hook for more than a few hours.
I went so far as to find a used Origo and mount it on top of the Wallace stove in my C-Dory, which gives some indication of the strength of my preference.
Pat Anderson
New member
Well, here goes our $0.02 worth!
There are only two types of Wallas owners, those whose Wallas has failed and those whose Wallas is going to fail. And far too often that happens in someplace like Alaska. Mediocre as a cooktop, takes too long to heat up and cool down, mediocre as a heater, because it blows the warm air out up way too high for efficiency. They are way too finicky, and refuse to start if the voltage is only a tad low. The circuit board is way too complicated and requires an electrical engineering degree to fix if/when it fails, if it even can be fixed. There are a few people who are happy with their Wallas, and more power to them. We sold ours on Craigslist, got $1,200 for it, and never looked back.
We used the money from the Wallas to buy a real heater, a Webasto diesel heater. The hearing duct comes out at a vent under the dinette down low where the heat (which rises) is supposed to be. This is a truly efficient heater and it heats the entire boat from the one heating vent in a matter of minutes.
Texasair gave us the Origo from his CD22. I wanted to install that in place of the Wallas, but Patty nixed that idea, and I passed it along to somebody else! I have heard there is a lot of condensation from the alcohol stoves, but its simplicity and reliability really seemed great to me. As they say, a happy wife if a happy life!
That left us with the cooking question. We have and love a one burner butane stove. We have always used this in the cabin and the carbon monoxide alarm has never gone off (we have fresh batteries and test the alarm regularly). Most Oriental families also cook inside at their dining tables with these stoves. Not sure why there is not the same issue with these as with propane stoves, but these do not even come with a warning to only use outside. We get butane canisters dirt cheap at the local Oriental grocery store in Bellingham. They can be hard to find in some places, so we also have a one burner Coleman propane stove that we only use outside. It uses the little 1 lb propane bottles that are available everywhere.
We now also have a NuWave PIC (Precision Induction Cooker) Flex. The Flex has switch selectable wattages of 600, 900 and 1300, and runs great on our Honda 1000i, which is small and light. We will certainly use it at marinas with shore power, but it is not a problem to run the generator if we want to use the NuWave at anchor. Today I ran it on the 1000i at 900 watts on High, 425 degrees. It boiled water for my hot dog literally in a couple of minutes. Some people worry about everything, but this article explains how induction cookers work and says they are very safe. I agree with Tom that you probably do not want to run this puppy on your inverter - it would take a lot more house battery bank than we have!
We also have the mandatory Magma BBQ mounted on a rail, and we use that as an oven as well as a grill.
We do not miss the Wallas AT ALL, and with the butane stove, the propane stove, the NuWave and the Magma, we are pretty happy with our cooking options!
There are only two types of Wallas owners, those whose Wallas has failed and those whose Wallas is going to fail. And far too often that happens in someplace like Alaska. Mediocre as a cooktop, takes too long to heat up and cool down, mediocre as a heater, because it blows the warm air out up way too high for efficiency. They are way too finicky, and refuse to start if the voltage is only a tad low. The circuit board is way too complicated and requires an electrical engineering degree to fix if/when it fails, if it even can be fixed. There are a few people who are happy with their Wallas, and more power to them. We sold ours on Craigslist, got $1,200 for it, and never looked back.
We used the money from the Wallas to buy a real heater, a Webasto diesel heater. The hearing duct comes out at a vent under the dinette down low where the heat (which rises) is supposed to be. This is a truly efficient heater and it heats the entire boat from the one heating vent in a matter of minutes.
Texasair gave us the Origo from his CD22. I wanted to install that in place of the Wallas, but Patty nixed that idea, and I passed it along to somebody else! I have heard there is a lot of condensation from the alcohol stoves, but its simplicity and reliability really seemed great to me. As they say, a happy wife if a happy life!
That left us with the cooking question. We have and love a one burner butane stove. We have always used this in the cabin and the carbon monoxide alarm has never gone off (we have fresh batteries and test the alarm regularly). Most Oriental families also cook inside at their dining tables with these stoves. Not sure why there is not the same issue with these as with propane stoves, but these do not even come with a warning to only use outside. We get butane canisters dirt cheap at the local Oriental grocery store in Bellingham. They can be hard to find in some places, so we also have a one burner Coleman propane stove that we only use outside. It uses the little 1 lb propane bottles that are available everywhere.
We now also have a NuWave PIC (Precision Induction Cooker) Flex. The Flex has switch selectable wattages of 600, 900 and 1300, and runs great on our Honda 1000i, which is small and light. We will certainly use it at marinas with shore power, but it is not a problem to run the generator if we want to use the NuWave at anchor. Today I ran it on the 1000i at 900 watts on High, 425 degrees. It boiled water for my hot dog literally in a couple of minutes. Some people worry about everything, but this article explains how induction cookers work and says they are very safe. I agree with Tom that you probably do not want to run this puppy on your inverter - it would take a lot more house battery bank than we have!
We also have the mandatory Magma BBQ mounted on a rail, and we use that as an oven as well as a grill.
We do not miss the Wallas AT ALL, and with the butane stove, the propane stove, the NuWave and the Magma, we are pretty happy with our cooking options!
South of Heaven
New member
I must say, you guys are getting me nervous about my Wallas!! It worked so nicely for me last year and I really enjoyed it. I hope it stays reliable this year!!
Are there any Brats who actually like their Wallas other than me??
Are there any Brats who actually like their Wallas other than me??
chriscarrera
New member
We enjoy the butane stove on our tomcat, and just use the wallas for heat.
Butane stoves are so compact and easy we like it over our Coleman too.
Butane stoves are so compact and easy we like it over our Coleman too.
Jason,
I have been one of those who has been happy with his Wallas..es? I have had them on 4 and no major problems. It had "adequate' heat--but not the best for sure--in AK. Plenty for even the occasionally chilly nights in Fl.
Not sure why we have not had problems... but we always start it on high, have enough battery power (12.6 volts) and run on "hi" before shut down. Also use only the fuel type for the stove we have. Current is #2 diesel--two of them were Kerosene.
I have been one of those who has been happy with his Wallas..es? I have had them on 4 and no major problems. It had "adequate' heat--but not the best for sure--in AK. Plenty for even the occasionally chilly nights in Fl.
Not sure why we have not had problems... but we always start it on high, have enough battery power (12.6 volts) and run on "hi" before shut down. Also use only the fuel type for the stove we have. Current is #2 diesel--two of them were Kerosene.
DrewbirdII
New member
Ditto on the butane portable, love my wallas for heat and cooking in bad weather and the butane outside on nice days. I also like the propane BBQ.
Jim.
Jim.