Portable Stoves - What do you use?

Sarge, I had not heard of the Kuuma so went and looked it up. Someone mentioned the shortcomings of the Magma (all on or all off, allegedly to prevent the flame from being blown out on the water) so I was wondering if the Kuuma allowed you to control the heat better? Also, did you have to fab a custom mount or do they offer rail mounts?
Click to expand...

Warren,

We've found that the Kuuma is excellent at holding a flame in the wind and being able to adjust heat levels. It is an excellent barbecue! It just wasn't designed to be both a barbecue and a stove surface.

No, we didn't have to fabricate a custom mount, there are rail mounts available from West Marine for ~$40.00.
 
Awesome Thread Here Gang!

Roger/FLROCKYTOP : .... now I am hungry looking at that cooked meat pic. Yumm Yumm and ya can just taste it sit'n round the cockpit each with a knife just carving off little bite size chunks... Life is good....eating great food on a boat is better!!!

Yep, Pat/Patty & Dave that is the same red folding uniit I have...and pretty happy with it..but just does not seem to be my first go to option..except great for those morning omlets on the water!! Did take me a bit to get use to the room it took setting it up for safe cooking...but it does a fine job.

Marvin: Great idea on the non-vaccum vaccum bag idea for storing the charcoal and starters. I have used the second smallest Big Green Egg on my boat before, but it is heavy and just too bulky for small boat use. Would love it on the roof of a larger boat I think....which brings me back to the Cobb.

Now, Brigner's on C-Pearl indicated they have used both the Big Green Egg charcoal and...some other imported charcoal that works even better.... but.... I have not been able to get him to remember the brand...and give it to me. I will send an email and private message to him about this link...

I like that induction stuff too... WOW....so many options.... Great thread...and it makes me even more happy to know I spent the funds on my boat for the Wallas 30D duct heating system....and left my cooking devices ....to things to cook with... Kinda back to the 60s-70s with the individual components for sound systems....and using single purpose components... instead of these little pocket size jute boxes and head sets we now have.... :note :tea :note :smiled :idea

GREAT LINK!!!

Thanks Sarge!!

Byrdman
 
I use two stoves on my Arima (I know... it's not a C-Dory). First, I have a Magma Newportstainless steel grill that I mounted on the transom. It's a small single burner grill that uses one pound propane bottles and cost about $250 when I bought it. It works great for just about everything except boiling water. We've used it for cooking everything from bacon and eggs to shrimp and steak with potatoes and corn on the cob. As far as things that need improved... I think it needs a better latch for the hood (the latch handle broke off), and I had to block the vent with aluminum foil once when I was out in November and the wind was blowing pretty hard. So, a variable vent opening would be nice. And, we could use a slightly bigger size, but we do have a pretty small boat, and it is usually just the two of us. Do I recommend it? I think any galley would benefit from a grill on board, but this one may be a little small for most boaters.

Second, we have a stainless Seacook gimbal stove mounted back near the grill. It uses the same one pound propane bottles as the grill and stows away nicely when not in use. I think it was about $100. It works great for boiling water and making coffee in my stainless perculator. It also works pretty good for making Jiffy-Pop popcorn, too. For the bad, I'd say the only thing I can think of is the need for a clicker ignition. And it used to hold water until I drilled a couple of holes in the bottom. Would I recommend it? Well, my wife has said that she won't go out for our weekend trips if I don't bring it...
 
Just got back from our two weeks in Desolation Sound and did all of our cooking on a stainless two burner camp stove. I had a removable alloy arm made which mounts to my downrigger mounts and the stove bolts to this arm so the entire stove is over the side and no closer than three inches to the hull. The gas lines I use are a 3 foot line for the port side and an 8' line for the starboard side. The live well lazarette is an approved propane locker and the smallest refillable tank will fit standing up with only minor modifications. No gas lines or connections are inside the boat cockpit at any time and I can run the stove and kettle bbq at the same time on opposite sides of the boat. If you like to cook as I do, this is the only way to go on a 22. I took one throw away tank and used it once when I set up the stove away from the boat and the refillable tank lasted us the full two weeks. Also the stove is the same width as the locker under the helm and wastes very little space. The brand is Century and the only dealer local to Western WA is REI. Price on line was the same and its all stainless steel.
 
Capital Sea":2xh8w1xb said:
The live well lazarette is an approved propane locker and the smallest refillable tank will fit standing up with only minor modifications.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a great setup Steve. If the tank or fittings leak, does the heavier than air gas go over the side?

Charlie
 
Great thread full of good ideas. In case anyone is keeping a running talley of what we all use, we'll add our two cents. Wallas is primary (and coffee water is burbling behind me as I write). Slow but warms the cabin on cool mornings like today in the rain in the San Juans.

On warm days, we have a single burner Coleman propane stove. We use it outside to avoid monoxide. Quick to heat but wind sensitive (then we use
aluminum foil for a shield).

Starting from scratch, we'd probably get the double burner Coleman described so well by Pat.
 
Along the lines of this discussion a while back there was a discussion on the single burner Kenyon butane Stove the factory was installing for a while. I like mine a lot but and it's a big but, about half the butane canisters I have used leak. I'm not sure if I have inferior butane canister's (bought on line) or if the seal in the stove is the culprit. If I leave one in the stove over night about 1/2 the time with the stove turned off the canister will be empty in the morning. I'm fairly sure it's the stove leaking. Bottom line mine is dangerous and I quit using it. Actually about a year ago I had the same problem with a one pound propane bottle and it was the bottle leaking. Now I carry a small spray bottle with soap and check for leaks on these disposable bottles. No matter what you use as has been mentioned before these things can be dangerous. I think the butane bottles are pretty much manufactered (in China) with one time use in mind.
 
I use two kinds, a butane cheapie with 1lb canisters (actually we have two of these) works fine, no big loss if it fails or goes swimming. We only use it outside. We also have a coleman "fold and go" 2 burner propane that uses the 1 lb propane canisters. We stole the idea from Pat and Patty on Daydream. It is very satisfactory, gives us two burners, and we rarely even put the butane portables on the boat anymore.

As far as I know we've never had a problem with leaking canisters, either butane or propane. I buy them at local sporting goods stores or home depot/wal mart. We have a single burner kenyon butane stove built into C-Cakes. It works fine and to my knowledge has never leaked, again it may be canister quality.
 
To respond to a few questions. I would be glad to post a photo of the setup but never learned to do that. If one would walk me through, I will post photos later today.
Regarding the heavy gas and where it goes. The lazarette has a through hull plumbed to a drain at its lowest point. Mounting the stove itself just aft of the cabin with the inner edge a few inches outside the hull assures that any unburned gas from the stove falls to the water. I also have a magma table that mounts over the side next to the stove. Among other things, this preserves the entire cockpit for seating.
The arm was fabricated out of heavy alloy channel so it would mount to my Penn swivel mount. Regardless of the brand, the idea would be the same.
When I post the photos you will see that I have flush mount rod holders, but these would not be required. One nice thing about the system I went with is that I can mount the bbq, the stove, the table, the prawn puller, a crab pulley arm, downriggers and my dinghy motor at any one of four locations.
 
El and Bill":zjp9z2qx said:
Wallas is primary (and coffee water is burbling behind me as I write). Slow but warms the cabin on cool mornings like today in the rain in the San Juans.
Click to expand...

Bill, you have so many hours on your Wallas -- surely you have learned a thing or two about the care and feeding of these beasts. Care to share?

Warren
 
Warren, I am happy with my wallis stove as well, but it was steady 80's on our two weeks away and we did not fire up the cabin stove once.
In colder times, you bet we will enjoy the heat we get as we cook.
 
In our northern climate the Wallas is the best fit by far. As a backup we have a single burner Colman stove that runs on regular gas-fine for making that morning cup-o-joe.
 
For regular cooking we have a 3 burner propane stove installed inside the cabin with a 5 gallon external tank in the motor well.
IM000605.jpg


IM003309.jpg

For cooking outside, we use a Coleman Grille Stove, which has two burners, and uses the common disposable 1-lb canisters.

5OU9C_01_A23NLORBGXOLEO_SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_V52656704.jpg

One burner is standard, and the second is a grille, which can be used as that, used as just another burner, or be pulled off and be substituted for by a flat griddle instead. This makes for a two burner stove with both a grille or griddle alternatives. It folds up for storage, etc. We use the same stove on our Sea Ray most of the time, as the one there is electric/pressure alcohol, and we also don't like to create residual cooking odors inside the cabin. We use the microwave a lot of that boat as well. The electric/alcohol stove is under the coffee maker and broiler in the second photo below.

IM003079.jpgIM003078.jpg

On the pontoon boat, we use a standard round 14' Magma propane BBQ.

Joe. :teeth :thup
 

Attachments

  • IM003079.jpg
    IM003079.jpg
    56.5 KB · Views: 0
Warren -

A discussion about Wallas stoves would take a whole bunch of pages (and has). Suffice it to say that there are additions to a boat that become a love/hate experience and many owners would agree that stoves fit into that category.

We are on our second Wallas - call it preventative maintenence - and it is (knock wood) working fine. Perhaps use every day or so helps keep them humming - or maybe it's El's singing to the stove that keeps Wally happy!

Sure good news about your upcoming 'upgrade' on your ears - we're all supporting you and your effort. Enjoy that BC coast.
 
Regarding the care-and-feeding of a Wallas - here's what I've always done (per Les Lampman's instructions back in 2003):

1) Use Klean Heat exclusively.
2) Wallas starts best with well charged battery(s)
3) At start-up have the dial turned to highest setting. Once started, reduce to cooking temperature.)
4) At shut down, return dial to highest setting for a couple minutes (to clean-out system?) THEN turn off the switch and let stove go completely through it's own shut off procedure.

As some folks have mentioned this is rather time consuming, and in a warm climate would be bothersome (but in a cool climate it's not bad at all) but if you do it - it seems to work.

In addition to the Wallas we carry a simple one burner electric hotplate (about $7 at Walmart) to use when plugged-in to shorepower. (and it can be use in the cabin, cockpit, or on a dock).

Casey
The Villages, FL
 
I have the wallas which is fine in the very cold winter as well as a gas grill mounted on the stern, but nothing else cooks like a Cobb Grill.

I have all the optional pans, grids, etc.. You can broil veggies while roasting or grilling. You can bake bread, rolls, and pizzas. You can stir fry, toast and deep fry. And all of that with 8-10 briquettes in a grill cool to touch that can be carried around with bare hands while cooking.

Ofcourse UPI can boil water and use other pots and pans if you have the flat griddle accessory.

I use mine year 'round.

John
 
Back
Top