Necessary Stuff

[Dave Skolnick]

What do you carry aboard that is critical to your cooking?

[Paul Cheney]

Pressure cooker, spices, garlic, onions, potatoes, lots and lots of dried beans and lentils - a sprouter for the beans - you will always have fresh veggies this way.

Rolled oats, dried raisins and cranberries, nuts, honey, - make granola.

Flour and the other required items for bread making

Milk Powder, ketchup, mustard, molasses, brown sugar

Rice, Rice and umm Rice.

Coffee

Good knives, Pressure cooker, Baking pan, frying pan, stainless steel bowls, olive oil, vinegar,

Almost forgot.. red wine.

None of this requires refrigeration and all of it goes well with fresh fish / veggies that you pick up as you go.

[Peter Kafer]

Onions, rum, garlic, rum, canned tomatoes, rum, rice and pasta. Oh, did I mention rum? It's really not crtical to cooking, just critical.

[Lorraine Dolsen]

My husband Phil seconds that - with a great laugh.

[Fat Cat Anna ~~~ \\^^// ~~~]

I am in total agreement with Peter as well! Don't forget the Ginger Beer for making a Dark "N" Stormy - oh and limes as well (good source of Vitamin C)!

[Jennifer S]

I do agree about the rum! Never sail without it!

[Randy]

Looking to hear of good ideas for a spice rack. I have seen many different ones in the stores but nothing has really really hit me and said yea that is the one. What do others do with storing spices on board?

[Peter Kafer]

Lock 'n' lock boxes! Tight seal, waterproof. Absolutely the best storage boxes ever. Available in many different iterations at Kohl's, Kroger's, Wal-Mart and K-Mart. We've got flour in ne that we packed away over a year ago and it's still fresh as ever.

[Lorraine Dolsen]

My husband made me a spice rack that we hand just above the stove under the windows. I got this at the end of the season 2009, Will see how it works more this season. I thought that I had a picture installed, but here is the plate/utensil holder that he designed a built.

[D Wogaman]

I second the Lock n Lock storage containers sold by Wally World (Wal Mart), Target or on line as being necessary to on board life. Keeps crackers crisp in the tropical environment. My husband Don also uses them to keep his tools from getting rusty. I put my camera in one for the dinghy ride. I have a small hand held mixer that fits in to one to keep the salt air from it.

A pressure cooker is a good investment as it uses less propane, takes less time to cook the food, heats up the galley less in the heat of the southern latitudes, and keeps the food contained if you are in a rock and rolly environment; whether under way or in a rolly anchorage. Mine was an old style from Don's Mom, but have since switched to Duramatic Risotto cooker made by Kuhn Rikon in Switzerland that was given to me. It is great.

A set of good sharp knives and a way to sharpen them

A large silicone rubber spatula. (mine is from Pampered Chef)

Small silicone rubber spatula

Zyliss food chopper - uses no electricity, chops quite nicely and is easy to clean

A good can opener.

A good set of pans. I happen to have 4 commercial anodized aluminum Calphalon pans. A very small sauce pan with a long handle, a 3.5 quart small sauce pan with lid (8703 -1/2), 3 quart large fry pan (my go-to pan of choice)with lid (5003), and a large (tall) 8 quart with lid for lobsters, crabs, stews and soups (808). All of these pans with the exception of the very small saucepan with the long handle have aluminum handles on the lids that transfer heat. I put three corks underneath the handles so that I can pick them up with getting burned and without having to go for a hot pad.

Corelle plates I bought seconds at a factory outlet. I did not get the set as it had items I would not be using. I have the large, medium, and small pates. Small bowls ( I wish these had a wider base, but they do not), two oval platters, and two large bowls that I use for serving. No saucers and no coffee cups as they have too small a base. No sugar or creamer as we don't use them. We use souvenir mugs for coffee and tea instead. I chose Corelle on a friends recommendation and have never regretted it. Corelle is lighter in weight, thin (therefore takes less room), they do not scratch like plastic, don't break very easily and they wash and dry quickly and easily (they take less water to do the job). The hard part was picking a pattern we liked. We ended up with Pacific rose as it had red and green in it (the boat colors) and a yellowish/tan band around the edge that reminded me of teak.

NICE TO HAVE:

Microwave: Saves heat in the galley, uses very little amp hours when reheating your food or coffee.

Small food processor : saves time chopping lots of items up I have a Little Cuisinart Pro Plus

Some of what you bring will depend on what you like to cook. I like to bake a rum cake so have a bundt cake pan along. It is big and I store it away in a less accessible place on the boat since it is not used on a daily basis.

Leifheit chopper - an easy to store slicer-grater. It has self storing blades and a handle thingy so you do not grate your fingers.

Microwaveable containers that can double as storage containers.

That is a starter list to help out.

[Lorraine Dolsen]

I have a pressure cooker and also bought a 21 pc SS nesting cookware set - has 3 detachable handles. I plan to cook, so hope that these are good purchases.

I also plan to take my food saver vacuum sealer and was looking into getting one of the hand operated food processors. Anyone have one that can give me a recommendation?

Phil uses the merlita (?sp) drip coffee system for making HIS coffee in the morning. Has worked when on cruising vacations on Lake Erie.

[D Wogaman]

Don uses the Melita system also and really likes it. We have a small bean grinder as keeping the whole beans last longer than previously ground. I keep the whole beans in a Lock n Lock for freshness.

We have an insulated pitcher that he makes his coffee into. Then when he wants some just pours out what he wants and reheats in the microwave for a few seconds. Depending on how much he drinks it will last him several days.

I would attach a photo but for some reason can no longer up load.

D & Don

[Lorraine Dolsen]

Sounds great to be able to reheat in microwave, but there is no way to fit one in Changes' galley. He doesn't seem to mind heating water on the stove every day.

Lorraine