My new boat doesn’t have an oven…. it’s a compromise I made when we bought the boat for The Great Loop. After living aboard for literally two days, I missed my oven – not that I used it all that much, but just the idea that for the first time in my life I was without an oven was disconcerting. I love roasting vegetables.
We did considerable research and took a chance on a Cuisinart Microwave/Convection Oven with a Grill. The medium size (1.2 cu ft) was a bit large for our space, but it fit. And the price was right.
A challenge when adding a microwave/convection oven to a small space like a boat galley is that the oven needs space around the sides. You can’t just shove it in a cabinet – the cabinet under my propane Princess 3 burner stove even has an electric plug in for a microwave or oven. But the heat generated by the convection needs to dissipate somewhere and keeping it enclosed must be a fire hazard.
What have I used it for so far? Roasting green beans, roasting carrots, roasting broccoli & cauliflower, baking potatoes and, of course, baking cookies! Oh, let’s not forget the microwave part: steaming veggies and warming up leftovers. I’ve not tried the grill yet (looks like a broiler element on top), but it has potential.
The oven space is small, requiring small baking pans (toaster oven baking pans work fine). It’ll also fit an 8X8 pyrex glass dish. To use the convection oven, the pan must fit on the small rack elevating the food so the heated air circulates correctly. With this size pan, I can only bake about 6 cookies at a time, but that works well so I don’t eat dozens and dozens warm right out of the oven!
Using the convection oven is just as easy as the microwave. Baking takes a bit longer than I expected. I’d always read that convection baking cuts down on the baking time … maybe not in the small size? My cookies that should bake in 12 minutes or less took 14-ish. I just watch to see when they’re perfectly golden and scrumptiously yummy. Similar with roasting veggies. I think it’s just getting used to both the convection and the smaller size.
Will it last in the marine environment? Who knows. The oven inside and out is stainless, but probably not top grade, who knows. On the other hand, for the price, I’m happy and I have an oven again!
This week has been a flurry of activity aboard m/v Optimystique … we sold the dinghy & outboard that came with the boat (too big and heavy for me to lift upstairs), got a new AB 9′ Aluminum Superlight RIB (same dinghy we had aboard Winterlude) with a 9.8 hp Tohatsu. We load tested the batteries (after we kept getting a low voltage alarm when we used the bow thruster), found one 8D was “unstable” – replaced the 2 8D batteries along with the generator battery.
Our new anchor rode is marked in 30′ sections and aboard the boat – 150′ 5/16 high test chain spliced to 150′ 5/8 8 brait nylon line and various other projects. The big projects are complete (or as complete as you can ever be on a BOAT), David has some rewiring to complete (doesn’t seem right that our Reverse Polarity light flickers on sometimes and off most of the time – we had it checked by an electrician and it’s just a small section of wire that needs replacing, supposedly no fire hazard, although I’ll be happier when the light stays OUT!).
Oh, and did I mention that we sold our Lance 1685 travel trailer – extremely bittersweet… maybe some tears. But after completing The Great Loop, who knows!
The best part? We have FRIENDS coming to visit next week! Isn’t that what cruising is all about?
Life is good … and soon maybe we’ll even leave the dock. 🙂
If you don’t have an oven aboard, please leave a comment and let everyone know what you use instead! Cheers! Jan
Jan, we don’t have ovens on our tris but use the barbecue for roasting and some baking (though much more practice is needed with baking on our tiny Magma). Curious how much that microwave draws? Also, I see the boat has an ice maker. Are you finding it helpful? Just interested as we just got one.
Hi Carleen! Good question … I’ve never used the convection/microwave other than when connected to shore power or with the generator running. When we’re anchored or at a lock wall with no power, I plan different meals – like tomorrow night will be pork loin on the grill, green beans sauteed in olive oil in a skillet and salad. We don’t usually plan to use the convection oven unless we’re on shore power (aka with a/c available if need be…). I guess that’s left over from the sailboater in me. The boat came with the icemaker – we don’t use it much but it works just fine on shore power – never tried it with the generator.
I don’t think this boat is equipped with enough battery power to handle much other than starting & a few nights anchoring. Not power independent like Winterlude… sad actually, but a reality with most trawlers – we had to hunt long & hard to find one with a propane stove … most have electric requiring either shore power or the generator to even use the stove. At least we can grill & cook without a generator or shore power. 🙂 Cheers! J