A crowd funding campaign worth checking out...

She had me at zero waste.

 

More info here.

You might want to check out the current WoodenBoat...

WoodenBoat 243, March/April 2015

Getting Started in Boats: Organizing the Galley.
A tear-out supplement by Jan Adkin

In the "why didn't I ever think of this" department...

Some great advice on food storage for the galley over at Serious Eats...

Some very cool galleys...

So what if they happen to be in Teardrop trailers?

Check it out!

First thoughts on the new galley project...

In redesigning the new galley for the umpteenth time, I've decided to change tack and not design it around ways that I think will be making it better but to simply focus on how I actually cook and use the galley. So, in short, do it for how I cook rather than how I'd like to cook...

Case in point, the stove. Truth is, I really only use one burner and the last time I recall using the second burner on the stove was about four years ago. The only use the other burner actually gets is to sit pots on to cool. Based on that fact, the idea of finding a single burner stove makes all kinds of sense as I can certainly use a little bit more counter space!

So, what I really want is something like this...

I would want to gimbal it and sort out a proper fiddle system but, at less than $30, it fulfills all the needful galley chores a stove does as well or better than a "proper" marine stove....

A few thoughts on keeping the beer cold...

Back when we first set out cruising, if you wanted a cold beer the accepted practice was to have a box with ice in it... While sailing in the Med where ice was not readily available we just adapted and went without, which as it happens was actually a whole lot easier than one would expect.

We had considered refrigeration but in those days we noticed that our fellow cruisers with refrigeration seemed to sail from one port to another not in search of cool Mediterranean sights and experiences, but in the unending quest to find a refrigeration mechanic who could top up or repair their system...

Recently we had some issues with our onboard charging system and the first casualty of our power triage was the fridge. As it happens, we have a small power frugal fridge but it still winds up being a considerable drain on the system, so it was needful to cut back and relive our old "no cold beer" regime for a couple of weeks.

So how did we fare without the fridge? Just fine...

The thing is, that being without the ability to keep stuff cold for a couple of weeks reminded us just how little we actually need a fridge. Which is not to say we have any plans of doing without, as cold drinks are better than room temperatur, and it is nice to be able to load up on pork chops when they are on sale, but it is not a crucial system in the grand scheme of things...

Flashlight-in-your-teeth-change-the-bottle-two-step...

We use propane for cooking and grilling aboard "So It Goes" and it's a fact of life that we always run out of gas in the middle of cooking at night... Oh the fun and frolic of doing the flashlight-in-your-teeth-change-the-bottle-two-step!

That said, we seem to get a lot of cooking out of a 20 pound tank of propane as a tank lasts about 2 1/2 months which works out to a bit less than 27¢ a day.

Liz Clark gets serious in the galley...

Liz Clark doing the galley thing on her CAL 40 "Swell"...

A decent coffee grinder...

As coffee is the drug of choice on "So It Goes" we take coffee gear and paraphernalia very seriously and have been keeping an eye out for a real non-electric coffee grinder for some time...


The GSI Javagrind sure looks like the real deal and unlike most of the manual grinders I've seen is more about doing the job rather than looking "quaint" and being something that would rust out in short order. Throw in the fact that we have a GSI Blender that is finest-kind makes us think the Javagrind just may be the right choice...

A galley gear thought...

I've long been of the opinion that to be happy cooking on boats it is needful to take a step back and think before you try to recreate the sort of kitchen and cooking gear you are accustomed to on land. Which, is not so hard when you consider that most of the gear in your land bound kitchen never ever actually gets used if you are like most people. The trick is not to change the way you cook but to simply take note of how you really cook and the tools you use.

All of us who cook tend to use the same tools all the time and the rest just gets stuck back in a cabinet and waits till the urge to pull them out and do something with them... Face it, when was the last time you used that set of jello molds?

On "So It Goes" I use three pans and a pressure cooker that get constant use and a corner of my galley storage has some pans that never get used so why are they there? The fact is, If I had a huge kitchen with all the room in the world I'd still use those three pans because that is what works.

The point it... You don't really have to change how you cook or what you use simply work out what you don't use and give them to the goodwill or some such and they might actually wind up with someone who will use them (well maybe not those Christmas Jello molds...) but you get the idea!

A small galley must read...

There is no reason at all that one needs to give up anything dealing with a small galley and the somewhat limited space found on a boat... You simply have to work out what you need.

While not about a boat this is one of the best reads on the subject of small kitchen that I have come across... How to Stock a Minimalist Pantry  from the always excellent Stone Soup!