Gimballed cabinet?

[csoule13]

The family's Ericson 30+ has a gaping hole where the oven and stove used to be. Seems this is would be a nice place to build some basic storage area. Additionally, we're working through the type of stove to install. One idea is a gimballed origo alcohol stove, though the reviews on these are questionable. Another idea kicking around is having a non-gimballed stove, and instead gimbal the entire unit the stove would be installed on top of.

Anyone done something like this previously? Tips, tricks, or pitfalls that make this something that looks great on paper and is a disaster in practice?

Much appreciated,
Chris

 

[Milagros]

I have a gimbaled Origo stove (no oven). Though I wouldnt trust the gimbal in much over a little rolling at anchor--the stove is great. They are so simple that they are basically bulletproof in terms of reliability and ease of repair, and produce decent heat and flame control.

 

[Loren Beach]

Our boat came with an Origo 6000 range, i.e. two burner model 3000 cooker on top and an oven integrated into the frame below it.
Interesting comment about "reviews". I have never seen a bad review in 30 years.

Most owners who converted their older sailboats from pressure alcohol to the (non pressure) Origo really like it a lot.
The downside is..... the company stopped producing them a few years ago, so nowadays you have to find one in a second hand marine store or on the web.
Plan B would be to find an current-producton replacement, or change over to a propane system. Propane is popular because it works more like a home stove.
Trivia: a few years ago the "tiny house" community discovered the Origo and bloggers were really touting it.
It's one of those counterintuitive stories of supply/demand/popularity that seem to defy the old maxims about consumer capitalism.

edit: found one purported to be for sale: https://www.marine.com/products/11-...0-single-burner-non-pressurized-alcohol-stove

 

[Christian Williams]

A gimballed stove is an absolute necessity for offshore cooking or any cooking in a seaway, even boiling water.

But it seems to me that if that is unlikely to ever happen, a gimballed stove is not worth the expense or the swing-space required.

 

[csoule13]

So, we absolutely do not want the oven. Completely wasted for the needs of the boat. Also not interested in adding propane anything to the boat at this time. The boat will at some point work its way from the Chesapeake to the Bahamas, and we're where Christian is at - we need a way to simple stuff when we are out for more than a day.

The ding on Origo's gimballing is that there isn't enough weight for it to operate in, as mentioned above, more than a slightly rolly anchorage. Not going to cut it. Folks have modified these by adding weight under the stove, but again, I'm looking for a better solution.

The inspiration for this idea came from Mads over at Sail Life, who built a gimballed metal box, to which he installed an induction range on top, and put in an oven in the box proper. I don't see why the same can't be done with some plywood and epoxy, with the alcohol stove bolted on the top and the "oven" space as storage.

 

[Loren Beach]

We have been cooking on an induction range at home for a decade, and have come to really like it.
Opinion: it takes about as much electricity to heat up a pan, whether you apply external BTU's to the bottom (via a resistance burner surface or a flame) or whether you cause the ferrous metal in the pan to achieve the same cooking level temperature via induction.
I might be wrong, admittedly.
It just sounds like you'd be doing what the power boating folks have been doing for decades-- cooking with electricity using an on-demand gen-set.

 

[csoule13]

I'm just not going a good job getting our set up and plans across.

Things we want

• Non-pressurized alcohol burner that can safely be used during a 1-3 day passage

Things we do not want or have

• Propane
• Large battery bank
• Generator

Putting the burner atop of heavy, gimballed box where the old oven used to be seems like a good idea, though the fact it's a challenging idea to describe is maybe a hint that it isn't.

You guys are going to making me draw a design that going to look like a kindergartner scribbled it out.

 

[Milagros]

So, we absolutely do not want the oven. Completely wasted for the needs of the boat. Also not interested in adding propane anything to the boat at this time. The boat will at some point work its way from the Chesapeake to the Bahamas, and we're where Christian is at - we need a way to simple stuff when we are out for more than a day.

The ding on Origo's gimballing is that there isn't enough weight for it to operate in, as mentioned above, more than a slightly rolly anchorage. Not going to cut it. Folks have modified these by adding weight under the stove, but again, I'm looking for a better solution.

The inspiration for this idea came from Mads over at Sail Life, who built a gimballed metal box, to which he installed an induction range on top, and put in an oven in the box proper. I don't see why the same can't be done with some plywood and epoxy, with the alcohol stove bolted on the top and the "oven" space as storage.

Seems like that would work to me as long as everything is insulated well enough. This post has gotten me thinking about throwing a dive weight or two on the bottom of my stove to see if I can get better gimballing performance. Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[Loren Beach]

Non-pressurized alcohol burner that can safely be used during a 1-3 day passage

Hmmm.... sounds like the lightweight Origo 3000 would need some additional counterweight if your sources are to be believed. We have no gimbaling problem due to the weight of the oven.
If you make a "swinging box/frame/platform" you achieve the result that adding a flat plate of half inch SS under the model might achieve. Given that the robust gimbaling Origo bracket will hold a couple of full sauce pans with no problem, I would suggest just adding some weight.
BTW, let us know it that web vendor I found actually will sell you one.

IIRC, the gimbaled countertop cooker on our prior boat had fairly tall "arms" on each side, and seemed to gimbal ok. It used very fussy Primus burners and was way too tedious to use, for us. I replaced it with propane, and would prefer to not have to do a "full install" of a propane system with proper hoses/connections/monitoring/remote sensors again. I do understand you reluctance to change to propane.

Note that making the pivot point taller on those arms causes other problems with swinging and un-damped momentum. There is a reason why the arm pivot point is somewhere toward the top of that full sauce pan.

 

[Christian Williams]

One consideration in design is the swing space. The gimballed stove--I'm not sure a simple cookplate would have the arc required for stability--does swing quite a lot. If stove is on starboard side, that tack swings it against your legs (watch out!). On the other tack, it needs the space to swing the other way without hitting the hull.

Any attempt to restrict the swing defeats the purpose and becomes actually dangerous. Seems to me a weighted box would work, as long as it can swing. Which means space a cabinet might use better. Video will go direct to brief example of gimballed stove at sea:

 

[toddster]

I've seen such things on a couple of the YouTube channels. e.g. induction or alcohol stove on top, microwave in a cabinet on the bottom.
My boat has the standard two-burner propane range, which is actually pretty shallow in the "y" dimension, so the swing isn't as wide as one might expect. - i.e. there is a lot of apparently wasted space behind.
But now that it's mentioned, I don't think I've tested in on extreme port heel with my body inserted in the operating position. Could be an issue.

 

[paul culver]

A gimballed stove is an absolute necessity for offshore cooking or any cooking in a seaway, even boiling water.

But it seems to me that if that is unlikely to ever happen, a gimballed stove is not worth the expense or the swing-space required.

My cook uses the ungimbled origo to reheat food for lunch on a favorable tack (starboard for my boat). And of course its no problem at anchor or moored.

Paul

 

[Geoff W.]

My Origo 3000 is excellent for all the reasons Loren mentioned above but I agree that I don't feel comfortable leaving a pot of hot water on it when the boat is pitching. I plan to epoxy some dive weights to the bottom, or something similar.