Recommend a Cruising Pressure Cooker?

Hey, all you galley rats, I have a question: Who makes the best high quality pressure cooker to use on my boat? I want a smallish one, if this makes any difference. What other pots and pans do you galley slaves think might be indispensible for me on a 25' sailboat? No oven; single propane burner.

I am finishing my outfitting for a trailerable trip to San Carlos Mexico and a sail across to Conception Bay in April. Will be on the water 10-14 days. Jeff Marble is coming with his 25, too. Anyone else want to go???

Steve Swann
E25 Seahorse

I think a decent skillet and a large saucepan are all you need. What sort of stuff do you plan on using the pressure cooker for?

Fast and Furious

Pressure cookers are great for cooking meals and meal items very quickly thereby reducing the amount of fuel used and extended periods of time with a lot of heat being generated in the main cabin (the ONLY cabin on a 25!). You get much shorter cook times with meats, whole potatoes, pinto beans, and so forth. Also, chicken & dumplings can be made and the higher temperatures ensure a more sterile finished meal.

Pressure cooker

I don't know about using one on a boat but, to Back up Steve's statement.
We got one for Christmas from our son and it was what in the hell are we going to use this thing for! Well let me tell you once you start using one, we now use it 2 to 3 times a week, you will love it they are GREAT. All most anything you cook take 1/2 the time and comes out moist and tender. I've cook pot roast, lamb, chicken and pork loins. We have a cook book that came with it and it has great recipies in it. When we start cruising on our boat it will have a pressure cooker on board.

Magefesa

http://www.eurostoves.com/search.asp?type=category&cat=229

Will get you a 6 for $75.00 or so. Hmm almost makes me want to get another set myself.....

I have tried all of them, first and second generation. Thrown a couple overboard until we bought one of these. God knows how many meals ours has cooked.

We cooked with it when we were offshore, there was no way that anything was going to spill. Ours was a slightly older model, and didn't have straight sides, something we considered it's only defect. The newer models have striaght sides, but a bigger handle..... (Straight sides allow for making dessert breads in them...)

I can't recommend Megefesa enough... Oh yeah and cooks illistrated ranked them the best out of all of them also.

It also doubles easly as a regular stock pan, with a really really nice bottom. Even though the price is reasonable, this thing is top notch cookware, the construction easily competes with my cuisinart cookware. Oh and did I mention ALL STAINLESS STEEL!!!!

After you get one, message me with your e-mail, and I'll send you the reciepe for M's barbque beans, out of this world....

Oh another thing. If you cook in one, you can release all the steam out into the cockpit, and not have the moisture in the boat. Something that we did every time that we used it. Made it so much better in both the rainy north latitudes, and in the tropics....

Keys that make this a good boat pressure cooker. 1> Explosion proofed 3 ways, 2> Quick manual release of pressure with a directional vent for venting steam and moisture into the cockpit instead of the interior of the boat. 3> All stainless steel construction 4> Very heavy sandwiched metal bottom for heat difusiong over small burners on boats. 5> As cooks illistrated put it "The cheapest pressure cooker turned out to be the very best."

Also note that I am a food SNOB. Most people don't know how to cook, let alone how to cook on a boat. We should start a thread on that somewhere. We have a full compliment of galley gear on all of our boats. Cooking is an art, and one that we like to practice. Like finger painting, everyone has the necessary talent, you just have to work with it a bit. Ditty Moore is good for crab bait, and throwing the cans at pirates, it has no place in the galley....

M and I are in the middle of writing a cookbook sprinkled with cruising stories, or is it a cruising story sprinkled with recipes?

Guy

I'd love to see a thread about favorite recipes and galley tips!

My wife and I are also food snobs, but on our short-term cruising, we've never really brought that aboard. I usually resort to hearty and easy one-pot meals when sailing.

Conception Bay

Hi Steve

What a great sounding trip, I did a quick look at the area you will be sailing online. Wish I had the time to join you down there, but with a non trailerable boat I would have to leave now. You on the other hand have enough time to sail up the coast to the PNW Rendezvous in June. Of course that leaves a small problem of your vehicles being left in Mexico, hmmm……….sail back to get them……..Mmmmm.
Cheers
Stuart

Simmering Thoughts...

Wow, what a great number of responses - and some great suggestions - not the least of which is the idea to start a cooking thread. Thanks all of you for weighing in and your contributions.

The nice thing about trailering is that despite our short waterline and old suit of sails, we can still go to windward at 55 - 75 mph (Mulege on Monday, Port Townsend on Friday!). That is one of the reasons we tolerate a cramped cabin, limited space, and a quality pressure cooker.

Life is too short to eat bad food. I have dined like a king out of a backpack, while camping under the wing of our airplane in the rain, in hunting camps, and whitewater trips. There is no reason to suffer bad food so let's start sharing some of the tips and experiences we've had - without usurping the new book, of course! I have read many accounts that a good pressure cooker is an indispensable galley item for cruising so maybe this is a good starting point.

Steve

Ordered...

Guy,

Well, I have taken your advice and have a Magefesa pressure cooker on its way along with a spare gasket. While on the subject my wife also has a canning pressure cooker that she has offered me to use for stuffing Mason jars with good stuff this next month in prep for our trip. (One of Ericson's few real faults is the dismally poor icebox and I don't really know how to fix this unless I go to tearing things out.)

Thanks again for all the great responses, folks!

Steve & Tawni Swann
E25 Seahorse
Boise, ID

yes to the cooking thread!

We don't use a pressure cooker yet, but we keep hearing from cruising friends that it is a must-have item. Thanks Guy for the recommendation on the Magefesa. And I would sure like to see the thread on cooking. Life is too short to eat bad food, especially while enjoying your favorite pastime. We tend to eat fairly simply at home, concentrating on fresh ingredients. On the boat, that has meant heavier dependence on refrigeration than we would like, and frequent stops to look for produce. We have tried growing our own sprouts for salads, and would like to find other ways to become more independent, while still enjoying healthy and tasty food.

While We're On The Cooking Thread...

I'm going to check out the Megafesa, too. I have a great big pressure cooker, and I've been eyeballing the ones in the department stores, but don't trust the quality. I also have been looking at the Magma nesting cookware, but read somewhere that they are just re-branded Cuisinart Stowaway Nesting Cookware sets, and I'd rather buy the Cuisinart (and save some money, too...).

One of the reasons I bought my boat was because it had an oven - I could envision baking some cornbread to go with chili, or a loaf of real home made bread (or bread made from Bridgeford frozen bread dough) while on the hook. Food tastes better at sea, and for some reason my appetite takes off, too... fresh air I guess.

I found the Chapman's cookbook last summer, and really enjoy their recipes and ways to organize meals for weekend sailing trips. I also enjoy the Douglas and Bernadette Bernon Ithaka website, and some of their recipes are really good, and boat friendly.

Beans

BarBQue Beans:

We have several, but this is one we especially like in the pressure cooker. Adding the Tomato Sauce AFTER the beans are cooked will let the beans get soft. If you add it first, the beans and the tomato sauce will have a chemical reaction and the beans will never get soft. (Protein Reaction, let me know if you want more of the science of cooking than that).

1 1/2 - 2 Cups Dried Beans. (Any that you would like, Navy and Lima's both work well, or well together.)
1 Jalapeno or serrano seeded and chopped
2 Cloves Garlic Minced
1/2 Cup Chopped Onion
1/2 Cup Chopped Sweet pepper
1 TBS or more of hot sauce of your choice
1 Bay Leaf
1 tsp basil dried
2 tsp Black Pepper
2 tsp Cumin
1/3 Cup Vinegar
3 TBS Brown sugar
1 Cup fresh water
1/4 Cup Molasses
1 Tomato Pealed Chopped
1 10 oz can Tomato sauce

Saute Garlic, Sweet Pepper, Hot Pepper, and Onion in bottom of pressure cooker until onion is soft, stir in hot sauce, Bay Leaf, basil, Black Pepper, Cumin, Vinegar, Brown Sugar, and 1 cup water and beans, Cook 20-30 Minutes at high pressure. Release steam using quick release method. Add Tomato, tomato sauce, and molasses, cook for an additional 10 minutes at high pressure.

If you want your beans even more tender, hold back the vinagar and add with the tomato products at the end.

Or for a little easier offshore victles just saute everything but the beans, throw in the water and beans and cook on high pressure for 30-40 minutes. The beans will be a bit tougher, with some tooth to them, but the dish is still very good.

The Cuisineart pans were made for cuisineart for quite a while by another company and rebranded. Cuisineart quit this a while back, and I have only seen them since with the Magma. They are a good second choice if you have to have the tight storage system they provide. Sharing one or two lids, and the strange handles drives me crazy, but they are good cruising gear if you galley storage is severly limited. You don't even want to know what we have aboard for pans, mostly full sized Cuisineart, and a bit of cast iron. 11 Non nesting pans not counting the popcorn popper. (Note however that we do liveaboard, and did cruise over 40K miles cooking with all these pans.)

In any case get pans with thick sandwich construction bottoms. This makes the high heat, small area burners which are on boat stoves cook a lot better. (Ok all stoves, but we are on a cruising thread, not a cooking show.) If you have to have inferior pans, (why life is too short to eat badly...), then make sure that you get a heat diffuser, available at REI or your better cooking or camping stores. The diffuser can come in handy for simmering things on tricky boat stoves that don't want to go low enough even if you have good pans, so you should have one anyway.

I could go on for days about cooking and gear, but I will stop now and send this on.

May you be voted a "Good Feeder"
Bon Apetite

Guy

Pot has arrived

My pressure cooker arrived today. When I ordered I thought it would be smart to buy the combination of pressure cooker and sauce pan. Turns out that the "saucepan" is actually a shallow pressure cooker bottom as well! The two together come with an additional saucepan lid and a steamer tray that makes a great combination for mix and match.

Thanks for the recommendation and thanks for the BBQ recipe. We'll be trying them soon.

Steve

Where did you order from Steve?

Which place did you order the pans from?

Guy

Guy,

I placed my order with Karen Callahan, Eurostoves, Inc. 45 Enon St., Beverly, MA 01915. Her information came up on the web site information you posted earlier up above. She probably owes you a commission, huh?

Steve

Pressure cooker

I bought a SEB. It is French and I LOVE it!!! I paid $175 in 1989 which was a lot . It can be opened safely at full pressure , double walled with thick bottom , and it looks good too. It has a bronze acme thread for lid clamping and does not have a big handle sticking out, instead two shorter side grips, I bought it at a boat show ,where two very jolly ladies were cooking up some good stuff.
I highly recomment spending the money for a dood design and quality

Guy Stevens said:

http://www.eurostoves.com/search.asp?type=category&cat=229

Will get you a 6 for $75.00 or so. Hmm almost makes me want to get another set myself.....

Click to expand...

Okay, you've convinced me. But I having trouble finding a place to order this particular pressure cooker now. The above link doesn't seem to carry the Megefesa brand anymore. Do you know whether these Fagors are any good or should I keep searching for the one you recommended. If I should keep searching, do you have any suggestions where I might be able to order one?

I've never used a pressure cooker before, so I wouldn't know what I'm looking for and the features you recommend (e.g., directional vents) don't seem to be part of the description of most cookers.

The megefasa is superior to all I have seen

http://cgi.ebay.com/Magefesa-8-qt-a...8113863QQihZ009QQcategoryZ20672QQcmdZViewItem

Link to a set for $75.00?

Guy

Or even better:

I sent an e-mail to spain and got this back in English even!

Sounds like they have everything you could ask for in Chicago!

Dear Mr Guy Stevens,



Thank you for your e-mail.



We are currently working on the new web site & apologise for any inconvenience caused we are hoping to have it completed in the very near future.

In the information below we are sending you the details of our distributor in Chicago, USA. They will be very please to offer you any information about any of our products:



NORTH AMERICAN PROMOTIONS

1232 W. NORTHWEST HWY.

PALATINE, IL 60067

TFN. SERVICIO AL CONSUMIDOR: 1-888-787-9991
TFN. PARA HACER PEDIDOS: 1-888-705-8700

Mr. Pete Coletti

napl@napl.us



Do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions. We are to your entire disposition to attend any other enquires you may have in the future.



Thank you very much for your confidence in our Magefesa brand and for your interest in our products.



Saludos y muchas gracias.

Thanks and Best regards.



Ms. Lisa Bashforth

International Customer Service

CANTRA S.L./Magefesa

Tlf.: +34(942)318053

Fax: +34.(942)360273

cantra@cantra.es



P Antes de imprimir este mensaje, asegúrese de que es necesario.

Please, before you print this document think if it is absolutely necessary.

E-mail Sent

Thanks Guy,

I just sent an e-mail off to Mr. Colleti. I'll let you know what I find out if and when I get a response.