Calling All Cooks! Gas, Electric or Inductive?

Back to the future.


Oddjob Motors -Amarc Diesel


1960 Amarc Diesel 9.25hp Outboard Boat Motor - YouTube

Zodiac Diesel

I am missing our old Yanmar 35 HP outboard Diesel. It almost vibrated our tender apart but it always worked (until my oldest son sunk it, including the beautiful wooden tender, to the bottom of the North sea).

Zodiac makes rib tender with diesel engines, either with sterndrive or jet from 5.6 to above 9 meters (the first 9 meter became one of the tenders of Paul Allens Yacht Octopus.

They are also classed as SOLAS rescue boats for dual use as yachttender and rescue boat. Very nice tools and very nicely storable because of variable height.

I googled and saw them now that you told me, but I had no idea they existed before.

Gasoline outboard

There is always an aggravation of anything possible. One guy in our yacht harbour here in Hamburg, is running his little 5 HP Honda outboard and his portable Honda Geni on LPG. His neighbours on the jetti love him, because he leaves the 5 kg gas bottle in the bright sunshine.

These little diesel outboards are made in China and available in the States and in Europe for non commercial use via a dealer in Australia. We tested one of these rattlesnakes in our company for commercial use. They are only little, as far as power output is concerned. If you look at weight, noise, smell, vibration and price, the are rather big. These diesel outboards are mainly aimed for boatpeople in Honkong and on the Yellow River plus fisherman in africa and the pacific islands. With one of these heavy metal machinery on your yacht toys, you would be kicked out of your marina, if you ever use it there.

how do the small diesel outboards compare to the noise of a two stroke gasoline outboard?

We tested the Klaxon 4-stroke Diesel outboards. The new ones have even passed the CE and EPA certification. If I would compare them with a Tohatsu 2-stroke for example, I would rather take the Klaxon diesel. The bigger ones are really heavy metal. But if you compare a Klaxon with a modern Honda or Yanmar 4-stroke, its like the difference between a Teslar and an AC Cobra, that just lost its muffler

But the diesel outboard is comming. It may take some years but as soon as the big players in the outboard industry will find it profitable, they will produce it.

Us too. Sometimes you want to be cooking with gas:





And sometimes electric:



And have plenty of capacity to store and wash up:



so you can enjoy a nice Thanksgiving meal at anchor with no deprivations:



If we had to do it over again, I have to admit the inductive is an attractive option, offering the most temperature control and least heat. The glass top we have does have a two-burners combine into one option that has come in very handy.

nice, is that a non-human dish washer?

now that's high-end, living large!

...from another forum

I'm wondering if your figures are a reality?

If so, I'm not sure that any electric cooktop could be utilized on a vessel powered by batteries and inverters?? ,....yet there are a growing number that are doing so.

Wikapedia excerpt

Induction cooking - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I'm hoping to look at a few more details on how these cooktops actually operate, and most importantly what their max current draw is, and for what duration??

A basic Kenyon induction two burner draws 22 amps not the 83 you've found elsewhere. That's for one 1400 watt burner and one 1200 watt. As to the science behind it, I don't know. Honestly, I'm not one to care how it works just that it does. I'll leave the more complex aspect to you.

Amps depends on volts. The 22 amps you are quoting is at 120v AC. Brian's issue was running one of these off an inverter. So the Kenyon you note here would well over 200 amps at 12v to power at full force. It could be done, but you'd need a big battery bank if it was for a big meal requiring a lot of cooking time. Probably want a big inverter, like a 24 volt 4000 watt job.

The nice thing about induction, though is you don't have a lot of occasion to use full wattage. On an inverter, they seem they'd be nice for quick meals such as bacon and eggs, burgers, grilled cheese sandwich or boiled products.

While I had a gas stove/oven on my boat and the ones we had in the charter company I managed for years with never a problem, now I'd go induction with a microwave/convection combo.

For the outside grill I'd go gas. I've never seen or used an electric grill that can come close to a good gas grill for flavor and heat. Of course charcoal is the way to go for the best flavor. But they are a bit of a PITA on a boat.

Induction cooktops seem like they are much superior to conventional electric resistance element ones and they are consumption wise but they do have one negative you won't find out until you open the box and read the warnings; They can be deadly to anyone who has a pacemaker installed! Because they create a rather large and powerful magnetic field they can wreak havoc with nearby sensitive electrical devices. Just something to keep in mind if you ever entertain elderly guests! Also don't set a smart phone down near an active burner, found that out the hard way!

Induction cooktops

And they will erase the macnetic info on your credit and cheque card plus may kill your digital wrist watch, if you place watch and wallet near the cocktop as one of our crew members found out the hard way.

B.t.w. we use a kind of induction grill (thick film heating element technology ??) on the sundeck. We never missed an LPG grill or even charcoal. They come in different sizes and either as stand alone equipment or integrated in custom deck furniture. The chef loves them, because of its predictable results and most of all, they are easy to clean.

Has anyone used these Nuwave units?
Professional - Precise - Safe Efficient - NuWave PIC As Seen on TV

One of the biggest scams there is right now. First, the units themselves only cook a very limited type of things well. The meats they show cooking on the commercials, they just won't do. However, the way they do business is the real horror. I encourage you to google their name and ripoff or complaint or just check their bbb. What happens is that the $99 deal with the extra free items becomes $250 by the time processing and shipping are included. Plus if you want to return it you'll only get the $99 plus you'll incur shipping so they'll still make $150 since processing and shipping charges are not refundable. Also as aggressive as they are on the phone, many end up buying additional bargain items with outrageous shipping and spend far more than the $250.

I was told that the shipping and handling fee for the first unit was 29.95. I then ask the fee for the second unit, as was not told.. But nothing came to 250 shipping and handling??

Did you experience such a thing?...or is this second hand info?

I'm not trying to defend them as I am always leery of these TV offers. But they did post some pretty positive replies by customers,...if they can all be substantiated

Pretty much a bog standard 1300W induction stove with the usual telemarketing assortment of very flashy but usually useless bells and whistles.

Do you really want to leave any stove unattended on a boat?


For reference, here in 240V country a grocery discounter sells a normal 2000W induction stove for 30 Euro or $42 (incl. 19% VAT).

The energy savings in induction stoves are simple: You don't spend time heating the stove in order to transfer the heat to the pot. You heat the pot directly. - And that's it.
The longer you use the stove, say long simmering boil, the small the initial savings become when compared to the total energy bill.