Help us pick a new stove for our galley
Apr 25 2012 in Gear locker by Marty McOmber
As Deborah mentioned in today’s post about our new Passport, we need to replace the stove.
Although most of my cooking takes place where it should — outside and on a grill — I do recognize the need for a quality stove, if for no other reason than it allows me to make coffee out of the rain.
Plus, it is only fair. I just bought a cordless DeWALT impact wrench, so Deborah gets a new stove.
We’ve narrowed our choices down to either the Dickinson Mediterranean three-burner range or the Force10 three- or four-burner North American Standard range. Both of them are propane and gimballed.
So which one should we choose? Vote for your favorite in the poll section below! And if you have personal experience with either range, tell us about it in the comments section.
Here’s more info on each stove.
Pros: love the looks and it gets great reviews from users; Cons: stove top might be a pain to keep clean.
Dickenson (pictured above): Features 100 percent stainless steel; one 11,000 BTU and two 7,000 BTU burners with safety “flame-out” protection; 35-liter thermostatically controlled oven with broiler; pot holders; removable cutting board; handmade in Canada (Deborah’s homeland).
Pros: love the hideaway door that keeps the range properly gimballed; Cons: smaller oven and polished stainless will require more polishing later.
Force 10: Features stainless steel construction; thermocouple protection on all burners; a thermostatically controlled oven with a broiler; electronic spark ignition; and a slide away oven door with viewing window.
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Jack Tar said on June 16, 2012
Our last boat we had bought a Force 10. It was a perfect oven and we had no issues with it. Having sold and moved on we are now purchasing a new stove from Camping World. I know the nay sayers will say not marine quality. Perhaps the didn’t use to be but now I find they are every bit as good. At just over $400 you cant go wrong. Makes you wonder why the marine ovens or anything marine costs so much.
Cindy Matwichuk said on May 23, 2012
We use the Force 10 Princess. And yes the pizza stone is a great addition. Burners have lots of heat and the electric strike is nice. The burners have lots of control and I can cook bernaise without a double boiler!! We have had a several older stoves that frightened me but I Bonded with this one.
Cindy and Darren
Chris said on April 27, 2012
When I changed out my CNG stove a few years ago, I tested different makes in other boats. The most conclusive test for me was timing how quickly the oven came up to 300 degrees (measure the ability to heat) and then time how quickly it cooled back to 150 degrees (measure how well the oven was insulated). The Force 10 performed poorly on both, particularly the cool-down test. Lack of insulation would result in heating up the cabin (good in cold weather, unwelcome when hot) and increased propane consumption. I went with a Hillrange / Princess — I don’t know if the Dickenson was available at the time. The Hillrange has three burners that are almost as hot as the Force 10s big burner (measured by boil time of a quart of water), but much better than its two little ones. I also found the Force 10 layout to be backwards: the definition of “back burner” is where you want leave a pot to simmer. When working with a hot pan, you want it at the front where you can stir and flip. The Force 10 is the opposite of this. Having said all this, there are a lot of Force 10 stoves out there with happy owners, and the updated model for sale today might be improved form the ones I tested a few years ago.
Deborah Bach said on April 25, 2012
This is great input. Thanks! I completely agree that three burners are enough.
One consideration for me will be the amount of space in the oven. I plan to take a few standard-sized pans and baking trays when we go look at the stoves to see if they’ll fit.
Marty revealed the only reason he really cares about getting a new stove: the ability to make coffee. The man is a coffee junkie. I think at one point we had three or four different ways to make coffee onboard. Don’t even get me started on how picky he is about electric coffee makers.
Joey said on April 27, 2012
a 9×13 pyrex baking dish is the largest thing that fits in the force 10 oven….. we have been able to roast 1/2 a turkey cut along the spine in our oven…. makes for two thanksgiving diners! since the burner is actually in the oven it tends to take longer to bake things due to the elevated moisture levels, but you have never had juicier roasts than in this oven, without basting (drooling). baked goods still come out good, just takes a little longer. the first time we used the oven was to roast a turkey, since the oven is a bit short on headroom we had to take a measuring tape to the supermarket to buy a turkey….. we have figured that one out now (cut in half). good luck with whatever you choose, its too expensive to change your mind after the fact.
Rick Dettinger said on April 25, 2012
We have the two burner Dickenson cooktop version of the above range (no oven) on our 22 ft Devlin Surf Scoter. With a little practice, the top grate snaps out for cleaning. No tools needed! Then, it cleans right up. Easy for me to say, my wife does the cleaning. I am the navigator! Since there is no oven, we are learning to cook in a Dutch Oven on the burner. I recommend a flame tamer to go on top of the burner. But I use one at home, also. Besides stew and steak, I have made pizza and biscuits in the Dutch Oven. I am also the cook.
Rick
Dan Leach said on April 25, 2012
I’ve put a new Force 10 in s/v Marie, and Karin is happy with it. Needless to say, that’s the key. I’ve been happy with it too. Remind me to tell you the funny story about how you get one in a Hinterhoeller Niagara 35. It was an adventure.
I agree with the 3 burner over 4 sentiment. It’s more than enough.
The one think that would make me pause these days is that redesign on the oven handle. I like the wood trimmed one on mine, and these things are not insulated as well as your home stove. They do get hot, and until I can grab one of these all mental handles…I’ll reserve judgment. But I would say it’s another reason to favor the disappearing oven door on the Force 10
Bob Vizenor said on April 25, 2012
I haven’t used either personally, but I’d say for sure don’t bother with 4 burners. You will never use them all and for two or three pots they will be in the wrong place. We have two burners and only very occasionally wish we had a third. If you are going to do much backing the overn size is critical for fitting sheets, pans and the baking stone necessary to make good crusty bread. Good Luck!
s/v Eolian said on April 25, 2012
Other Bob is right – you need the stone in there. Ours is a single 12″ tile from Home Depot – it really works well to smooth out the temperature variations.
s/v Eolian said on April 25, 2012
Oh, and should you wish to try out a Seaward Princess, you are welcome to use ours. But we get some of the bread, while it is still warm.
bob
s/v Eolian said on April 25, 2012
I’ve written about ovens before. I don’t know the Dickenson, but the positive reviews of the Force 10 in the comments here are the only ones I have ever seen. Not only is the Force 10 oven undersized in space, but it is apparently also equipped with an undersized burner.
But form your own opinion. Unlike a household range, a galley range is a major investment. Go out and find one of each and try it out – bake some bread or something – before you make the large commitment.
bob
Tracy said on April 25, 2012
We just replaced our stove a couple of weeks ago and the replacement came down to the same two stoves you’re looking at. We examined both at Sure Marine and the pro and cons list for each were pretty equal. The deciding factor was that the Force 10 had a much larger cooking surface area (room for larger pans) than the Dickenson did.
We’ve only used the Force 10 for a few meals since installing it, but it works great.
Joey said on April 25, 2012
the force 10 works pretty well for me…. I bought mine new at fisheries about five years ago…. it is not all trouble free though, there are a couple of issues I must mention.
1. the knobs for the range burners, the spark switches get a bit weak overtime and need to have their springs stretched out every six months, or just use the oven button to light everything.
2. the burners work as advertised, but it would be great if they could be a bit hotter. the small burners work great for simmering and the big burner is great for boiling, but having an extra 5k btu available on either burner would be great.
overall, its been a great stove…. Don’t have any info on the dickerson stove. good luck