No microwave oven....???

[Bruce B]

In my refrigeration thread, I mentioned that we would have to sacrifice the microwave for the Vitrifrigo fridge/freezer.
More "enlightened" members cautioned that the world would end, we would starve, I'd be expelled from the forum, etc. if we went down this route.

Not to be labeled a heretic or even worse stubborn, I decided to do some research and see if perhaps we might find a good compromise.

How about one of these below a gas cooktop?
Microwave Ovens by Wolf | MC24 | Sub-Zero & Wolf Appliances
Then we'd have a microwave/convection oven and a gas cooktop! I can bake bread, thaw frozen hotdogs (or whatever a microwave is used for) and I can cook on gas without firing up the generator in the morning!

Most importantly, we get the cool fridge that I want!

Thoughts?
Bruce

 

[Heron]

Cold beer is much more important than microwave popcorn.....Just sayin...

 

[caltexflanc]

That Wolf combo looks great. Can't imagine not having a microwave on a boat let alone a real oven. But then we do a lot more cooking, and complex cooking at that, than 90% of cruisers.

 

[dhays]

Bruce, the combination oven does look great. Be sure that the oven performance (what you would really be using) is adequate for your needs. If you are already going to have a propane stove top, then a propane oven is easy and might serve your needs better.

I would never be without the microwave, but don't let our biases move you in a direction you don't want to go.

 

[Ski in NC]

I carried a countertop MW for a couple years. Just did not use it very often. Got rid of it and then got a toaster oven. I use that way more often than the MW. Most of my cooking is in a pot or a pan or on the grill, the microwave just got in the way. Microwaves are good if you are in a hurry. In a boat you have PLENTY of time to cook the right way!!

 

[O C Diver]

Playing devil's advocate:

If this is used in place of the oven in the galley picture and under the cook top, ventilation of the unit may be an issue. Microwaves generate a moderate amount of heat that needs to be vented to keep from cooking the electronics. Not an issue if you're nuking something for 10 minutes; possibly a concern if cooking for an hour.

I don't follow land based appliance manufacturers. Any track record of these units or this manufacturer on boats? Corrosion and vibration come to mind first. Not an issue with a $100 microwave (throw away); more important with a $1,000 stove.

Ted

 

[Bruce B]

I carried a countertop MW for a couple years. Just did not use it very often. Got rid of it and then got a toaster oven. I use that way more often than the MW. Most of my cooking is in a pot or a pan or on the grill, the microwave just got in the way. Microwaves are good if you are in a hurry. In a boat you have PLENTY of time to cook the right way!!

That was my original contention..
I had my head handed to me (figuratively speaking) so I wondered if a convection oven/microwave might be a better bet later when we get around to selling the boat...
Bruce

 

[sdowney717]

Microwaves are great for cooking corn on the cob quick.
Wrap in paper towel and cook in a couple of minutes.

 

[gaston]

We removed our new microwave/convection oven form our small holiday home kitchen after a month because it generated so much heat into the kitchen and cupboards either side and above. Microwave/convection ovens require a LOT of air ventilation space around them and unless you have a big galley with lots of space I wouldn't be fitting one

 

[caltexflanc]

We removed our new microwave/convection oven form our small holiday home kitchen after a month because it generated so much heat into the kitchen and cupboards either side and above. Microwave/convection ovens require a LOT of air ventilation space around them and unless you have a big galley with lots of space I wouldn't be fitting one

Or just ventilate the galley appropriately.

 

[BandB]

I wouldn't change my plans because of the comments of others. You may well end up with something you don't like as well.

As to combo convection ovens/microwaves, I've generally not seen any good reviews on them. I'm not familiar with the Wolf specifically. But if you lower the quality of the functions you use to satisfy others with a microwave, that will be a mistake. Again, not addressing Wolf, but true cooks and chefs I know claim that the combo units are not true convection ovens at that point.

Feel free to go against the crowd as you originally planned. We do all the time.

 

[JustBob]

Hotdogs will thaw in a glass of hot water.

 

[Ted]

No microwave on our boat - various reasons valid to us.
On yours - you have your reasons , valid to you.
If you sell in the future, let the buyer decide to change or leave it. By then
there may be something that will make the microwave obsolete.

Ted

 

[BandB]

Hotdogs will thaw in a glass of hot water.

Any meat thaws better dropped (in a water tight package) into water. Learned long ago at an Omaha Steaks store and it sure makes things easier. 30 minutes to an hour at most.

 

[rwidman]

Hotdogs will thaw in a glass of hot water.

Or put a stainless steel screw in each end and connect them across your boat's battery.

For anyone who doesn't understand how and when to cook with a microwave oven, there are better places to learn than a boating forum.

We use ours at home and on our boat. It's a big help on the boat and I wouldn't want to be without it.

 

[BandB]

Or put a stainless steel screw in each end and connect them across your boat's battery.

For anyone who doesn't understand how and when to cook with a microwave oven, there are better places to learn than a boating forum.

We use ours at home and on our boat. It's a big help on the boat and I wouldn't want to be without it.

I agree and we'd never be without ours. However, if the OP has no unfulfilled need, then he doesn't need one. You add something to have it do something you need or want.

 

[caltexflanc]

We've known several people with microwave/convection units and they loved them. Too small for our purposes though:

 

[dhays]

That was my original contention..
I had my head handed to me (figuratively speaking) so I wondered if a convection oven/microwave might be a better bet later when we get around to selling the boat...
Bruce

It would be much better for resale IF it was still working. Nice thing about a small microwave is that are easily replaceable as was mentioned.

I would not recommend dropping a lot to F money on something you don't think you will use. This is your boat after all, not the eventual next owner's.

 

[Bruce B]

It would be much better for resale IF it was still working. Nice thing about a small microwave is that are easily replaceable as was mentioned.

I would not recommend dropping a lot to F money on something you don't think you will use. This is your boat after all, not the eventual next owner's.

I'm simply trying to work through the possibilities here.
It is unlikely that we will have a microwave on our boat but it is an interesting exercise to work through.

We cook. My wife is good, I'm actually ok. One desire for this boat is that we take full advantage of what to us is a huge galley and use it.
We will figure it out!
Bruce

 

[FlyWright]

We often cook in advance of a trip and reheat on the water. A microwave serves us well in this function.

Bruce B, tell us about the boat you're contemplating this for. If I installed the Wolf in my boat, I'd never be able to correct the stbd list!!

 

[koliver]

In the RV world (where we now spend 5 months each year) Microwave/Convection ovens rule. I have no experience with the Wolf brand name, but only because they are at the high end and we aren't. Lesser brands that I am familiar with have proven to be very durable. They do generate some heat, as noted above.

 

[Peter B]

In my refrigeration thread, I mentioned that we would have to sacrifice the microwave for the Vitrifrigo fridge/freezer.
More "enlightened" members cautioned that the world would end, we would starve, I'd be expelled from the forum, etc. if we went down this route.

Not to be labeled a heretic or even worse stubborn, I decided to do some research and see if perhaps we might find a good compromise.

How about one of these below a gas cooktop?
Microwave Ovens by Wolf | MC24 | Sub-Zero & Wolf Appliances
Then we'd have a microwave/convection oven and a gas cooktop! I can bake bread, thaw frozen hotdogs (or whatever a microwave is used for) and I can cook on gas without firing up the generator in the morning!

Most importantly, we get the cool fridge that I want!

Thoughts?
Bruce

Bruce, as I must stick my hand up as one of the folk who queried your dismissal of microwaves, (aided in that by Wifey B, who has ducked for cover it appears, ), I would have to say our major use of the microwave is because they are just damn good at reheating stuff. Food left-overs, quick drinks, etc. We would rather thaw in warm water also. Yes, you can also cook with them, and if you only have a gas cooktop, and not a gas oven there already, then the combination microwave could work (adequately ventilated, as others have pointed out, as I expect their insulation is not as good as purpose built convection ovens), but if you were to use it for that as well as just nuking, then you would need to be running the generator more. FWIW, we just let our son take our home kitchen combined microwave, griller and convection oven, when he moved out, and replaced it with a pure nuke oven only, because we found we never used the other functions, having a normal cooktop and oven with grill already.

For mine...for on a boat...unless it is already set up with so much electrics, like ceramic or induction cooktops etc, so the generator would be on most days at anchor, and for lengthy periods, then I would go for a good combination gas oven and cooktop, (like we have now), and just modest sized pure microwave. Having said that, and because we also have a Cobb cooker/BBQ thing for meats etc, we seldom use the gas oven, so depending on what you like to do, the combination microwave/convection plus gas cooktop may well be the way to go.

What cooking set-up is in the boat now. I can't remember if you mentioned that.

 

[Bruce B]

We often cook in advance of a trip and reheat on the water. A microwave serves us well in this function.

Bruce B, tell us about the boat you're contemplating this for. If I installed the Wolf in my boat, I'd never be able to correct the stbd list!!

Just to fill you in...
We are having an American Tug 395 built. One change we are contemplating is to have the stock Nova Kool freezer/fridge replaced with a slightly larger Vitrifrigo unit. The Vitrifrigo is about an inch wider and something like 4" deeper.
In order to make it fit, it would have to be moved into the space normally occupied by the microwave.

We like the Vitrifrigo, don't ever use the microwave on our current sailboat, don't even own a microwave at home and thought it was an easy decision.
When I posted this here it created such an uproar that I decided to think about alternatives...

One alternative might be to place the microwave/convection oven below the standard propane cooktop...

That is where the Wolf idea came from. We wondered if it might be a way to get an oven in the boat and include the microwave. The oven is far more important to us than the microwave and we wondered if the high end unit would get us a decent oven.

It is not likely to happen for a pile of reasons but it is fun to consider these ideas
now and bounce them around here.

What amazes me is how people have become so dependent on microwaves. You would think they would starve without access to one. We cook and we eat well without a microwave. Things are simply done differently! We boil water, have an air popper for popcorn (or use a pan on the stove!) we reheat food in the oven or in a pan and we like preparing and cooking food. We essentially eat no prepared foods and a microwave is just wasted space...

Believe me when I say that the issue isn't a lack of understanding of how to use a microwave. I've fed myself for years with one. It was about 16 or 17 years ago that I came home with a small convection oven to replace the microwave in our almost new house. It was a trial that never ended.The microwave sat in the basement for about 5 years until finally being donated to my shop for employee use...

I do enjoy seeing the different perspectives though. It is fun to read these threads!
Bruce

 

[Bruce B]

Bruce, as I must stick my hand up as one of the folk who queried your dismissal of microwaves, (aided in that by Wifey B, who has ducked for cover it appears, ), I would have to say our major use of the microwave is because they are just damn good at reheating stuff. Food left-overs, quick drinks, etc. We would rather thaw in warm water also. Yes, you can also cook with them, and if you only have a gas cooktop, and not a gas oven there already, then the combination microwave could work (adequately ventilated, as others have pointed out, as I expect their insulation is not as good as purpose built convection ovens), but if you were to use it for that as well as just nuking, then you would need to be running the generator more. FWIW, we just let our son take our home kitchen combined microwave, griller and convection oven, when he moved out, and replaced it with a pure nuke oven only, because we found we never used the other functions, having a normal cooktop and oven with grill already.

For mine...for on a boat...unless it is already set up with so much electrics, like ceramic or induction cooktops etc, so the generator would be on most days at anchor, and for lengthy periods, then I would go for a good combination gas oven and cooktop, (like we have now), and just modest sized pure microwave. Having said that, and because we also have a Cobb cooker/BBQ thing for meats etc, we seldom use the gas oven, so depending on what you like to do, the combination microwave/convection plus gas cooktop may well be the way to go.

What cooking set-up is in the boat now. I can't remember if you mentioned that.

The American Tug comes with a cooktop and a microwave oven. There is an option for a propane Force 10 three burner stove with an oven. There is also an option for moving the stock fridge up and eliminating the microwave. This gets the freezer compartment off of the floor.

You had to mention grills didn't you...I want to bring our Big Green Egg MiniMax along but my wife says no! Sigh...I know she's right of course but...

Bruce

 

[FF]

I am a KISS type , but it is so much easier to put a cup of coffee in the microwave , rather than pour it into a pot and light the gas stove .

No pot to wash for most re heat, saves enough water and effort to justify a microwave $60. and $120 1500w inverter.

 

[Peter B]

I am a KISS type , but it is so much easier to put a cup of coffee in the microwave , rather than pour it into a pot and light the gas stove .

No pot to wash for most re heat, saves enough water and effort to justify a microwave $60. and $120 1500w inverter.

Bruce, FF just put his finger on it. Simple, quick, low volume heat or reheat, is the microwave's raison d'être. However, as you are doing this as a new build, (looky booger), I would favour the gas (propane) oven and cooktop, and it would have a grill in the oven top as well. So yes...ha ha, here's me telling you what to do in your new boat ...I guess that's me vicariously squeezing a small bit of the fun of setting up a new build by proxy, as it's something I'll never get to do. Now I understand the scenario, you are right to go for the favoured higher/larger fridge/freezer, because you can throw a small microwave in just about anywhere if you decide to. You don't need a dedicated recess or shelf, nice though that might be, and you will not be nearly as pinched for space as on your yacht. I will now butt out...

 

[caltexflanc]

hings are simply done differently! We boil water, have an air popper for popcorn (or use a pan on the stove!) we reheat food in the oven or in a pan and we like preparing and cooking food.

All those things are done faster and much more energy efficiently in a microwave. But if time and money are no object, have at it!

 

[sunchaser]

Microwave convection ovens are standard issue on many vessels including ours. I've seen them commonly on Nordhavns too. We do not have a so called conventional oven and have never missed it. And we grill on a George Forman.

Turkeys, roasts, brownies etc all can be cooked just fine. But, if you enjoy cooking for a thanksgiving crowd then get a big Hatteras.

On a new build like a AT 395 my preference would easily be an induction cooktop and GE convection microwave. No propane anywhere.

 

[Bruce B]

Today's lunch at home... No microwave!
An egg fried in olive oil on a bed of arugula and a piece of whole grain toast. The sweet peppers are stuffed with some home made hummus!
Delicious, nutritious and it took my lovely wife about 5 minutes to prepare.
Bruce

 

[Tony B]

We are full time live-aboards on a 36' Mainship aft cabin model. We had a small built-in micro wave that died on us about a year ago or so. We felt like we had to replace it ASAP. We just couldnt find a small microwave to fit in that spot.
Anyway, we already had a Toaster over and found that we didnt need the micro wave at all. Between the stove-top range, good sized toaster oven, and a nice propane grill on the back deck, we do just fine. We never really missed the microwave and are not even planning on ever getting one. We cook full size meals but are no gourmet cooks.
Hope that little tid-bit of info helped.