Boat Cookery

[Auspicious]

1 hour ago, Smithy said:

 

We've been very happy with our Contigo Autoseal mugs.

 

 

Thank you @Smithy. That looks brilliant. I ordered the stainless steel (no color) one without a handle (one less thing to get snagged and go flying as an offering to Neptune *grin*). I watched the videos and read many of the reviews. I usually focus on the low reviews. Many are from people who will complain about anything but it does often expose weak spots. I'll report back.

 

I like the mechanism including the lock which is not unlike the lock on my Nalgene. I also like the cleaning access although some reviewers didn't like it. We'll see. It should be here Monday.

 

I haven't been shy posting about not finding a decent spill and leak-proof travel mug. This is the most promising since a Camelbak that turned out to be spill proof but leaked.

 

Smithy - can you get the o-ring out, clean it, and lube it with food-safe mineral oil? That would be my initial approach.

[Smithy]

2 minutes ago, Auspicious said:

 

Smithy - can you get the o-ring out, clean it, and lube it with food-safe mineral oil? That would be my initial approach.

 

Good question. I'll try it, and report back. Thanks for the idea.

[gfweb]

You will love contigo. They can lie on their side and not leak. And they hold temperature really well

[scubadoo97]

Contigo does make a good product 

[Auspicious]

While I wait for my new Contigo travel mug (Amazon texted that it has shipped) back to boats.

 

On my own boat Auspicious, a Hallberg Rassy 40, I sometimes entertain friends who don't have much if any boating experience. While the are rarely problems if something does arise the guidelines are clear - give me a chance to get things sorted out and I'll ask you specifically for help when appropriate. With respect to food, do NOT put a plate or other container of food down anywhere. Even with non-skid bottoms things can slide around and frankly having me step on a plate of potato salad trying to get to the main sheet is not going to end well. It would be nice if everything just got dumped in the sink to be sorted later. If need be just heave it over the side, plate and all.

 

Fortunately this guidance has never been called into action. *grin*

[lindag]

On 8/25/2018 at 9:13 AM, Auspicious said:

 

Thank you @Smithy. That looks brilliant. I ordered the stainless steel (no color) one without a handle (one less thing to get snagged and go flying as an offering to Neptune *grin*). I watched the videos and read many of the reviews. I usually focus on the low reviews. Many are from people who will complain about anything but it does often expose weak spots. I'll report back.

 

I like the mechanism including the lock which is not unlike the lock on my Nalgene. I also like the cleaning access although some reviewers didn't like it. We'll see. It should be here Monday.

 

I haven't been shy posting about not finding a decent spill and leak-proof travel mug. This is the most promising since a Camelbak that turned out to be spill proof but leaked.

 

Smithy - can you get the o-ring out, clean it, and lube it with food-safe mineral oil? That would be my initial approach.

 

I particlarly like the Contigo with the handle... I take mine from room to room and if my hands are full I can actually hang it from my pants pocket!  

[Auspicious]

13 minutes ago, lindag said:

 

I particlarly like the Contigo with the handle... I take mine from room to room and if my hands are full I can actually hang it from my pants pocket!  

 

I can see the attraction. A number of reviews on Amazon talked about the handle breaking and as I noted above I worry about a line catching the handle and launching it into the sea.

[Smithy]

On 8/25/2018 at 10:13 AM, Auspicious said:

Smithy - can you get the o-ring out, clean it, and lube it with food-safe mineral oil? That would be my initial approach.

 

On 8/25/2018 at 10:16 AM, Smithy said:

 

Good question. I'll try it, and report back. Thanks for the idea.

 

It worked!  I checked the gasket carefully, once I got it out. Couldn't see any cracks or damage. Soaked it in said mineral oil, then wiped it off and reinstalled it. No leaks. Thanks again for the idea.

[Auspicious]

14 hours ago, Smithy said:

 

It worked!  I checked the gasket carefully, once I got it out. Couldn't see any cracks or damage. Soaked it in said mineral oil, then wiped it off and reinstalled it. No leaks. Thanks again for the idea.

 

 

I'm so glad it worked. It's a good general approach for o-rings as long as they haven't cracked or broken. It works on the ring on whole house water filters, on some food processors, blenders, u-tubes on sink drains, etc. Same deal as engine filters (except you use the lubricant in place), power transmissions, and pretty much everything else with an o-ring.

[Auspicious]

On 8/25/2018 at 9:17 AM, Smithy said:

 

We've been very happy with our Contigo Autoseal mugs.

 

 

It showed up. I like the construction. I could have just done some leak testing with tepid water but there was a lot going on so I've made some tea and honey and waiting for that to cool enough to drink. When that is done I'll knock it around a bit to see if it gets the Auspicious seal of approval. *grin* Worst case it is certainly better than my wife's car mug.

[Auspicious]

On 8/25/2018 at 9:17 AM, Smithy said:

 

We've been very happy with our Contigo Autoseal mugs.

 

 

Herewith the report. Note that this is right out of the box and performance may change with time.

 

After rinsing out the bottle I made tea. In a clear demonstration that sometimes it is better to be lucky than smart my wife's infuser dropped nicely into the mouth of the mug. On board I use tea bags so that isn't relevant to the application but handy. If the controls on our Cuisinart tea kettle are accurate the water was about 185°F. I let it steep for about three minutes and then sit another five minutes with the cap off based on the suggestion in the flyer that came with the mug. What I found was that the tea was still too hot for me to drink. In fact an hour later it was still too hot for me.

 

I will digress for a moment to say that here at Chez Auspicious temperature is either "hot" or "Janet hot." Apparently I'm a bit of a weeny.

 

Regardless, next morning--14 hours after I made it--the tea was still acceptably warm to keep drinking. I am impressed with the insulation.

 

I held the mug upside down and let it hang for about 10 minutes before I lost interest. No drips. I shook it. No drips. I knocked it over with increasing aggression. No drips, no leaks. I tried to get the mug to land on the trigger mechanism without success. I can see the potential for a short leak if it happens to hit directly on the trigger but that is what the latch is for.

 

I like the way the mechanism swings up out of the way for cleaning. Well done and quite elegant.

 

Two elements are somewhere between awkward and disappointing. First, threading the cap on is fussy. Getting the cap lined up with the threads on the mug is somewhat precise. This could be a source of frustration on a moving platform (boat) with a mug full of something hot. The solution may be to reduce the thickness of the first round of threads on both the cap and the mug to make them self-aligning. I'll write Contigo a note. I'm sure they'll be thrilled. *grin* Second is that the seal against the drinking orifice floats in its mounting slot. Between mechanical abrasion, thermal cycling, and chemical corrosion this is going to be a maintenance item over time. I see from the Contigo website that new caps are available for $7 but not the simple little seal.

 

At the end I'm impressed. This mug has earned a spot in my go-kit and on my recommendation list to crew. Thank you all for the recommendation.

 

Now back to cooking on a boat! *grin*

[Auspicious]

One of the presentations I give is called A Delivery Skipper Cooks. Some of what I have expressed in this thread is included.

 

It is worth noting that much of cooking on a boat is really not different from cooking anywhere else. Heat works the same way. A saute is a saute. Baking is baking. What is different is the platform (gentle moving and swaying at anchor, more aggressive underway all the way up to trying to cook during an earthquake that never ends), the tools at hand, and the space. Water becomes a limited resource; you can run out.

 

One of my favorite chefs, Bernie Meehan, retired executive chef of the Cosmos Club and serial award winner, once told me "a good chef can cook anywhere with anything." He wasn't a sailor but he is one heck of chef.

 

On most boats you don't have the space or the electrical power to just plug something else in. Technique becomes more important in primitive conditions. Knife skills in particular become more important. The tools you make space for better earn their keep because if they don't they are taking up space something more useful could be in. On delivery I may make do with one cheap chef's knife and a spatula. On my own boat I have good knives - a chef, a utility, and a serrated bread. A small mandoline. I have some good olive wood spatulas. A really good can opener. I carry a good Kuhn Rikon pressure cooker and a big Swiss Diamond saute pan. A couple of stainless sauce pots. Only one electric appliance - a stick blender I can run off the inverter. Flatware, plates, and dishes. There are some other odds and ends but that's the bulk of it.

 

That means when I read a recipe or food concept that talks about food processors and other specialized appliances I start thinking about basics: knives, stoves, ovens. I may only have a two burner alcohol stove. I may have to cobble something together as a Dutch oven. That is technique not tools.

 

I had a short delivery from Annapolis MD to Newport RI. That's about 3-1/2 days non-stop in the small boat we were moving. I would usually go with a crew of three (me and two others). In this even my friend Shawn stuck his hand up and when no other crew worked out I decide to go. Shawn is one heck of a chef and keeps me on his toes. His resume includes several years at the Inn at Little Washington in rural Northern Virginia and years teaching in culinary schools. It's just the two of us four-on/four-off. Shawn's turn to make dinner and he can't find any salad dressing. Up comes dinner including a salad with this wonderful delicate ginger dressing. Shawn minced onions and more or less grated carrots - no grater, no microplane - and ground up ginger cookies from the snack bag with oil and vinegar and a little bit of this and that - a knife, a spoon, a pan (those two as a mortar and pestle), and a small bowl.

 

I tell this story to point out the importance of technique. Whether boating or camping or otherwise dealing with primitive situations the point is not the tools but the techniques. This is why my three favorite "cookbooks" are On Food and Cooking, a 1951 edition of Joy of Cooking, and Mastering the Art of French Cooking. They focus on the science and foundational techniques of cooking. My late and much lamented sister-in-law also taught me a lot. She was Thai and cooked over a coal brazier for years before coming to the U.S. The attached picture shows me helping her make peanut sauce. We started with peanuts. I miss Lamoun very much.

 

Like Chef Meehan and Shawn, Lamoun did not ever say "I cannot cook - all I have is a rock." They would say "what can I do with this rock?"