Cruising, camping and wok cooking in the San Juan Islands

 Do you use a wok at home? How about on the boat or camping on shore?  Okay, that was easy, what about cooking on your propane fire pit?  Hot dogs and marshmallows don't count.

Tossing stir fry in wok.

I am certainly not a cook, chef, or even someone who barbecues but I have become completely sold on woks and open flames.  About five years ago while camping, one of our group said, "Shall we stir fry dinner?"  He then pulled out a round wok and inserted a three-foot-long broken-off shovel handle into the wok's hollow metal handle. Using a paper towel he wiped off the inside, squirted in some canola oil, and held it in the campfire flames.  Out of the cooler came baggies full of chopped veggies, fish, and chicken.  The wok was smoking hot by the time we had paper plates organized. I still remember the sizzle as the first of the chicken went in.  A minute later chopped carrots, chestnuts, mushrooms, sprouts, noodles, etc, etc.  He cooked one large plate at a time almost as fast as we could load them up.  It was very, very good and really hit the spot considering it was early spring and we were all freezing and trying to stay warm.

When I got home from the trip, the first thing I did was find myself a wok at an Asian cookery store.  I chose a 14" thin, lightweight wok with a hollow metal handle, $13.99.  Five minutes with an angle grinder and my old broken handle slid neatly (jammed) into the wok's handle.  I couldn't wait to go camping and stir-fry something.

That summer the drought continued and open fires were banned once again so our fire consisted of our propane fire pit.  Of course, I had to try the wok and it worked.  In fact, it works better with the fire pit than the open campfire because the flame height is easily adjusted.  Plus the open fire tends to smoke and burn the chef.   I made two modifications, greatly improving the system.  I bought a three-legged folding stand that is ten inches high.  The stand is for campfires but fits in my fire pit perfectly.  I also found three scraps of stainless sheet flashing about 6 x 8 inches that I lean against the stand to act as a chimney and wind stopper. Before I used the wind stopper, the flames lazily blew around, afterward they concentrated under the wok getting much hotter, much faster.

That's it, I stir fry, make popcorn, and cook in the cockpit, or on the dock, or in camp.  I plan to make another, shorter handle before our next boat trip.  Overall the wok and handle is about four feet, and our cock pit is about four feet so I am banging into things and people.  I think about two feet overall should do it.  The wok gets sooty and smudgy so I keep everything in a drawstring bag I made out of old dirty sailcloth.

To take this picture I had to set the wok down
 so the potstickers immediately began burning.

The foil is extra wide and is loosely attached with four little spring clips. Foil burns easily so it
doesn't last forever unless you are careful with flames. I wait until I hear the first couple of pops and then lift the wok up about a foot above the flames shaking continuously.  

Unlike the store-bought  ##ffy pop version, I get excellent results in a couple minutes, see the stand and the flame deflectors leaning against it? 

When we cook meals, I do two portions at a time, the wok size easily handles four but tossing is heavy and challenging.   In the boat,  or with large portions, I use wood spatulas to avoid making a mess.

  Sizzling stir fry is on the menu in Krakens cockpit while anchored in Fisherman Bay.

See my new short handle, actually, it's an old broken shovel handle. 

I clean up with soap and water and scour with salt. Reheat a little to dry and then lightly re-oil. Or if it looks okay, I just oil it inside and out and put it back in the sack.

I need to update my boat camping list to include the wok. Here is a link to that list.

Cruising and camping equipment list

Click below to see the Satellite view of Fisherman Bay at Lopez Island

What's in your Galley? - improvements, hacks and tricks for our San Juan Cruising and Boat Camping

         First some background thinking - most of us simply use the boat we have the way the PO (previous owner) set it up, plus some of our own tinkering.  Once in awhile though we get to make a major decision. 

For example; about twenty  years back we acquired a boat with a pump up alcohol cook top, and of course it was a useless rusty piece of stainless (s)crap so over the side it went.  (dumpster) My cheap rush rush solution was to nail a piece of plywood over the gap where the alcohol stove used to take up, and set my propane camp stove on top. And then we took off for the San Juans or somewhere.

        Later I replaced the nails with screws and painted plywood for formica on plywood and created a pretty nice looking counter top.  Of course while underway the propane camp  stove is stowed away.  Boring - Ok, what I learned was how well the set up worked. Over the years several of our boats have had factory propane ovens, some with gimbals, and I admit they were nice, but they also took up precious space 100% of the time. Don't forget the propane bottle fills a locker too.

           So let's fast forward to Kraken to see what we do today.  Thanks to the PO, Kraken has a Dickinson diesel stove which gets zero use in the summer because its primary function is to blast us out of the boat in freezing weather, which it does very well. Our cast iron soot belching mini monster  takes forever to heat up and cool off, but for now, I put up with it in spite of the baggage, weight, space,  and occasional tantrums.  (to be honest, this is not what we do today, we upgraded to propane and got rid of the diesel stove and never regretted it)

Our  Dickinson Bristol with door open - yes,  the oven on your boat is bigger.

      I could have set kitchen dishes etc. on the cold cook top, but I opted for a cleaner counter and varnished up a scrap of plywood with little spacer legs.

See!

But wait there's more.  I made sure my camp stove would sit comfortably on top.

I also whacked up a set of shims for leveling, which we use once in awhile when making pancakes.

Here's more in our galley bag of  tricks.

This cool Coleman oven fits just fine, and is just a smidge bigger than the Dickinson, (see the same tray)
It also heats and cools as fast as the flame can be turned on or off.  This set up makes fantastic biscuits, pizza and cookies, I highly recommend it

Wait, it gets better.

Our camp drip drip coffee maker fits too!
Hot cinnamon rolls and coffee anyone!
(guilt free boating at its best)

Everything gets easily stowed, and we get our counter space back.

The oven folds up into that little box and fits under the Dickinson next to the camp stove

And that's the way our galley stove works.

BTW - when the diesel stove is hot we place the camp stove on the counter to the left of the sink and  carry on.

The rest of the story, follow this link and then scroll way down to our last straw with soot and the diesel stove replacement.  new propane stove install

Click below for satellite view of CapSante