Galley Time, how do people cook in that small space

Ok so if you have never lived on a boat it may be difficult imagining what it is like to prepare meals in a galley. For me it isn't too different than preparing meals in a small apartment. The only difference is the area moves, space is vertical as well as horizontal, fuel and water are limited, hot water is not always available and you are constantly playing musical chairs (meaning I may have to move two things to get to one thing or I have to move to allow someone to come below)

As you can see my galley is basically horseshoe shaped. I feel this makes things a bit more manageable. It also makes me feel more secure while underway. I feel wedged in and able to brace myself while preparing meals or retreiving things. 

I have double sinks, pressure pump faucet, a back up foot pump, a seagull filter faucet for drinking water and a salt water hand pump. 

My stove is a Tasco three burner propane stove with oven and broiler. Oven door locks and stove is gimbaled. 

I have under counter led lights that also can be red, and one over head led light.  

My refrigerator is an Alder Barber drop down. 

I use my silicone lids a lot so I keep them hanging from the bar in front of the stove along with dish towels and a collapsable colander.  

I also use a pastry sheet for preparing veggies to keep bits and pieces from falling into the lids of the lower storage lockers or refrigerator. 

 

I also keep wooden spoons and collapsable measuring cups and potholders hanging close by for convenience.

My dishes are a mixture of glass, corning-ware and correll. I stand my plates up that allows more room for serving dishes. When underway I stuff dish towels and silicone lids and potholders around the dished to keep them from rattling around. 

As I said some of my storage lockers are vertical. They are accessed from the  countertop.  

I keep my dry goods in clear plastic containers so it is easier to see what is inside. I also use the chalk labels to identify what is in them. All this is also to make inspections easier when entering new countries, though we haven't been fully inspected, YET!

I love how I have tons of storage. Not all boats have that luxury. My cabinets are deep, which can be great but things do get lost or forgotten in them. 

When it comes to pots and pans, I took someone's advice to use what I used at home. I have a few stainless pots, a stainless skillet, a pressure cooker, one cast iron skillet, a cast iron flat skillet and a huge crab/lobster pot. I also have a stainless steaming basket and a pan  addition for chocolate melting 

We recently mounted this knife block that we purchased used in Roatan and we added our own knives. Loving it so far. 

I also found this cute little clear blue plastic container with a lid that I use for scraps that we throw out each night. Steve loves it now. He wanted me to be sure to include it as a very handy item. 

Love love my pantry. Lots of space. But I find I need to take the doors off once a week to allow more ventilation.  Steve has included lee-clothes to help keep items from falling while healed over   

So like most monohull owners with quarter births, ours is used for storage. We have cabinets there that we keep canned goods in as well as extra juice containers.  

We keep backing sheets and bread pans in the bottom drawer of our nav station 

I also have a cabinet under our seabirth that I keep big bowls, my thermos slow cooker, omina baking pan, as well as more entertaining dishes and larger plastic containers with lids 

So that is my galley. I hope I have explained to the landlubbers how us yachties manage in such a small kitchen.