SWALLOW’S new Origo alcohol galley stove is working well. I’m learning how to cook again as it has a much cooler flame than butane and propane.
My backpacking pans work just fine with the cooler alcohol flame. With propane and butane a diffuser is needed to keep from scorching and burning.
So far the only negative has been about two-to-three minutes longer, or about 2/3rd more time, to boil water for coffee and boil pasta. I’m not sure if the stove could get large pot water to boil and keep it boiling once the pasta was added.
Still not sure how long a gallon of alcohol fuel will last. I’m keeping track and thinking about 12-15 days. I’ll report on this later after having a better data set.
I ran the stove dry-ish and burned the fabric at the burner (top of the fuel canister). I noticed a plastic burning smell when I turned off the flame and, as the picture below shows, the canister fabric iwas blackened.
Stove still works and I’ve seen many pictures on the Internet showing burners in similar condition. I can just recommend that before cooking confirm there is adequate fuel present in the canister.
West Marine, or as some call it ‘Worst Marine’, published an article about picking a stove for your boat. Overall it is well written –
https://www.westmarine.com/WestAdvisor/Stove-Selection-Advice
The BIG fault is the writer didn’t research some basic information … that Dometic has killed the Origo line and no longer markets an alcohol fuel stove! The West Marine www-site even says “no longer available” for all Origo stoves!! ‘Worst Marine’ recommending a product that you can’t get?!?!
S/V Swallow 
I was shocked by how much I love my stove. I didn’t notice any difference after 12 years of constant propane or butane. One thing for sure I always measure exactly how much water I will need to cook, ie I only heat enough water for one cup of coffee if that’s all I’m using. My popcorn has never been better and pasta, rice and lentils are always cooked to absolute perfection. I steam veggies often and after it comes to a boil I wait a few minutes and shit the stove off letting it continue to cook. The only issue I have is that my cast iron pan won’t head evenly and since Sookie has a 2 degree port list my eggs are always a challenge. The origio gimbals don’t work properly, I need to make a counter balance but in my laziness have yet to do it.
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I’m pretty good at measuring only as much water as I need – number of pumps of the galley sink spigot. The cooler flame, v. butane and propane, is great for simmering!
The design of the stove means that a counterweight is needed. When I modify SWALLOW’S galley for the gimbles I’ll figure out something to bolt to the bottom of the unit. The stove/oven units swing true as they have so much mass below the gimble pivot point.
Your moving back aboard SOOKIE? Which marina?
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Islander, have you considered just mounting it without the gimbals? Small boats are such a pain. Shit I should be working on Sookie and not lazing around here. Damn this cold weather.
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The stove is currently bolted to SWALLOW’S galley counter in the same location the butane stove was bolted.
Yeah, not like last year. At this time last year I was doing touch-up varnishing and painting!
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Dave, good plan to convert to your alcohol stove. We have used the same model for years on our Pearson 27. Defiantly the safest and simplest option. If you don’t already do this, we would lay a couple discs of flat silicone rubber or similar over the wick holes to minimize evaporation when not in use.
Swallow is a beautiful sailboat!
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