Spinflo Nelson

General Description

As on the Neptune 2500, this cooker has two hotplate burners, a separate grill and a thermostatically controlled oven. The interior and exterior are made of stainless steel and there is no ignition system.

Effectiveness and functionality

The deep hotplate tray will catch saucepan spillage and the grill burner runs front to back, matching the performance of the Neptune, making acceptable toast as long as you turn it half way. The grill pan (A) sits in a cradle to keep it in place while at sea. The small oven has a powerful burner heating up quickly and, like the Neptune, the thermostat will maintain the temperature. The pan clamps and fiddles are functional and effective if a little low. The oven door is held shut by a latch resembling a bent coat hanger, but it is simple and effective.

Cleaning

Cleaning the spillage tray is a little tricky as you have to remove the pan support, which in itself is not easy because of the low pan clamps. The gaps down either side of the spillage tray and the supports for the pan clamps (B) are dirt and grease traps. There is no cover on the back of the cooker so it is open and would be difficult to clean.

Installation

It’s a 450mm-wide cooker and comes with mounting plates. The gimbal locking system (C) is not very effective and we would advise that some other arrangements should be sorted out. The gas test point is in a rather inaccessible place and usually needs repositioning.

Servicing

The cooker is easy to take apart, and replacing the thermocouples, burners and valves is usually straightforward. The most likely parts to fail will be thermocouples and the grill burner. These can be accessed by removing the side spillage tray screws. The oven thermocouple can be accessed from the rear of the cooker which – because it is open – does not require removal of any panels.

The Verdict

This looks like a marine cooker should and has a higher build quality than the Neptune. Little is likely to go wrong with this cooker and despite a few niggles it still manages to perform well and does nothing badly. It’s a solid, robust, reliable, no frills cooker that should give many years of good service. It makes a good replacement for the older Atlantic, Neptune or Vanessa.

Buy the Spinflo Nelson from the Marine Shop