Barbeques on boats. Worth having?

[Coaster]

Are barbeques worth having, for example for cooking fish and thus keeping cooking smells outside? If so, what types are there and what would you recommend?

I appreciate boat size and type may have a bearing. As we have a pushpit, could we mount one on the railing?

 

[Cloven]

Might be worth looking at this from the Liveaboard Forum

http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=230034

 

[Major Catastrophe]

This year I am buying a £20 barbie bracket I can use with one of the many 99p disposable BBQs I got from Lidl - no not the same ones sold by the leading supermarkets for £3 to £5, but the identical ones Lidl sells at a fraction of the price.

Very handy. Quick dunk into the water when done and pop it into the waste bag for later disposal.

 

[EdWingfield]

You might think about a Cobb. The exterior stays cool so you can cook in the cockpit. It is capable of BBQing up to a small chicken.

Cleaning the cooker afterwards requires lots of hot water. and it's very expensive.

 

[photodog]

I have to say I am Anti-Barbeque.

I have witnessed on two occasions barbeques turning perfectly good bimini's into ash...

I have left a perfectly sensible oil company owner in charge of lighting one... only to discover upon coming up with the burgers that he had put all the charcoal ON TOP of the grill...

I also have lost a large amount of food over the side as the sausages rolled in sympathy with the boat...

I have also had more **** from said barbie litter my cockpit...



No, I cant recomend barbeques on the boat.... of course if you are mad keen on turning a perfectly good yacht into a flaming ship of death... all for the sake of a bunch of over cooked charcoalized chicken wings... then be my guest.

 

[Major Catastrophe]

of course if you are mad keen on turning a perfectly good yacht into a flaming ship of death

Yes, but its fun for the kids.

 

[Searush]

Are barbeques worth having, for example for cooking fish and thus keeping cooking smells outside? If so, what types are there and what would you recommend?

I appreciate boat size and type may have a bearing. As we have a pushpit, could we mount one on the railing?

Not when it's peeing with rain or blowing a gale, oh, err that's pretty well all summer then.

I paid 14squid for a s/s barrel barbie from the local co-op. It sits on the aft cabin when required for action & has enlivened several picnic stops. You can get a Cobb but it will cost you 7x as much.

 

[BelleSerene]

I paid 14squid for a s/s barrel barbie from the local co-op. It sits on the aft cabin when required for action & has enlivened several picnic stops. You can get a Cobb but it will cost you 7x as much.

But the Cobb will give you infinitely less opportunity to burn yourself, guests and kids, as the exterior stays stone cold. And if you want to clean it later, put it back in its bag with its lid on - it won't burn you, the bag or the boat - and clean it ashore. With some decent kitchen cleaner, a hose and a scrubbing brush, mine has been very forgiving. If the price isn't the issue (and I grant they cost £100), I'd go for the Cobb. Also a very efficient coal position, so you use little charcoal to have a very decent barbie. Ashore I'll use anything I can find, but on the boat the Cobb is a genius bit of kit. Amazon.co.uk for £97.

 

[BruceDanforth]

I can just grab the regular origo spirit stove and plonk it in the cockpit for a bit of outdoor cooking.

 

[Searush]

But the Cobb will give you infinitely less opportunity to burn yourself, guests and kids, as the exterior stays stone cold. And if you want to clean it later, put it back in its bag with its lid on - it won't burn you, the bag or the boat - and clean it ashore. (snip)

Thank you for your concern, I accept that my barbie gets hot in use, but so does my gas barbie at home & the cast iron chimnea I also cook on in the garden. Nevertheless, I have not yet lost or harmed a child or grandchild. As I stated, I wouldn't use it in a strong wind - just too much hard work, so the heat isn't a problem, I just give it time to cool down - usually while I am eating & tidying up. Being S/S it is just as easy to clean as a Cobb and I could use it as an oven or smoker by simply removing the fire bars & setting the fire on the base of the barrel.

I'm pleased you are happy with your choice, but I am also happy with mine - & OP can make up his own mind.

 

[V1701]

Saw a nice custom made stainless one once, permanently attached to the pushpit...

 

[ianabc]

Gas bbq

Almost all US and Canadian sailboats have stainless steel bbq's attached to their stern rails.

Dickinson makes a popular disposable propane gas bottle fueled bbq...

But the small propane tanks would be a problem unless an adapter for a larger tank is used.


Shows the price difference though...dollars for pounds!

www.defender.com/grills.jsp

 

[Spicemariner]

SS Magma. Uses charcoal, never drips grease anywhere and with the lid on, can roast chicken, lamb etc. Great in the Caribbean when oven would make the boat really hot.

 

[tel1]

Not when it's peeing with rain or blowing a gale, oh, err that's pretty well all summer then.

I paid 14squid for a s/s barrel barbie from the local co-op. It sits on the aft cabin when required for action & has enlivened several picnic stops. You can get a Cobb but it will cost you 7x as much.

Any chance of getting a link to your cheap bbq?

 

[Searush]

Any chance of getting a link to your cheap bbq?

Sorry, it's not in the Co-op online store. I bought it last spring when the local Co-op had a camping & garden furniture display.

But here is the same thing on e-bay @ £25 inc p&p. I googled "stainless barrel barbecue"

Here is another (not e-bay)

 

[vyv_cox]

We have had various barbecues on board for many years. Began with a Magma charcoal one. It's a good bit of kit that produces excellent meals. Its disadvantages are that it takes some time to develop sufficient heat, then takes hours to cool down, during which the weather may change, leading to various difficulties. Disposal of the remains is also not easy, unless done the following morning, not always convenient for reasons of weather, tide, passage plan, etc. All of this is fine if it's for the purposes of occasional social occasions, but not so in hot climates where it is a very necessary and frequent extension to the galley.

So now we use one of these

Gas fired with lava lumps. Taste is indistinguishable from the charcoal version, it takes 5 minutes to warm up and can be packed away when we have finished eating. Runs on Camping Gaz, sits on a couple of old pieces of laminate floor to keep fat off the seating. Works in all sorts of wind, we have barbecued in 40 knots. It cost £19 from a camping shop but is available for less. Much cleaner and easier than a charcoal one.

 

[Athene V30]

Extracts from International Regulations for the Prevention of Collision at Sea

Annex IV
Distress signals
1 The following signals, used or exhibited either together or separately, indicate distress and need of assistance:

(h) flames on the vessel (as from a burning tar barrel, oil barrel, etc.);

2 The use or exhibition of any of the foregoing signals, except for the purpose of indicating distress and need of assistance and the use of other signals which may be confused with any of the above signals, is prohibited.

So if the BBQ has a lot of flames watch out!

 

[JayBee]

SS Magma. Uses charcoal, never drips grease anywhere and with the lid on, can roast chicken, lamb etc. Great in the Caribbean when oven would make the boat really hot.

Agreed! Great piece of kit and very economical on charcoal.
If feeling lazy, or short of time, the cooking grid will comfortably hold a disposable BBQ.

Some time ago, in an aberrant moment, I also bought the gas version. It has hardly been used and is for sale if anyone is interested.

 

[CaptainBob]

We deliberated about this same subject for a while. Then by chance saw a used, gas powered, Magma in a chandlers, with all fittings.

One of the best things I ever bought!

So glad I didn't get one which doesn't allow cooking with a lid on! The lid means we can cook larger things effectively, but it also means that wind isn't an issue at all.

As a result, we barbecue all the time. I've had 5 or 6 this year already.

No mess, no problems with flames, no food over the side - and a lot of very perfectly cooked sausages.

--

One of my concerns before we got it was that gas fired ones wouldn't give the whole barbecue flavour... I was wrong. Dripped fat from cooking does ignite and produce the desired effect. Also, anyway, - we've found the Magma is more than happy to let us load it up with charcoal anyway, and run as a standard barbecue.

If we lost ours, I'd take a deep breath and buy a new one at full price rather than any of the alternatives.

(But don't bother with the canvas cover. Ours is ready for the bin after 6 months outside.)

 

[Robin]

We had both the gas and charcoal Magma BBQs and both are really good. The gas one is more convenient for a quick deploy. We had ours on the pushpit rail but on one side so that lying to the wind at anchor with lid up as a windshield you could reach the grill easier than if it were on the stern and had the lid in the way.

The original covers are not UV proof, but you can buy a UV proof one as an extra, we got one via West Marine USA.

We bought an adapter for the gas Magma consisting of a different regulator to plug to the BBQ end that takes a gas hose to connect via a suitable fitting to a Calor or Gaz bottle. This cuts the gas costs to a minimum and paid for itself very quickly. Bought our adapter & hose from West Marine and the end fitting from the local Calor dealer to run directly off a spare cylinder.

As others have said the lid is the real key. With lid on the BBQ is a grill and oven. I used to do a full roast beef dinner in ours, including roast tatties, carrots etc but you need a meat thermometer as it cooks quicker than you think.

Tip for the gas one especially is to use a cast iron griddle, we found one in Robert Dyas for under £10 with a detachable handle that fitted nicely. With this fat from really greasy stuff like duck and skin on chicken doesn't drip and catch fire, not a problem with lid off cooking but it is for when the lid is on as you end up with black food and a seriously yucky lid to clean. I also had a cheap S/S round pan found on Lymington market for I think £5 that did excellent duty for lid-on roasting of meats.