Magma BBQ Grills

R

Rabbits Hutch

New member
Hi All,

Yet another interesting thread of chat and opportunity to receive some more guidance from those of you who know better prior to my purchasing a grill.

I've decided to mount the factory transom rail on the new 22' Cruiser. After searching out a place for the grill, gasoline vents on both sides of the boat made this seems like the safest place.

Any negatives on the Magma series of grills? Are there other personal favorite brands or models I should peek at based on safety, reliability, simplicity to maintain and performance?

Also, of greatest concern to me, if mounted on the transom rail, do I need to roll up and move the bimini cover to the cabin and secure it due to flare ups of a gas grill and the potential fire hazard?

Looking forward to some solid advice here.

C-Dancer seems to have a nice set up on her. Maybe I should have just purchased Peter's boat from him.. :lol:

Thanks for the advice,

Gary R.
 
I have (in my garage) the larger of the little round ones. The issues I had with it was not being able to get the temp down low enough to cook slower...and, when in the water cooking...you better be aware of which way the hot dogs are pointing if you get caught by a beam wave... but then, learned to put anything on this grill in one of the little aluminum throw away pans....and it "helped" both issues. Have never used one of the larger square ones... ?
 
I have owned both styles of magma, propane and briquet. Also had the small Dickinson. In retrospect, the magma briquet was the best. Gas is just too hard to control the heat, the Dickinson was forever blowing out. I battled that thing for years because I really liked its' size and looks. There was another thread on here last year about a little round can-looking contraption that might be a better solution. I will go with the magma briquet type, or something else next time.
 
Thanks Gary. I agree with Byrdman, the Magma's run hot. To control the heat, I just cook with one burner, it works pretty well. As for mounting, I bought the mounting adaptor kit which mount to Scotty Rod Holders. I like it because I can move the BBQ around depending on my needs. But the mounting kit is pretty pricey, I think it was $40. I see that WestMarine sells similar BBQ's under their own name at a much better price. Might be something worth looking at.

Good luck in your search and let us know when you take delivery.

Peter
 
As posted in a previous thread on this same subject, we use a "flame tamer" on our Magma and it has made a world of difference in grilling. It really helps to dissipate the serious heat a Magma puts out. It's essentially a 1/4" aluminum disc, perhaps 9" in diameter. Sorry I don't have the time right now to measure it up, etc. But if you can find the previous thread, I believe Sea Wolf had even posted a link to the very item.

Also, we chose to mount our Magma on a Fish-On rodholder mount on the inside center of the splashwell. We often use it with the sides and top of our camper canvas up with no problems.

Al
 
I have Magma Party size gas grill.I really like it and use it on every overnight trip I go on.My biggest complaint it does not like wind,it gets blown out very easily.I kind of solved the problem by putting aluminum foil outside around the bottom to cover the air holes. I have never used it while under way.
 
I've been using the small Dickinson. Have had great luck so far with it. Mounted near cabin in a stainless Perko straight rod holder very solid with the Dickinson adaptor. I tried it with my fish on rod holders, but there was a lot of movement. Pictures in my photo album.
Gregg
 
I have the small magna and use it on the rod holder of my down rigger. This way I can swing it in and out of the boat as needed. they do cook hot and i have to turn it down to the lowest setting, but i really like using it. I have also bought the adaptor to fill the small propane bottles from my larger 5 gallon tank. I have ten of the small green bottles that I just keep refilling. saves lots of money that way.
 
Tom,
I had not heard of an adaptor to refill small propane bottles. Where do you get them. It really would be handy.
Gregg
 
I bought my adaptor at West Marine...but just about any large camping goods store will have them.... I have one in case the propane tank on my cook stove runs out of propane and I can use the adaptor to use one of those small camping size bottles to run my stove.

I have a Magna Barbeque...and I don't like it...(the round one) it will not go down far enough....it is just to hot...plus it gets blown out by any wind....really frustrating....I think briquets are better.

West Marine has some rectangle ones that might be better...at least you can move the meat away from the fire when it flares up...

Joel
SEA3PO
 
We use charcoal at home to Bar-b-que, but I hesitated to buy one for the boat. I hate to throw anything into the water. My small Dickinson has been really good. It is much heavier than Magma. It is hotter on the side away from valve, but does a great job of cooking as long as you don't overheat it. Thanks for the tips on adaptors. One of those things that I never knew existed.
 
Weight and size limits here folks....but I 1st saw the Big Green Egg mounted on the back deck of a fishing charter boat out of Destin, FL. They make 4 sizes. The top two sizes are for sure too large for a boat of our size...unless cooking IS your thing for sure. I bought the 2nd smallest one which has a roll around stand, little frog feet as to set it right on the dock/ground, and can also be set into a whole cut into a table...BUT...it is a very acquard 60+ pounds still... I bought it for the back deck of FreeByrd. Used it and it was great, but never finished the project....always just went boating instead. The long range plan was to build it into the storage (lower section) of that AC holder I had on FreeByrd's back deck, that had zero holes drilled and mounted with bungee. The long range plan was to move it to the port side as to allow me to see when backing into slips and/or down on an object in the water. Then, I would have had both AC and a great grill. Finished, the cabinet would have had folding sides as to hide both the AC and the grill when not in use. When time to use the grill, open the lower door, roll'r out and back into the cockpit area.

Now.... the smallest of the Big Green Eggs....actually....it is a very small green egg....would be a very possible good bet for a couple, and a small boat. BGE also has their own charcoal which is very light, lights and burns very easy, puts itself out after closing the vents as to be able to use what has not burned and turned to total dust. Now that little puppy might be worth looking into.. When I go home (Mt. Juliet, TN) I plan to go by a distributor of them and see if they have someone who can loan me one of the very small(est) ones to try on C-Byrd.

They cook great... they are spendy. but....we are talking about something for THE BOAT!!!!
 
Byrdman's Reference Center:

allTheEggs.jpg
 
We use the party size Magna. When at anchor, the BBQ is protected from the wind some what as the boat swings into the wind. We haven't experienced the overheat problem.

One of the best things we cook on the Magna is Pork Tenderloin. It has very little fat to cause flare ups. About a half hour soak in Lowry's Herb and Garlic marinade and it's good to go. :lol: :lol:


Anyone else have a favorite Boat BBQ dish?
 
Back
Top