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Best Boat Grills Reviewed
Just when you thought your boating adventures couldn’t possibly get any better – some genius out there started designing grills that cater to boating and marine grilling.
Yeah, we agree – boat grilling is a great idea. Serving up burgers and kabobs for your family and guests without even leaving the water makes for a truly great time.
Finding the best boat grill that can perform on the water will make all the difference.
Thankfully there are top quality marine grills available with a variety of features and accessories that will offer what you need for your boat. But you’ll need to sort through some of those details to see which boat grill is best for you.
That’s why Rowing Inc brings you our take on the top marine boat grills.
We thoroughly enjoy a great day on the water just as much as anyone, and we want to help you find the boat grill that will perform up to your standards and that fits your budget and preferences.
We put together the comparison chart below so you can look over the different aspects of each boating grill and compare which features will work the best for your next outing. And to see why we choose the grills that landed our favorite spots, check out our full boat grill reviews in the article that follows.
Okay, let’s check out these marine grills!
Top Marine Grill Comparison Chart
Best Boat Grill
1. Coleman RoadTrip 285 Portable Stand-Up Propane Grill
Coleman RoadTrip 285 Portable Grill
When you’re looking for a portable grill, you want one that is easy to transport. The Coleman RoadTrip 285 does just that. With quick-fold legs, and two sturdy wheels this portable grill is easy to get on and off the boat when you arrive at your location.
As a stand-alone boat grill, the Coleman RoadTrip 285 makes a great option for calmer waters. Any significant rocking will likely require some additional stabilization, which is easy to accomplish on most boats.
Beyond being easy to transport the grill, you can stare and set up this grill with ease as well. With matchless lighting, you can be cooking quickly with the grill, when you’re out and about. This boat grill is also a very helpful design due to the large surface area allowing you to cook a large amount of food on it.
The grill has sliding side tables that help to keep utensils and sauces secure and on-hand, making cooking with this grill simple and convenient.
The grill also comes with swappable cooktops that are easily interchangeable, making it simple to cook with a griddle or a stove top, depending on your needs.
Another feature that helps when using the grill is that it has three independent and adjustable heating zones, so you can cook different things on different areas of the grill, and get them cooked up just as you want them.
The cooking surface area is 285 sq. inches, and with an easy-to-clean grease management system, it makes it a varsatile choice for using out on a boat, the beach, or at camp. We love the functionality of this boat grill and highly recommend it.
2. Magma Products ChefsMate Stainless Steel Boat Grill
Magma Products ChefsMate Boat Grill
This compact boat BBQ grill cooks nicely for a mid-sized crew or gathering. It features convenient fold-away legs, helping it to be easily transportable and store away in tight spaces, whether at sea or on-shore.
It has been made with the Magma quality that you would expect, but it is more compact and priced competitively for someone that is looking for a good quality grill but doesn’t want to spend a lot.
The grill looks good, but most of all, is designed with perfect boat grilling performance in mind.
Magma designed the ChefsMate for compatibility with their Magma pedestal mount, which is a fantastic mounting platform. This particular model uses the T10-185 Stowable Pedestal Mount, which allows for quick setup and detachment with the push of a button. The low-profile mounting base provides a solid mount without cutting holes in your deck.
For ease of use when you are using this outdoors, and to make transporting safe and simple after use, the grill comes with an inner safety shell that helps to funnel the grease into the front section, keeping the grease all in one place.
The grill itself is 9” x 12” and comes with a grilling surface of 108 sq. inches. The grill is made from mirror polished marine grade stainless steel. It is tested for even heat distribution, especially for being out on the water.
It is fuel efficient in how it is designed, and it uses standard and disposable 1-lb. propane canisters. It can also work with any on-board gas systems if required.
Overall, this is a classy and functional boat grill. We really recommend this unit to anyone in the market for a reliable marine grill. For attaching to a boat, it is best to get one of their boat grill mount pedestal systems, which are sold separately.
This video will help you choose the best Magma boat grill For your needs:
3. Weber Q1000 Liquid Propane Grill
Weber Q1000 Propane Grill
There is a large grip handle and control knobs, and it is designed with ergonomic side handles and some sturdy front and rear cradles.
The grill has split grates which allow for a combination of cooking, a grate and a griddle; all you need to do is to replace the plates.
The total cooking area is 189 square-inches for an ample cooking surface. The grill is well built, good quality, and is durable as well as being lightweight.
Made from cast-aluminum, and being fully-assembled when it arrives, makes it a good option for ease of use and transportation.
When used outdoors and on the go, it uses disposable LP cylinders, but it can be easily used on or off the boat, or even at home.
To start the grill you use a push-button feature, making it simple and easy when using it on a boat. You can adjust the heat setting from low to high, using the dial and adjusting the control burner valve, so it can work for a variety of foods.
Whether you need a pontoon boat grill, or something to cook breakfast back at camp, the Weber Q1000 carries all the quality and performance you would expect of the Weber line. It’s a high-quality and versatile option that we recommend without hesitation.
4. Cuisinart CGG-180T Petit Gourmet Portable Tabletop Gas Grill
Cuisinart CGG-180T Portable Tabletop Grill
Its small size means that it can be transported easily, and stored easily too, making it a convenient option for boating and travel in general.
The grill itself isn’t huge, with a 145 square-inch grilling surface, but it is still going to cook up enough for a family. With space for around eight hamburgers, steaks, chicken, and of course, a lot of fish.
Unlike some other small BBQ grills, the Cuisinart Petite Tabletop Grill is solid, durable, and built to last. It really cooks just as well as a full-size grill. It is fueled by propane and features a twist start ignition, making it easy to light.
Another benefit of its smaller size is that it means that it can work well for small spaces, and space can often be limited on a boat. The compact size helps to keep the heat retained near to the cooking surface, which makes it very energy-efficient; more energy-efficient than some larger grills.
One of the important features is that it heats up very quickly, and it uses a lot less gas than a larger marine grills would. That translates into less storage of fuel and more space overall, which can be helpful when you’re out on a boat.
The grill comes with folding legs, a grill lid latch, as well as a carry handle, making it simple to carry and move on-board. You can set it up and fold it away in seconds.
There is also a spill resistant drip tray, which is helpful for preventing messes when you are cooking out on the water.
5. Masterbuilt Smoke Hollow PT300B Tabletop Gas Grill
Masterbuilt Smoke Hollow PT300B Tabletop Grill
The grill comes with two stainless steel burners, and also features a wood chip tray and a smoke burner, which is a nice additional aspect that you can use to add some smokehouse flavor to your meat and fish.
The grates are porcelain-coated making them easy to clean, and they do have plenty of space with a cooking area of 288 square-inches.
Unlike the other boat grills we reviewed, the Masterbuilt Smoke Hollow PT300B offers a chrome plated wire warming rack. This is a welcome feature for a grill of this size, or if you are going to be cooking up a lot of food that needs to be kept hot prior to serving.
For boaters looking to avoid the bulk and difficult storage of larger boat grills, this model will have a lot to offer as it features a mid-sized surface area. Storing a larger the boat grill is an important aspect to consider, as you will need more space despite the fact that it might work well as a boat grill.
You will also need to consider the ease of transporting it easily. The Smoke Hollow PT300B comes with three folding legs, as well as a locking hood, which makes it easy and simple to store.
It is a unique boat grill choice if you are keen to master the art of smoking your food. Not only can you smoke foods with this grill, but you can use the lower smoker burner without chips and still maintain a low temperature. Compared to other grills of this size, that feature is unheard of.
In high winds, which could definitely be experienced on water, it doesn’t blow out easy like some smaller grills might.
Overall, the Masterbuilt Smoke Hollow PT300B has some really unique features to bring to your boat BBQ grilling. And the quality and performance is right on par with other top quality boat grills.
How To Choose a Top Quality Boat Grill – A Buyers Guide
If you are unfamiliar with boat grills, and looking to buy your first one, then you might not know where to start. With boat grills offering a range of features, you might not know what the best features are to look for, so here are some things to help.
Primary cooking area
There are two different measurements that you need to look at when you’re considering a boat grill. There are overall measurements which is the size of the grill itself. Then you need to look at the cooking area measurement, which is the cooking surface that you will have; the area that will have the heat underneath it. You can cook for as many people as you’d like to with any sized gill, the bigger the cooking area, the less time it will take to cook it all.
Warming rack
A warming rack can be helpful as you can toast some burger buns on there, as well as heat up a side dish, or simply keep food warm. It can be a helpful feature if you want to serve food all at the same time, but perhaps the grill is a little smaller. It is a good feature to have, but may not be needed, depending on the cooking area that the grill has.
Number of burners
The number of burners that a boat grill has is usually not more than two, though some do have three. A regular BBQ can have way more than that, but boat grills are much more compact in comparison. If you are looking to cook a variety of different things, then a grill with two burners can be helpful, so that you can have different temperatures. Then you will be able to cook each item perfectly.
BTUs
If you don’t know what BTU stands for, then it stands for British Thermal Unit. Put simply, it is all about how much heat output there is. The bigger the number, the more heat is produced from the grill. It is natural to think that you want the grill with the highest BTU for your boat grill. It is important to remember that you don’t want to char all of the food that you cook. So although having a grill with the highest BTU can be helpful, you can still easily cook food on a boat grill with a lower BTU.
Mounting Kits
You may not be aware that there are two types of boat grills. There are ones that you can just rest on the floor, and there are some that you can attach to the boat, in some instances, clipping it on the side. The type that you choose will depend on your needs, and the kind of trips you plan on having. If you will be planning long trips where the water could be choppier, then having a mounting kit will be an essential piece of kit. Otherwise, the grill will just roll around the boat and be impossible to use safely. For sailing on lakes that are going to be calm, then a grill that just goes on the floor could work well. So think about what you will be using it for and then you can go from there with your decision.
Size
The dimensions and size of the boat grill that you choose needs to fit in your boat! The overall dimensions won’t refer to the cooking space, but the thing as a whole. As a result, you need to know what you’ll have enough space to put it in the boat, as well as space in the car to transport it, for example. If you’re using a grill at home, your space isn’t as restricted as it is with a boat, so make sure that you measure up to get the right one for you.
Weight
The weight of the boat grill that you choose is something to bear in mind for a number of reasons. First of all, you will have to get the grill to the boat, so you need to be able to carry it easily. The grill then may remain on the boat for a while, or you might take it off the boat each time. Whichever you will be doing, it is a good idea to make sure that the boat grill that you choose is enough for your needs. Your boat needs to also be able to deal with the extra weight, as well as you being able to carry it. You don’t want to add something too heavy for the kind of boat that you have.
Warranty
As with most things that you will buy, it is important to look out for a warranty. You don’t want to spend a lot of money and only have it break after using it once. Warranties can help you when a product breaks or doesn’t work as it should. With items like boat grills, having a good warranty is something that is essential.
There are some other features to think about with the purchase of any new boat grill. The common material to look out for is stainless steel, and Marine-grade is the best to have for boats. Having a temperature gauge can be helpful too. The more features that there are, then the better the grill will work for what you need it to do.