BBQ Grills For Pontoon Boats

For those people who appreciate some nice, relaxing leisure time, there’s nothing more enjoyable than spending a couple of hours on a peaceful lake, floating around on a pontoon boat. You know, it’s that feeling of gentle rocking that you can get in a normal boat as well, just without sacrificing any of the stability you’re enjoying on land and also without being confined to the relatively narrow space of a canoe or whatever kind of fishing boat. What’s more, if you’re considering a serious bout of not doing anything remotely useful and simply having some well-deserved fun, there’s nothing you cannot do on a good pontoon boat.

Just by adding a couple of accessories, you can transform the boat into whatever you can imagine. Bring a roof, a table, and some chairs, and you can have a nice meal with your favorite people. Bring your favorite fishing rod and a couple of beers and here you go – it’s a fishing boat. Why, you can even get a power generator, your computer, and some loudspeakers and you’re ready to throw the most massive rave party the lake has ever seen. And don’t forget about the most important thing here: a good grill. Whether you’re with your family or your friends or even by yourself, whether you are on a fishing trip, having a party, or simply wasting some time on the nearby lake, a barbecue is the core of pontoon boat pastime.

However, you can’t just bring your camping grill, put it on the boat and light a fire. Don’t forget that, despite the inherent stability of a pontoon boat, you’re nonetheless on water and you’re lighting a fire on a moving platform that’s basically keeping you from drowning. As such, you need to make sure that whatever grill you use on your boat, it can take whatever Mother Nature can throw at it in such a peaceful environment.

1. Get the whole pack: Cuisinart Grill with Arnall’s Grill Bracket Set

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This is the top choice we’d like to share with you. It consists of one of the best budget portable grills you can find online, and a set of Arnall’s brackets that is perfect for securing the grill to your pontoon’s square railing.

The Cuisinart Grill is, in fact, a 13.5-pound tabletop grill. However, you can see just by looking at it that it wasn’t designed to sit idly on the table. It is made of inoxidizable materials, including a 5500 BTU stainless steel burner and an enameled grate that can make chicken wings and sausages for your entire family, all at once, without burning anything to a crisp. It also has foldable legs and a comfortable handle, thus being fully transportable. Basically, a great all-rounder which you can use anywhere you want, including on a boat.

2. Kuuma 58182 Stow N’ Go Grill Rail Mount

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If you have a pontoon boat with square railing and a portable grill you’d like to take with you, all you need is this bracket set in order to make things work. It’s nothing difficult about it: secure the brackets to the railing by tightening a couple of screws, secure the grill to the brackets through a similar operation, and you’re all ready to become the king of pontoon burgers.

The bracket set is meant for 7/8″ – 1-1/4″ round horizontal railings or on 1-1/4″ square railings. It’s made of stainless steel, being tough and durable, and it can support pretty much any portable grill you can think of.

3. Springfield Deluxe Propane Grill

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You’ll love this grill because of the way it’s mounted. The grill is set on a metal pedestal which you can screw to virtually any part of your boat’s deck after simply drilling some holes. When you’re not using it, you can just remove the grill from the pedestal and use it as a normal grill.

The grill produces a nice 12.000 BTU in order to heat the 180 square inches of cooking surface. All you need to become the burger king on your boat!

4. Magma Marine Kettle Gas Grill with Hinged Lid

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A serious-sounding name for probably the prettiest pontoon boat grill on the market. This grill is made integrally of mirror-polished stainless steel and it’s designed to keep the heat in and the wind out with a modern venting system. It’s 15” in diameter and you can either use it as a tabletop grill or purchase the special bracket for your boat’s railing.

5. Kuuma Stow and Go 160 Propane Grill

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This grill is made to be as compact as possible and it is, in fact, originally designed as a tabletop grill, with four foldable support legs. When you’re not using it, you can simply store it under a bench, in your car’s trunk, or wherever else you find appropriate.

Just like any other good pontoon boat grill, it’s made of stainless steel and has a proper lid. If you want to attach it to the railing, you can always purchase the mounting bracket as well as other accessories.

A pontoon boat grill has to do a couple of things a normal grill will never experience. To begin with, you must take location into account, since you will be using it on the water. The grill must be as windproof as possible because you never know when a sudden wind gust can make it blow some fire in your face. Water damage must also be taken into account here, so you need something made from non-corrosive materials, at the very least. It must also have excellent ventilation since you won’t be able to light your fire otherwise. What’s more, since it’s not exactly on stable ground, it must offer a safe way to be secured to either the floor or the railing – you don’t want the grill to fall the moment you start your engine. Last, but not least, it must perform exactly like a good land-based grill, that is, to heat evenly and be easy to light, operate, and clean.

There is, however, a problem with all this. In an effort of cutting costs yet still selling for a high price, many companies that produce grills throw on the market incomplete products that not only will not perform as expected but can actually endanger the well-being of the boat and whoever is on it. Moreover, there’s always the risk of having the grill simply fall off and boom! $150 short. As such, we decided to offer you a couple of options you may want to try, considering there are so many on the market that you may want to avoid. Here are a couple of our recommendations, all of which are propane grills (after all, you don’t want to be playing with burning embers when the wind starts blowing).