Suggestions for easy grilled boat food

[Bruce]

We are taking two families out on the boat tomorrow. The morning crew is a family of four and the evening crew is six in addition to our four. So I need to take and grill lunch for 8 and dinner for 10.

Our typical boat foods are;

Steak (filet) for the four of us. Gets expensive if you have guests.

Shish-ka-bobs, I can stack the grill full of them and cook for 8 to 10 easily. This is a mid priced option but requires significant prep and is a little difficult to transport. I typically use steak, pork chops, sausage, potatoes, corn and tomatoes. With families that are not allergic / picky we add shrimp and and scallops.

Hot dogs, quick and easy. Can cook for a huge crew at one time.

Burgers, make a mess out of the grill but are great. Can fit 8 to 10 on the grill.

We typically have veggies and fruit to go along with the main courses. We eat a lot of edemame and grilled corn on the boat.

I am looking for something between hot dogs and shish-ka-bobs for one of tomorrow's meals.

Who has suggestions of something you enjoy grilling and eating on the boat?

 

[bumpy]

Whole potatoes par-cooked, sliced mostly through, thin slices of onion in the potato slices, olive oil and/or butter, season to taste, double foil wrap and cook first on the grill. Boneless/skinless chicken thighs dry rubbed (may want to trim fat; tastes good but boy does it flare!) as soon as the taters are done. They cook fast and are delicious!

 

[LTM1964]

Since it is so hot out, you could skip the grill for the first group. When we provide lunch for guests on the water, my wife makes chicken salad. Hers has chunks of chicken with grapes and walnuts. We serve it on croissants. We may have some pasta salad and more fruit also. I don't think kids would like it but we don't normally have kids around. The adults like it a lot.
I can't help with the dinner meal. We aren't normally still on the water at night and if we are we just go to a restaurant on the lake.

 

[Bruce]

I don't think kids would like it but we don't normally have kids around. The adults like it a lot.

My kids would be excited but our guest kids not so much.

 

[richardp1557]

We try keeping it simple by cooking hot dogs and grilling chicken breast. Last week my wife had the crazy idea of cutting up a can of spam into small pieces and making me grill them. We had a total of 8 people on the boat and my thoughts were "Nobody" but my wife will eat this. I was Wrong! Everyone but my wife ate it! It was such a big hit that they were wanting more! Easy and fast to cook and prep work is simple!

 

[Speedling]

Brats and italian sausage for sure!
That and almost any veggies for sure.
I refuse to do any burgers because they tend to fall apart.
I am too cheap for steaks but they work well!

 

[Bruce]

Do you guys who grill chicken worry about salmonella? I leave the chicken at home over that fear. I know that I can cook it out of the chicken but I worry about spreading it around the boat.

 

[Speedling]

Well, the best chicken is going to be marinated. The night before you get your marinade and chicken and put them in a ziplock bag. All prep is done at home. Everything sealed.
Open next to grill, fork onto grill, throw away bags.

 

[Julian]

Brats and italian sausage for sure!

We precook (boiled in beer) brats and then just heat them on the grill...and the kids either ask for a Brat or just a hot dog.

 

[arew~SX230]

I vote for sausage, easy and a step above hot dogs in any form especially on a good roll. If you have gourmet type butcher shop near by they should have some interesting/unique options. There is a place in the reading terminal market in Philly, that has all kinds, things like buffalo chicken, feta and spinach, pork with broccoli rabe, Cajun, as well as your standard hot and mild Italians

 

[veedubtek]

If people go with me, it is their responsibility to provide food.

 

[2nazt]

I love the potatoes in foil, we microwave them first for about 2-3 minutes after cubed up use a little butter, onions, garlic and double wrap and doesn't take long. I have been wanting to try the Smithfield Pork Loins that come pre seasoned and marinated. Cut them up at home and ziplock and should cook really quick. Also we do zucchini cut lengthwise and grill with rosemary also.

I also think the chicken marinated and zip locked should be no issue for contaminating anything or double bag it and have some hand sanitizer and wipes available to clean up the bag and hands after transfer to grill.

 

[txav8r]

Brats can be a very dressy food @Bruce . After adding the sour kraut, spicy mustard, and onions on a nice roll, they are a luxury. A warm potato salad is great with them, as well as baked beans. It really is a go to boat food for us, and we have done these without a grill. The grill is really just for show, because even after 3 hours, my brats come out of the small cooler I have, a towel wrapped around the foil wrapped brats, that were wrapped immediately off the grill. As mentioned, if the kids don't want brats, just substitute dogs. Now that is a great lunch or dinner, and you can dress it up with a fruit plate, guacamole, cheese, olives, you name it. And not have to fuss with a grill and 8 to 10 people on the boat! But if you want to grill for show, just precook and reheat on the grill, like @Julian mentioned. I am with you on the filets and shish-kabobs, they are easy to cook. As for burgers, I can't seem to cook them without making a huge mess on the Magma. Now they do make a veggie and fish tray, as well as a griddle for the magma, and I have all of those. I have cooked spicy cajun shrimp on the grill and they are very easy. Just toss in seasoning and leave in a gallon baggie in the cooler. When ready to cook, just use the veggie tray on the grill and load them up on it. I know you use a tray in your grill at home to create more smoke, you could add a small tray inside the magma to do the same thing I think for shrimp.

We have even used the FTC (Foil/towel/cooler) method to transport and keep hot, casseroles, buffalo chicken wings, corn on cob, steak, spaghetti, baked potatoes, and more I can't even remember. Even if you use the grill, you may want to consider that other warm or hot foods can be prepared ahead of time and kept warm this way.

 

[Scuba_ref]

This thread is making me hungry!

 

[robert843]

Do you guys who grill chicken worry about salmonella? I leave the chicken at home over that fear. I know that I can cook it out of the chicken but I worry about spreading it around the boat.

Late to the party but I agree chicken raw can get messy on the boat. If we are going to grill chicken I cook it the night before on the grill at the house and just reheat it on the boat the next day on the grill. I think I may start doing this with burgers as well to keep the grease mess down on the boat on the grill.

 

[latitudeadjuster]

The boat grill is on my list of mods for next year! Love this thread!

 

[Speedling]

The boat grill is on my list of mods for next year! Love this thread!

It's even more awesome in the fall!

 

[Zarrella]

@Bruce
Do you have room for 2 more for dinner???

 

[zipper]

It looks like i am late to the dinner table again. This is how we like to cook on the boat. Marinaded steak tips cubed, pre boiled potatoes, zuchinni squash, egg plant and mushrooms all skewered makes turning over easy. And can not forget pomodoro e basilico salad .

 

[yammiman]

I'm going to chime in on this not because I have suggestions on what to have to eat, but to offer my two cents on boat grilling - google "grilling in aluminum foil recipes" and you will be amazed at what comes up - we had our first boat 15 years ago and a fellow boater turned us on to this method - anything and everything can be cooked in aluminum foil - do all your prep the night before, wrap it in foil either that night or the following morning, put it in the cooler and from the cooler to the grill - easiest, fastest, and cleanest way to grill on a boat IMO - the bonus is, depending what you prepare, a lot of times you can eat right out of the foil on a paper plate or bowl - try wrapping your brats in foil with the onions and green peppers in with them - yum!! - just my 2 cents!!