[It's another MadMariner feature from a few weeks back. In it, I summarize some of my experiences with the Magma kettle stove/grill. I’ve encountered problems, and sometimes I’ve discovered solutions. The Magma kettles are very popular, and this article should be valuable to anyone who owns one, or who is shopping for a barbecue. —Tim]

Magma Kettle barbecues are nearly ubiquitous throughout North American cruising grounds. I’ve owned one for a couple cruising seasons now, and I’ve learned a lot about the ups and downs of these units.

Let me say right off that this grill has enhanced our cruising experience more than any other single improvement. Moving cooking operations out to the cockpit removes the steam, splatter, and spills from the cabin entirely.

Even more significant, though, is the elimination of the bottleneck at the cabin door, which is where the galley is. The rest of the crew can come and go as they please while I cook astern. It sounds silly, but cooking out back seems to make the boat physically larger. On a 22 foot boat, a change like this is almost as good as buying a boat three feet longer.

To be precise, I’ve got a Magma Marine Kettle 2 combination stove and gas grill in the “original” (smaller) size. I use it as a stove more often than I use it as a barbecue, and as such I have some tips that are worth sharing.

KETTLE AS STOVE

The kettle works fine as a stove, and you can even use it as both a stove and a barbecue while preparing one meal. Of course, you need to do your “stove” cooking first, and then carefully restore the (cool) cone and grill pieces to their normal location within the (hot) kettle. You can’t do the reverse, because you can’t remove the hot grill and cone very easily. The grill isn’t the problem; it’s the cone that’s virtually impossible to remove unless you place your hands right on it for traction, which you can’t do if it’s, yes, hot.

While using it as a stove, you can leave the radiant burner plate in the normal position or, if it’s very windy, you can invert it, which will place your cooking pot directly onto the top of the burner. I suspect that it’s not as efficient this way. But when the wind is pulling a lot of heat away from your pot, or threatening to extinguish the flame altogether, closer is better.

You can also close the lid while using it as a stove, but be aware that the entire pot will become incredibly hot, and you can damage components that are anything less than “oven safe.” You’ll need hot pads to lift the pot off the stove, unless you’ve got cookware with removable handles.

REGULATOR VALVE

The Magma regulator valves leave much to be desired, but I haven’t identified an alternative that works better. My complaint is that it has two basic settings: “low” is what I would call “high,” while “high” is roughly equal to the temperature of the sun. I was told that the incredibly hot “low” setting represents grill manufacturers’ need to address customer complaints about having the flame blown out on windy days while on low.

Whatever the reason, when using the kettle as a stove to cook my nearly famous Bagel Eggels properly, I need to modulate the heat manually, by turning the stove on and off. Luckily, I’ve gotten pretty good at this, developing a sixth sense about when it’s time to turn it off, or that it’s been off too long. Still, it’s a hassle.

Paradoxically, it was not a hassle for the past few months. My regulator valve wouldn’t close completely, so when I turned it off, fuel still flowed at a slow rate, giving me a pilot-light type effect. It was very convenient, but also very, very dangerous, particularly when disassembling the stove at the end of a cooking session. The only way to stop the fuel flow was to unscrew the regulator valve from the fuel canister – and fuel was leaking out the entire time. It’s a bad situation. And as time went on, the amount of fuel flow went from a pilot-light trickle to something like a genuine “low” flame level. Sure, I’d love a “low” setting on my stove, but my concern about the hazard eventually overcame my delight with the wonderful new functionality of my malfunctioning regulator valve. I decided to fix it.

I have no doubt that Magma would recommend that I replace it. The regulator valve has no user-serviceable parts. There isn’t a way to open it up and overhaul it, as far as I can tell.

But regular readers know that I’m not likely to give up that easily. If the thing needs to be replaced, then nothing I can do to it will make it worse. It’s garbage, right? So I might as well experiment on it.

See, I had a hypothesis: What if some slight corrosion was preventing the valve from closing completely? Some bit of crystallized mineral, perhaps. Maybe even salt. Maybe something soluble? So first, I sprayed some magic CorrosionX in both ends and let that sit. Then I dropped the entire valve in a bowl of very hot water and let it soak overnight. I made sure the valve was in an open position when I dropped it in the water, because I didn’t want a vacuum to prevent the water from flowing into and through the valve.

Huge disclaimer: do not try this! This is propane, so always follow the manufacturer’s instructions. (I’m sure Magma will chime in with a comment about replacing any component that shows signs of corrosion.)

Guess what, though? It’s fixed now. It doesn’t leak anymore in the closed position, and it opens up as usual. My stove’s running properly again. I’ll report on any further developments with this valve as the cruising season progresses.

[UPDATE: The "pilot light" effect is back, so my solution was only temporary. Oh well, I'll try something else next time. Stay tuned! —Tim]

MOUNTING AND FUEL

Magma has so many mounting options, and every boat is different, so it’s impossible to say that there is one ideal mount. But I’ve found the one I like best: the A10-165 “Socket Type Fish Rod Holder Mount” fits Scotty rod holder sockets. This is clever because those Scotty sockets work when mounted on either a horizontal or vertical surface, and they’re cheap enough that you can easily add mounts wherever you want them.

Even if you don’t fish, this mounting option is worth considering first. You may find that your situation requires some other solution, but I see a lot of barbecue mounts on boats that would have been easier with the A10-165.

Then, there’s fuel. It continues to amaze me the that the most-frequently-viewed page at Navagear is the one entitled “Refill Disposable Propane Cylinders“.

I explored several fuel options for my Magma kettle, and aboard my boat, the best solution seems to be to continue using those disposable 16-ounce propane cylinders. They are an expensive way to purchase propane, about $3 for 16 ounces at most discounters, and more than twice that at popular cruising destinations.

They are not refillable, officially. But they can be refilled. Any propane tank I bring aboard my boat is going to rust, and the disposable ones are inexpensive compared to fancy DOT-certified refillable ones (which will also rust). So I’ve learned how to refill them.

I’m not 100 percent happy with my current refilling operation, but when I make the improvements I’ve got in mind, I’ll let you know. For now, look at the existing report, and read the comments.

And, if you thought my advice on fixing the regulator valve needed a liability disclaimer, wait until you read about refilling disposable propane cylinders. Suffice it to say that nobody should do what I do, ever.

Come to think of it, that’s probably good advice in general.