Long before we bought LouLouDitsi we’d been researching different options for barbecuing on deck. In hot weather, cooking below is unpleasant and makes the cabins hotter, and it can be difficult getting rid of the smell of grilled or roasted meat and fish.
One issue was fuel – gas or charcoal? We already have gas onboard for the galley stove and a dedicated, vented deck locker for the gas bottles. Sailors tend to take gas safety very seriously, for good reason. Gas is heavier than air, so on a boat it sinks into the bilges (spaces under the floorboards at the bottom of the hull) along with any water that finds its way in. It can sit there unnoticed, ready to ignite in the presence of a spark or fire. Pumping the bilges regularly, even if dry, will pump out any gas there too. Gas hoses and connections must be in date and inspected regularly. So we’re already managing the risk of having gas onboard and a gas BBQ wouldn’t add a new one. Charcoal would need to be stored somewhere dry. The place where there’s space is the engine room, but that didn’t seem sensible from the point of view of fire risk! A gas BBQ would be ready to use more quickly and wouldn’t present the difficulty of disposing of ash in a crystal clear turquoise bay.
Many yachts have a BBQ fixed to the pushpit (the rail around the back of the boat; the one around the front is the pulpit.) This is fine at anchor, but can be unsociable when moored to a quay in a cross-wind that blows any smoke or cooking smells into the cockpit of the boat moored alongside! We like to be on good terms with our neighbours wherever possible.
We found 2 options for a BBQ that didn’t get hot on the outside and would stand on the deck, allowing flexible positioning: a Cobb or a Lotus Grill. Both of these also allow frying and oven cooking, both are small and light enough to easily stow and set up. Both use charcoal.
We couldn’t decide – we wanted the flexibility of the Cobb or Lotus, but the ease of gas. Then, one day, I went back to have another look at the saved websites and found a new, gas version of the Cobb!! Lots of yotties rave about the Cobb on various forums (it should probably be fora, but that just sounds wrong.) So, I ordered the Cobb Premier Gas Kitchen in a Bag, for delivery to IBA in Nidri.
The estimated delivery date from DPD was Tuesday 29 May. I watched as it left UK, arrived in Budapest, spent the weekend in Sofia and then got to Athens. How, I wondered, would it take a week to get here from Athens, a 4 hour hour coach journey?
It didn’t, it arrived unexpectedly early on Thursday 24th, the same day as the mattress! We were somewhat distracted with toilet servicing and other maintenance jobs, so, having unboxed it, it was about a week before we tried to buy a small gas cannister to fit it. There is an adaptor available to connect it to one of our big gas bottles, but we hadn’t yet bought that as we thought the small 500g cannisters would make it more portable.
The first one we bought had the wrong connector – it was a clip on type and not, as we’d thought, a screw in one. The connectors are covered by a plastic cap before purchase and all the information is in Greek. Sometimes we can laboriously spell out the letters and make sense of enough words in Greek to get the general gist, but not this time. 2nd time lucky, so on the next trip shore we bought our ingredients.
Setting it up was easy, as was lighting it. A bit of trial and error getting the heat setting right and, Kali Orexi! (Bon appetit!) Pork Souvlaki, Grilled Courgettes dressed in olive oil and lemon juice, Tzatziki and Grilled Pitta Bread:
We will rig up a light on the aft deck so we don’t have to use a torch and we’re on the hunt for a tray to stand it in and a builder’s bucket the right size to soak the parts in – they all cleaned up very easily the next day, but the sink is quite small!
We cooked a 3rd pork skewer and extra courgettes, which were sliced into a rice salad for dinner the next night, along with spring onions, red peppers and tomatoes. A successful first outing for our new toy using the griddle. Still to try: frying pan, roasting rack, frying dish/wok. Will keep you posted!