There are two very important things that happen every summer: the covers come off the grill, and the mouth-watering aroma of burgers, hotdogs, and seared corn fill the air. If you’re looking to get into outdoor cooking or step up your sizzling skills, here are ten great items that will make neighbors pop over the fence to ask what’s on the grill.
A portable grill
Most people considering whether to grill this summer call to mind the gargantuan, sixteen-rack, multi-burner monsters available at their local Grunting Outdoorsman store, and shudder. Don’t let the extreme complexity (and extreme price) of the top-of-the-line grills discourage you. Really, all you need to get into grilling is a cheap, basic efficiency model. This grill returns to fundamentals, a metal rack over a raised bed of coals. It can comfortably feed small gatherings of 3-4, perfect for having your family and friends taste test your newly discovered searing talent before investing in an expensive behemoth.
$22.99 each
All the accessories you need
Gettin’ grillin’ requires a few basics. Unless you want to be flipping your burgers with your bare fingers, you’ll need tongs, cutlery, and other implements. Not only does this great set have everything you need to get sizzling, with excellent non-stick and easy-clean qualities, but it’s conveniently self-contained. This makes wrapping up your outdoor adventure a snap. The apron is the storage rack, so just hang it up next to the patio door when winter arrives, and it’ll be easy to find when next summer rolls around.
$19.99 per 11-piece set
Cooked to perfection
If you’ve ever experienced food poisoning while out dining, you know how important cooking meals to the right temperature is. However, for some reason people always assume that the stuff they make at home can’t make them sick, even when cooking the three worst offenders — pork, chicken, and beef. Be safe and smart (and added bonus, always get the burger perfectly done!) by jabbing your offerings with this flipout meat thermometer. By comparing the temperatures to the included handy safety chart, you can make sure you don’t make your guests violently sick this summer.
$19.95 each
Get the grill going
One of the biggest problems when grilling, which even professional chefs run into, is regulating the temperature of the coals. For many, it’s easiest just to pour out a bottle of lighter fluid, strike a match, and dive for cover. This leads to the sadly common cliché of an amateur trying to fire up a grill and launching a fireball you can see for miles. Instead of flash-cooking your eyebrows, try these little tumbleweeds. They light easily and burn slowly, allowing the coals to heat up to a proper grilling temperature without the immolation risk.
$18.99 per box of 50
Protect your hands
You probably already wear an apron, if only because it’s traditional while grilling. Some people even wear safety goggles! But an overlooked risk of grilling is injuring your hands, whether through accidentally touching a hot piece of metal or stabbing yourself with a pronged fork. Slip into a pair of these comfortable gloves, which are rated for temperatures in excess of 1400°F, and made of a durable aramid fabric to prevent unfortunate skewer accidents. They’re also non-slip, which means no more accidentally dropping the fish on the ground when you go to flip it.
$21.99 per pair
Cook safely through the night
You know a cookout is going well when the sun sinks, the citronellas are lit, you’ve dragged out the second bag of coals and hinted that someone needs to go buy more ears of corn, and your guests still won’t leave. Don’t ruin the party by dropping the steaks in the dirt, knocking over the grill, or tripping over a hungry invitee you couldn’t see. This pair of high-powered steel-necked LED lights clamp right on to the grill, so that you can be master of your domain for as far as the eye can see.
$22.97 per pair
Keep your grill clean
Even with the proper tools and scrubbing agents, grilling is a messy job. You’ve got smoke going everywhere, bits of corn and beef burnt onto every metal surface, a potholder fell in unobserved and is now charred rubber… anything can and will go wrong. At the very least, save yourself the work of scrubbing the grill out with a wire brush by using disposable liners. After you’re done grilling (and resolving all the emergencies) just scrunch up into an aluminum ball, toss into the trash, and that’s it. You’re done!
$23.86 per dozen
Add some flavor to your smoke
There’s a reason why all the gourmet cuts of meat call themselves things like “Hickory smoked”, “Apple-wood seared”, “wood-fired”, and the like — just like every cut of meat has a different flavor, the materials you use to cook them contribute their own profile. Whether you’re looking for a rich dark-wood to make beef have “zing,” or a tangy and nutty wood to make a bolder grilled chicken, the included chart will show you exactly which wood chippings to add to which meal to maximize the mouth-watering factor.
$18.99 per 20 lb bag
Grill anything with mats
By design, grills need good air circulation to allow the heat to disperse evenly, for proper inside-and-out cooking. Of course, this is commonly addressed by having gapped racks, but that raises another issue. You can’t exactly cook corn on the cob, or pancakes, or anything goopy or small — it’ll just fall right through, and make a mess! That’s where copper grilling mats come in. They still let heat and smoke through, but provide an even surface with no gaps. Cook anything, with fewer messes and an easy cleanup afterwards.
$29.99 per pack of 6
Cook faster and crispier
You can never go wrong with cast-iron tools. Even if you never step foot near a grill, you’ll want one of these presses for the skillet in the kitchen. By pre-heating this tool and then using it as a weight, most foods take half as long to cook, since there’s no flipping necessary. This means fewer juices cooked off, and food that’s evenly seared and crispy on both sides. Great for making moist burgers on the grill, thin seared pork chops on the oven, and most importantly, bacon that comes out perfectly crisped every time.
$12.99 each
