Grilling outdoors is one of the most satisfying cooking experiences you can have.
It’s a great way to prepare healthy meals, spend time with family, and even socialize with groups of friends and family.
It might seem daunting at first, but once you have some experience and the right accessories, grilling becomes as intuitive as cooking in your kitchen.
Whether you’re planning to grill for the first time or if you’ve got plenty of experience, you’ll find that the best grill accessories will make the whole process easier.
Monitoring The Temperature on Your Grill
Next to ingredients, the temperature is the most important element of great food.
Whether you’re grilling steaks or slow-smoking beef brisket, knowing the temperature of your ingredients will be key.
With some simple accessories, you won’t have to guess.
- To quickly check your ingredients, use an instant-read meat thermometer. This Kizen Grill Thermometer is accurate and reliable.
- It’s often more convenient to leave a probe in your ingredients while cooking. This ThermoPro TP-17 will continuously read internal temperatures and display the results on screen. It also has a temperature guide to ensure you’re hitting safe temperatures.
- You can even check the temperature of your grill surface with the right tool. This Infrared Thermometer 1080 can read the temperature of your grill surface as well as the surface of your food.
Getting More Flavor with Smoke
Grilling outdoors means you can add rich smoke flavor to your meals.
As you experiment with smoke, you’ll find the flavors that you like and your preferred food pairings.
If you have a charcoal grill, you can add wood chips directly to the firebox.
If you have a gas grill, you can use a simple accessory to cook with real smoke.
- These Jack Daniels Wood Smoking Chips give you all the most popular varieties to start experimenting with.
- This Char-Broil Stainless Steel Smoker Box is all you need to burn wood chips inside your gas grill.
Basting Grilled Food the Right Way
If you cook low and slow at temperatures below 300°F, basting your food with a sauce or marinade will give you even more flavor.
On the grill, a small silicone basting brush can start to feel a little underwhelming.
That’s where a basting mop can help.
Just as the name suggests, this is a miniature mop designed especially for your grill.
And, unlike silicone, a basting mop will allow you to get more of your sauce onto the meat.
- This Miso 18” Grill Basting Mop with replaceable heads is perfect for home grilling.
Preparation and Serving with a Butcher’s Block
Big grilled ingredients call for a big chopping board.
Most kitchen chopping boards simply won’t get the job done right.
This one’s pretty simple.
You can use it to prepare food before and after cooking, just remember to wash it between uses to prevent cross-contamination.
- This Extra-Large Organic Butcher Board is big enough for any home griller. Bamboo is a sustainable material, so it’s a far better option than hardwood or plastic chopping boards.
The Best Grill Knife You Will Ever Own
A quality grill knife will make serving your food much easier.
Whether you portion brisket, steak, or chicken, the right knife will prevent frustration and make your meals more presentable than ever.
At a minimum, you need a 12” brisket knife to cut through steak, brisket, roast, pork loin, and other similar ingredients.
We’ve found a high-quality knife set that includes a brisket knife and other essentials.
- This Z Grills Knife Set contains stainless steel boning, brisket, and chef’s knives, as well as a sharpening steel rod. These knives are full tang with the blade running through the handle, so they’re durable for heavy use.
More Options with Grill Mats
Cooking grates are perfect for steaks, chops, hot dogs, wings, and other popular grill ingredients.
But what about when you cook fish, chopped vegetables, or even smaller chicken pieces?
If you’re working with anything particularly delicate or that could fall through the grates, you should use a grill mat.
- These Renook Grill Mats are reusable, durable, and suitable for temperatures up to 400°F for quick searing sessions, or 260°F when cooking for longer than 30 minutes.
The Best Grill Tongs and Spatula
Even if you skipped everything else on this list, grill tongs and a reliable spatula are essential.
Lifting, turning, and even slicing can all happen with these two simple tools.
You should have them at your side every time that you grill.
Your kitchen utensils aren’t suited to your grill.
You need heavier products that can take some abuse.
- The GrillHogs 16” BBQ Tongs are ideal for outdoor cooking.
- The FlipFork Boss is a 5-in-1 grill spatula that can flip, turn, slice, cut, work as a fork, and even open your bottles.
With the Right Accessories You’ll Love Grilling Outdoors
If you’re wondering, what should I buy for grilling, you can start with everything on our list.
With these essentials and your grill, you’ll be ready to prepare, cook, and serve the most flavorsome meals that you and your family have ever enjoyed.
