Sear and Char! We Rounded up the Best Grilling Tools and Gear

The first rule of grilling is to always be prepared, and that means having the right gear and the best grilling accessories. Even though there are hundreds of so-called grilling "essentials" on prominent display at food stores and in catalogs, you figure out over the years that the only real tools you need are the ones that help you bring your food close to fire, preferably without burning yourself. After all, isn't that what grilling is really all about—food and fire, in all their primal glory?

Well, close, but not exactly. Here are the grilling tools you really need, all sourced from our tested reviews. We recommend this gear because it's all passed our rigorous tests—and because we use it at home, too.

The Best Grilling Gear

The Best Charcoal Grill

Weber Original Kettle Premium 22-Inch Charcoal Grill

$219 at Amazon $229 at Home Depot $229 at Ace Hardware

Choosing the right charcoal grill boils down to three factors: size, ventilation, and ease of operation. We recommend a large grilling surface. It allows you to cook for groups and offers enough space for the all-important two-zone fire. With plenty of space to bank coals on one side, you can create an ultra-hot searing zone while leaving the other side of the grill relatively cool in order to gently finish cooking food to your desired level of doneness.

Look for a grill with a separate rack for keeping the coals elevated. This design allows ashes to fall through, which increases oxygen supply to the coals so that they can burn faster and more efficiently. One set of dampers or vents is sufficient, although fancier charcoal grills have more. When taking all this into consideration, you can't do better than the Weber Original Kettle Grill. It's been our favorite for years. For more recommendations, check out our favorite charcoal grills. (If a portable charcoal grill's what you're after, check out our review here.)

The Best Gas Grill

Weber Spirit E-310 Gas Grill

$497 at Amazon $499 at Target View on Weber.com

What about gas grills, you might ask? They're convenient, easy to use, and many come with tons of features. After years of testing, we've found some common standout features to watch for, like large cooking surfaces, intuitive dampers, and helpful side tables and tool hooks. Weber makes some of the best gas grills on the market—in fact, it took six of the seven top spots in our gas grills review.

Our favorite gas grill is the Weber Spirit E-310, which is truly the best value gas grill on the market right now. It has three burners, which makes it powerful when it needs to be, and allows for zoned cooking. It has 450 square inches of cooking space—more than enough for most grilling enthusiasts. It's on the cheaper end of the spectrum, too, clocking in at under $500.

The Best Pellet Grill (Smoker)

Traeger Ironwood XL

$2,200 at Amazon View on Walmart $2,200 at Home Depot

You might consider a pellet grill if you’re into smoking meats. Our favorite pellet grills (which we determined with the help of hundreds of pounds of chicken wings) have set-it-and-forget-it convenience that yields tender, smoky results. Traeger has been making wood pellet grills for over three decades, and we’ve tested nearly all of them. The Ironwood XL is our top pick. This behemoth of a smoker knocked it out of the park, and it's so big that it can handle anything you throw at it. In our review, we noted that although it's pricey, we think it's the best Traeger you can buy. We're also hugely impressed by the Traeger Woodridge Pro—a new offering that's simple to use and brings together many of Traeger's best features.

The Best Flat-Top Grill

Weber 36 Inch Gas Griddle

$579 at Amazon View on Weber.com $579 at Lowe's

Finally, there are flat-top grills, which sport a single piece of carbon steel over the burners. This gets blisteringly hot, providing an excellent surface for making smash burgers or even an array of brunch food (think pancakes, bacon, and fried eggs). We liked Weber's flat-top grill for its wide surface area that heated evenly. Don't want to invest in a flat-top grill but still want to griddle? Weber sells an insert that's compatible with many of its gas grills.

The Best Lump Charcoal

Jealous Devil Chunx Lump Charcoal

View on Walmart $23 at Target $39 at Home Depot

Lump charcoal is prized over briquettes because it burns cleaner and leaves behind less ash. That said, it's not uniformly better than briquettes—there's certainly something to be said about efficiency! After testing popular brands of lump charcoal in low-and-slow and high-heat grilling tests, we determined that a moderate variation in size and shape made for the best, most consistent burns. Just about every bag we tested was plastered with terminology like "no additives," but that's not unique: All lump charcoal should be made from just one ingredient: dried wood. The specific species of wood mattered less than brands may lead you to believe, although we did notice a slight difference in charcoals made from hickory and oak.

The Best Charcoal Chimney Starter

Weber 7416 Rapidfire Chimney Starter

$28 $25 at Amazon $25 at Target $25 at Home Depot

Lighter fluid can leave your coals smelling like gasoline, imparting weird flavors to your food. A chimney starter is faster, cleaner, and more efficient. It's a tall metal cylinder with holes punched in it with a grate at the bottom for holding the charcoal. It works via the power of convection: When a lit newspaper is placed at the bottom, igniting the bottommost coals, the hot air rises up, pulling fresh oxygen in through the vent holes and through the bottom.

When deciding on a chimney starter, the most important elements are airflow and capacity. A full six quarts of charcoal is just about enough to cover the entire cooking surface on my Weber grill, and, not coincidentally, that's exactly how much the Weber Rapidfire Chimney Starter holds. Neat! Convection is the key to igniting charcoal, and the Weber’s smart air hole design helped coals turn fully ashy in a little over 24 minutes. The handle stays cool, too, a not-insignificant detail when it’s time to dump that charcoal into the grill and get on with cooking. 

The Best Grill Tongs

OXO Good Grips 16-Inch Locking Tongs

$25 $22 at Amazon View on Williams Sonoma View on Walmart

When I'm cooking indoors, I personally prefer the control that a shorter, seven- or nine-inch set of tongs gives me. But when I'm flipping a dozen steaks over a blazing-hot fire, I keep my distance. When we tested grill tongs, we preferred models that were at least 16 inches in length, keeping your digits away from the glowing coals and searing heat. The above models from OXO were two of our favorites, providing length and agility—not to mention powerful grip. Their scalloped heads even securely pinched wriggly, slippery hot dogs much better than those with forked or looped heads, which sacrificed more than one link to the flames.

Avoid tongs made with lightweight, easily bent, and quick-heating aluminum—if the tongs don't feel hefty and well constructed the moment you pick them up, chances are they're not. I also steer clear of heatproof nylon-tipped tongs. Not only do they give you less grip and less control, they also aren't really that heatproof (trust me, I've melted them in the past).

The Best Grilling Gloves

Grill Armor Gloves Extreme Heat-Resistant Oven Gloves

$40 $30 at Amazon View on Walmart View on Grillarmorgloves.com

Grill gloves are essential if you plan on maneuvering a brisket in and out of your pellet smoker. But having a set or two will prove infinitely usefu even if you don't smoke meatl: They're even great for cooking indoors, for tasks like handling a cast iron bread oven. When we tested grill gloves, we evaluated picks with heat resistance ratings of 932°F and upwards. Not every pair hit the mark—gloves with lots of silicone and neoprene retained so much heat, they were nearly impossible to remove. But we were duly impressed with two pairs from Grill Armor, the Extreme Heat Resistant Oven Gloves and the BBQ Waterproof Gloves. The Comsmart BBQ Gloves performed well, too. Not only could all three pairs handle the heat, they were comfortable, easy to clean, and helpfully flexible.

The Best Grill Brush

Grillart Grill Brush and Scraper

$21 at Amazon View on Walmart View on Grillartus.com

A clean cooking grate is essential for good grill marks, even cooking, and ensuring that delicate foods, like fish and vegetables, don't stick. While a crumpled-up ball of aluminum foil held with a pair of stiff tongs will work to scour a grill clean in a pinch, a dedicated grill brush is a tool you'll want to use to clean your grill every time you fire it up.

Associate editorial director Riddley Gemperlein-Schirm tested nine grill brushes and recommended a handful of models, including the ones from GRILLART and Weber. Both kept their bristles nicely intact even after she used them to scrub a concrete sidewalk. If you're concerned about bristles winding up in your food, we recommend this brush from Cuisinart, which uses steam to get grates clean.

A Fish Spatula for Delicate Flips

Wusthof Fish Spatula

$65 at Amazon View on Walmart View on Wusthof.com

On the grill or in the kitchen, a flexible slotted metal spatula, a.k.a a fish spatula, is one of the tools I use the most. Its strong, flexible head allows you to flip a big one-pound steak or a delicate piece of salmon with equal ease. In our review, we loved the agility and precision of the Wusthof spatula; it easily slid under burgers and salmon alike and the handle was the perfect length. The more affordable option from Winco also won us over with a similarly angled blade that was easy to slip under food.

An Offset Turner Spatula for Burgers

Dexter Russell S8696 Wood Handle 6 x 3" Offset Hamburger Turner

$37 $35 at Amazon View on Walmart View on Dexterrussellcutlery.com

Another grilling must is an offset turner. This versatile flipper is strong and sports a long metal blade that swoops under a hefty burger without a hitch. It's also prime for flattening a patty on a flat-top grill, resulting in a crispy, lacey smash burger.

The Best Thermometers for Grilling

An Instant-Read Thermometer

ThermoWorks Thermapen ONE

$119 at Amazon View on Thermoworks View on Kingarthurbaking.com

I've already extolled the virtues of the ThermoWorks Thermapen ONE in The Food Lab's Top 10 Pieces of Kitchen Gear, so there's not much new to add here. And it's not just for grilling—here are all the reasons why we think you should own an instant-read thermometer. Long story short: It's expensive, but it's incredibly useful. It's the best, most surefire way to ensure that your meat comes out perfectly cooked every time.

A Leave-In Probe Thermometer

ThermoWorks ChefAlarm

View on Thermoworks

In addition to an instant-read thermometer, a leave-in probe option is a great grilling asset since those dial thermometers on grills are entirely inaccurate. The pointy probe and long, heat-resistant cable will allow you to monitor the temperature of the grill/food at any given moment. Our long-time favorite model is the ThermoWorks ChefAlarm. It's easy to program, it's accurate, and it beeps loudly so there's no risk of forgetting your salmon on the grill. If you're looking for a remote-capable thermometer for long BBQ sessions, we recommend the ThermoWorks Smoke Remote BBQ Alarm Thermometer.

The Best Quarter Sheet Pans

Nordic Ware Quarter Sheet Pan

$12 $11 at Amazon

Quarter sheet pans are a must for grillers, cooks, and bakers. They're just that useful. Half the size of a half sheet pan (a.k.a. a regular home baking sheet), quarter sheets are the perfect size for seasoning meat and ferrying it to the grill. Our favorite quarter sheet pans from Nordic Ware are made with heavy aluminum, and their rolled edges make them warp-resistant. They're heat-resistant up to 450˚F, so you can use them on pellet grills—particularly useful if you want to smoke vegetables or delicate proteins, like fish.

The Best Carving Knife for Grilled Meats

Wüsthof Classic 9" Carving Knife

$170 at Amazon View on Williams Sonoma View on Wusthof.com

While it's on the pricey side, this Wüsthof carving knife was a favorite in our tests, and if you're spending all this time and effort trying to turn out perfectly cooked meat, you might as well slice it with a great tool. Its composite handle and full tang offer balance and support, while the lightly angled, slim bolster makes gripping the blade easy. It'll slice through all of your grilled meats like butter.

The Best Carving Board

The Boardsmith Maple End-Grain Cutting Board

View on Theboardsmith.com

Speaking of slicing, you'll also want a large carving board, with a grooved surface to catch any juices. After testing eight models, we recommend the carving boards from The BoardSmith (with the added juice well!) and Virginia Boys. Want to know how to keep it nice and clean and shiny? Here's our guide to seasoning and maintaining your wooden cutting board.

And that's it. With just this short list of gear, you can be off and grilling like the pros.

FAQs

What's the difference between grilling and barbecuing?

Barbecuing involves indirect heat and keeping the lid closed on your food to slowly cook it through (some people also use wood-soaked chips to give the food a smoky flavor). Grilling, on the other hand, is often done with the lid up and with the food cooked over the heat more directly.

How does a grill work?

It depends on the style of the grill! A charcoal grill uses charcoal briquettes that are heated up before being poured into the basin of the grill. These hot coals then cook the food. A propane grill, on the other hand, uses propane to create flames that come out of burners under the grill grate. It's easier to control the heat, but some argue that the flavor just isn't the same as when you cook on a charcoal grill.

What are the best grill accessories?

If you grill, you need grill tongs, a grill spatula, and a grill brush. These are non-negotiables! For charcoal grill accessories, the list expands to a chimney starter—it makes lighting a grill almost as easy as turning the knob on a propane tank.

Why We're the Experts

• J. Kenji López-Alt was the former culinary director of Serious Eats.
• He has written many grill recipes for the site, including Grilled Marinated Flank Steak Fajitas.
• Riddley Gemperlein-Schirm is the associate editorial director for Serious Eats.
• She has also tested and reviewed grill brushes.