The 20 Best Grill Accessories to Upgrade Your Barbecue

Every griller needs stainless steel grilling tongs and a spatula, plain and simple. This basic set gives you both, plus a large grill fork and an insulated glove. The spatula features a built-in bottle opener and serrated edge for tenderizing meat. (You can also use it to quickly cut into your meat and check if it’s done.)

I don’t necessarily see the grilling fork as an essential, but I use it occasionally when I need to lift a large cut of meat with two tools. If you’re a first-time grill owner and you need a starter pack, this is perfect and not at all pricey.

An instant-read thermometer is a vital piece of cooking equipment, both for grilling and cooking in your kitchen. There’s an art to being able to see when your food is fully cooked just by looking at it or touching it, but you never really know until you test check its internal temperature. You don’t want to serve raw chicken, do you?

The instant-read thermometer from ThermoPro is efficient and easy to use. The adjustable temperature probe folds out from the handle, making it easy to use and can be carried in your pocket.

The Vortex is effectively a fireproof bowl that allows you to further concentrate or distribute the heat from charcoal in your grill. You can use it to intensify the grill’s heat by stacking your charcoal in the center, or push the heat to the edges of the grill by stacking the charcoal around the outside of it.

It’s ideal for getting crispy wings: If you’ve grilled chicken wings before, then you know that it can be tricky to get crispy skin without overcooking the entire thing. The Vortex also is a great way for a unique, hot-and-fast take on ribs.

Simply light your coals and dump them into the chimney once they’re started, and you’ll have a roaring hot grill in no time.

Fellow charcoal fans: Don’t even think about reaching for lighter fluid this summer. Keeping lighter fluid around an open flame is dangerous and, worse, it can make your food smell and taste gross. (On a more technical level, I also think it’s hard to get all your coals to a consistent place with lighter fluid, so you’re more likely to have unplanned hot and cold zones.)

If you’re used to using lighter fluid, I strongly suggest investing in a charcoal chimney, which makes it much easier to light all of your charcoal quickly and evenly. Simply load your coals into the chimney and place some newspaper or a tumbleweed in the gated section at the bottom as a starter, then light it up: You’ll get consistently lit coals in about 15 minutes.

If you’re using a Weber kettle, upgrading to a hinged cooking grate allows you to add coals and replenish the fire without removing the cooking grate, which is essential for smoking and comes in handy for all-day barbecues. In addition to opening on either side, this Weber grate has a removable center section, which pairs nicely with the Vortex.

Beer can chicken is a unique way to grill a whole chicken, and a conversation starter to boot. If you’ve never had the pleasure, you stand the bird upright on the grill with the can stuffed into the bird’s cavity. The heat turns the beer to steam, which moisturizes the bird from the inside out as it cooks.

Getting the beer can into the chicken and standing it up straight can be a little tricky, so using a stand like this one takes a lot of the pain out of the setup. It provides a wide, sturdy base to prop up your bird, with a slot to insert the can. Single-purpose tools can create a lot of clutter, but if this stand empowers you to make beer can chicken even one time this summer, it’s worth it.

If you’re planning to do any smoking, it pays to spend a little more and get a digital probe thermometer, which lets you leave the probe in and check the temperature of your meat without opening your smoker door.

The ThermoPro TP826 features two digital probes— set a target temperature for each probe, and you’ll get an alert on the wireless receiver when the probes hit it. The probes plug into a digital transmitter, which transmits your info to a matching wireless receiver so you don’t need to sit next to your grill or smoker to keep an eye on it.

If you’re only cooking one thing, you can attach one of the probes to a grate to track the ambient temperature inside your grill or smoker, which is likely more accurate than the thermometer on the side of your grill.

If you’re a serious smoker cooking for a crowd, you may want to upgrade to the larger ThermoPro TP829, which features four probes for even more control.

If you’re cooking for a crowd, this rack lets you stack multiple racks of ribs vertically, maximizing the efficiency of your smoker. The device maintains some space between each rack of ribs, allowing air and ambient heat to cook the ribs evenly.

While not what it’s designed for, I’ve also draped a brisket flat over my rib rack on the smoker that wouldn’t quite fit laying totally flat. It’s compact enough to fit inside any type of grill or smoker, so it’s a great extra tool for nearly any griller.

As I mentioned before, a grill basket is an indispensable tool if you ever plan to grill smaller, softer items, including fish filets, kabobs and most veggies. This stainless steel basket has small slits, so your food stays put, but still lets smoke through and conducts plenty of heat.

I like this basket from Turbo Trusser because the walls are shorter than other options, which makes it easier for you to adjust its contents with a spatula. And when you’re done grilling, you can toss it in the dishwasher.

There’s something magical about cracking a can of cold beer (or soda, or seltzer) in front of a hot grill. The Yeti Colster is the ultimate can cooler/cozy/koozy–It keeps your can cold and your fingers dry. I’ve had my Yeti Colster for years and break out often, especially while grilling.

While this article is focused on grilling, the Colster is a versatile pick-up for any occasion. It’s great to stash a few in your cooler for trips to the beach or lake. There are a ton of color options, as well as specialized versions for tall boys and for slim cans.

I just got this grill brush for Christmas last year, after requesting a replacement for my old-school wire grill brush. I felt compelled to switch after reading reports of folks having internal damage after unknowingly swallowing a metal bristle that broke off a conventional grill brush.

This bristle-free scraper-brush does a decent job of cleaning up grates before I light up the grill. It also has a flat scraper on the back end, which lets you work through tougher residue. If your current grill brush has seen better days, it’s a smart idea to update your setup.

It’s a lot easier to start a fire with wood or charcoal if you have some starter around. Simply light the tumbleweed with matches or a lighter, and it will burn long enough for your fuel to catch fire. They’re also great for starting a bonfire.

Depending on how often you grill (or make bonfires) you may want to step up from the 50 pack to the 100- or 200-pack. Just make sure to store your tumbleweeds in a dry air-tight container to keep them from absorbing moisture, which will make them less effective.

Grilling pizza is definitely an art, but one that’s worth learning. Imagine your favorite type of pizza imbued with a little smokey flavor, and you don’t have to pick it up or pay for delivery. Sure, you could make pizza in your kitchen, but most food just tastes better when it’s made outside.

To do it right, you’re going to need a few tools, including a heat-conducting pizza stone to conduct even heat, and a peel to “launch” your pizza onto the grill and take it off. This pizza grilling set from Cuisinart has both, plus a 15-inch pizza cutter to slice up your pies at the table.

Making pizza, whether you’re grilling or using an outdoor pizza oven, takes some practice. Getting a very high, consistent temperature is crucial, and that can take some work if you’re cooking with wood or charcoal. Our sister site, Popular Mechanics, offers some great tips for grilling your own pizza.

You haven’t lived until you’ve made chili (or soup) on the grill. The smoke from the fire adds a unique flavor that you just can’t get in a kitchen. To do it, you need a thick, fireproof pot, like this cast iron dutch oven from Lodge.

You can also use it just like a cast iron pan, sautéing veggies for fajitas or grilling your breakfast bacon. Even after the weather gets cold, having an extra dutch oven in the kitchen is never a bad thing.

Barbecue purists will tell you that it’s important to smoke with hardwood, and that the type of wood you use imparts a specific variety of smoky flavor. If you’re new to smoking, this starter bundle of wood chips gives three different types to try–Applewood, Hickory and Mesquite.

To enhance the smoky flavor from your wood chips, soak them in water before adding them to the fire to generate more smoke. If you leave them dry, the chips will burn up quickly before they can add depth to your smoke.

You don’t need a fancy, expensive cooler to keep by the grill, but it comes in handy more often than you might think. A cooler is just an insulated box and is good at retaining heat: Home smokers often use them as a vessel for resting large cuts of meat after a long cook, allowing it to rest and the internal juices to redistribute.

When I smoke a brisket, it almost always spends time in a cooler once it reaches the target temperature. I wrap it in foil or butcher paper, then wrap the whole thing in an old towel and drop it in the cooler for about an hour.

Not only does the brisket taste better because it’s had adequate time to rest, it stays hot until its time to eat. I’d rather have my smoked food finished sooner and resting rather than having guests waiting and getting hangry because I started my 9-hour smoke too late in the day.

And you if you aren’t smoking meat? Well, now you have a perfect place to store all your cold drinks as you cook.

Having a couple serving trays is very helpful at a barbecue. You can use them to bring food from the kitchen to the grill, then from the grill to the table, and finally bring the dishes back to the kitchen again.

These trays are made from sturdy, dishwasher-safe plastic, so they’re also perfect for moving and prepping raw meat. Since the kit comes with two, and they’re color-coded, it’s easy to keep track of the “raw meat” tray and serving tray.

If you’re making ribs, or example, you can get them laid out, trimmed, and seasoned on the red board. Once they’re done, they’ll go on the black board. With a system in place, getting food from the kitchen to the table just got a lot easier.

The basting brush is another cooking essential that you can use in the kitchen and out at the grill. While grilling you may use them to baste ribs with barbecue sauce or coat a tray of vegetables in olive oil.

This set features two brushes with stainless steel handles for easy cleaning, and multiple sets of removable silicone bristle heads. They look like grill tools, but you’ll find yourself using them all year long.

You can grab, flip, add and remove food from the grill with your grill spatula and tongs, but it’s always good to play it safe and keep a pair of heat- and cut-resistant gloves around. These gloves can handle over 900 degrees, protecting you while you dump hot charcoal from your chimney, moving a grill basket, or adjusting a cast iron pot.

Aluminum drip pans are incredibly useful for grilling. If you’re cooking over charcoal, they can catch drippings from food on the grate above. Fill one up with water and put it in your smoker to help regulate the temperature in the cook chamber.

They’re also great for \shredding a pork shoulder into pulled pork or holding something messy like a meatloaf. Last but not least, you can always use them as disposable serving trays at a big gathering. Having a few drip trays on hand is never a bad idea.