The Raichlen list of Essential Grilling Gear
May is National Barbecue Month. Not that visitors to this site need a calendar reminder to start grilling. If you’re like me, I suspect you grill all year long — and that holds whether you live in the Frost Belt (as I did for 20 years in Boston) or in Miami (as I do now).
But National Barbecue Month does serve to remind us that, while owning the best tools won’t necessarily make you a master griller, it’s a lot easier to rock the grill when you have the right equipment. Herewith, the Raichlen list of Essential Grilling Gear. Don’t light your fire without it!
Chimney Charcoal Starter: If charcoal is your fuel of choice, light it in a chimney. This upright partitioned metal box or cylinder enables you to light lump charcoal or briquettes quickly and efficiently without having to resort to flavor-altering, petroleum-based lighter fluid. Place the coals in the top; a crumpled newspaper or paraffin starter in the bottom and light it. Evenly lit, ready-to-use-embers in 15 or 20 minutes.
Suede Gloves: Grilling requires handling hot stuff — chimney starters, grill grates, etc. — not to mention reaching across a hot fire. Heavy-duty suede gloves protect your hands and make the job easier. Choose a pair with a sleeve that comes up to your elbow.
Charcoal and Ash Hoe: To control the heat of a charcoal fire, you rake the coals into two- and three-zone fires, or set up your grill for indirect grilling. Sure you could use a garden hoe, but the grill hoe comes just the right length to make moving coals a pushover.
Grill Cleaning Brush: You’ve heard me say the grill mantra a thousand times: “Keep it hot. Keep it clean. Keep it lubricated.” The first step before grilling anything is to brush the hot grate clean with a stiff wire grill brush. This prevents sticking, of course, and no one likes to eat steak hot off a grill grate crusted with the remains of last week’s salmon. Note: use the brass-bristled brush side for porcelain-coated grates.
Lumatongs: Another of my grill mantras is “turn, don’t stab.” That is, handle your meat with tongs, don’t perforate it with a barbecue fork. Our spring-loaded Lumatongs are a full 16 inches long (to keep your hands away from the fire). And thanks to the tiny flashlight built into one arm of the tongs, you can finally see what you’re grilling at night.
