Essential grilling tools for your first ever cookout

It’s easy to get carried away when shopping for grilling gadgets—and you’ll no doubt pick up more along the way but for starters, these tools are what you should consider in your starter set up.

Meat thermometer

Nobody wants to cut a steak open to find it undercooked, or worse overcooked. Using a meat thermometer is the only reliable way to make sure you are cooking your meat to the right temperature and to make sure it’s cooked enough. If you’re planning to roast or reverse sear, a thermometer with a probe and alarm function (some even have Bluetooth/mobile phone connectivity) can notify you when the meat has reached a certain temperature which is a very handy function whether you’re busy prepping the rest of the food or entertaining your guests.

Heat-resistant gloves

Protect your hands from leaping flames, hot tongs and hot anything you need to handle during a BBQ.

Tongs

Tongs are much more preferable to stabbing your meats with a prong repeatedly whenever you need to turn or move them. It will reduce moisture loss and keep your meat from looking battered. Best to have two or more pairs of different-looking tongs for raw and cooked meat.

Grilling basket

Great for smaller pieces of vegetables or meat that will otherwise slip through the grates. Using a basket allows you to toss its contents in a few flips for even cooking.

Metal cleaning brush

Avoid bitter burnt debris from last week’s cook sticking to your food. Heat up your cooking grates till smoking hot and give them a good brush to dislodge any debris before laying your new food on.

Chimney starter (for charcoal grills)

For anyone with a charcoal grill, all you need to do is load up the charcoal chimney with briquettes or charcoal, light them and let them burn. When the charcoal or briquettes are at least 50% ashed all over, they are ready to be poured into the grill.