What Might You Want To Give Your Grill Friends For The Holidays?

[firezilla]

4) Clip On Goose Neck Battery Operated Lamp When the sun goes down earlier and earlier over the year, you will want a good lamp which lets you grill and see what you are doing given that you don't have the perfect placement of lights. A good Clip On Goose Neck Battery Operated Lamp will make your cook that much more pleasant. I looked for mine on Amazon.com. I used the "ratings by customers" function. I think it worked. I always take it outdoors with me now that days are getting shorter. It wraps around my neck and clips on to my grill. Nice. Uses normal batteries.

Where to get it? Amazon.com I don't recall the brand name, just used the customer ratings.

How much does it cost? About $20.


5) Little Mitts Potholders. Long ago I bought these small silicon potholders and didn't use them much. I was surprised that when I bought a grill I used them all the time! I thought those big "asbestos" gauntlets were what I would want when dealing with the backyard grill. No, not. A small set of slip ons I could pick up and use in an instant have been Godsends. As a bonus, they clean up in the dishwasher! Cheap and indispensable. You don't need anything more. 

Where to get them? Bed, Bath, and Beyond.

How much did they cost? I don't remember, but I would be astounded if they were more than $10.


 6)The Thermapen Thermometer. I used to guess at when meat was done. Not any more, and I am right all the time. Since you can't see inside your filets and roasts, let the Themapen do it for you. It is lightening quick, much more accurate than the meat thermometers you get in blister paks in the grocery store, this is an instrument for serious cooks, those who really want to serve the best. Warning, they are pricey but they are running a sale on the tiny version as I speak and it is really great. Buy this and you will not be sorry.

Where to get it? www.thermoworks.com and amazon.com

How much? (Hold your breath)...it's about $80 for the adult size, and you might find babies for $30 for two.

Also note that there is a strong competitor to the Thermapen called the Maverick PT 100 Pro-Temp and it sports a back light so that you can see what temp your meat has attained even in the dark!

[Patio Cook#1]

Getting back to the opening comments, I find that using PAM spray makes it awful easy to apply oil to meat. Available in regular veg oil, olive oil, and canola oil.
The metal basket, though, is tops.
Many people use frogmats on their grill and I do for certain occasions as well. But the basket routine makes it a snap to take, lets say a load of ABT's or MOINK balls, and move them on and off the grill in record time. Like 4 seconds or so.

[firezilla]

And now a few more ideas for gifts to get your griller:

7) An Air Tight Container For Rubs-whether your griller likes to make rubs themself from scratch, or to buy them in bulk, these handy air tight containers are just the ticket for preserving the freshness, keeping rubs handy, and having a good looking place to store powders and potions.

How much does it cost? Depends on the size of the container but these usually go for $10 or less. Come in a variety of materials: steel, ceramic, plastic.

Where can you get them? I got this one at Bed, Bath, & Beyond but just about any kitchen store has them.


More than one cutting board: I love the fact I have a cutting board for meat and one for veggies. I also love that I can put them in the dishwasher and don’t have to wash by hand. That way I know they are clean when they come out and I don’t have a festering bacteria problem. You don’t want to struggle with only one cutting board or a porous wooden one. You can even get them with grooves which run around the side and catch drippings, too!

How much does it cost? Depends, these were somewhat expensive at Bed, Bath & Beyond. I think they were about $25 each and are pretty big.

Where to get them? Again, Bed, Bath & Beyond is where i got these, but any good kitchen goods store will have them. You can try upscale Sur la Table if you like, or downscale Ace Hardware, both have wonderful grilling things.

9) A Salt Shaker To Apply Your Home Made Rubs–Just load up the shaker and sprinkle your fabulous home made rubs on oiled meat and be less messy about it. I use this all the time and can’t imagine going back to the old way of doing it.

How Much Does It Cost? Depends on how fancy you want to get. I think this one cost about $0.

Where can you get it? Bed, Bath, and Beyond but any kitchen store will have them.

10) A Mini Basket-As useful as a full sized basket is for vegetable grilling, a mini basket will save spoil you. Try putting a couple of well oiled bulbs of garlic in here at the beginning of a cook and enjoy the creamy goodness of well baked garlic. Anything which is small and prone to fall through the grate goes in here. With time the basket gets blackened and turns non stick. I won’t be without mine.

How much does it cost? Where can I get one? This one was about $20 from Weber through amazon.com. There are cheaper ones, try the local Ace Hardware store at this time of year. They have been pretty good in my neighborhood.