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Platinum Medal Winning BBQ Tools, Toys, And Accessories
Here are our favorite BBQ tools, toys, and accessories. Our barbecue experts have tested hundreds of tools, gadgets, appliances, and cookbooks, and rated them in our searchable database.
Below you’ll find the best of the best, our Platinum Medal winners. We give Bronze, Silver, and Gold Medals to various products based on criteria ranging from ease of use and durability to performance and price. Once a year we review the Gold Medal winners and select the absolute cream of the crop.
Spotlight on our favorite products
The Pit Barrel Cooker May Be Too Easy
The PBC has a rabid cult following for good reason. It’s among the best bargains for a smoker in the world. This baby cooks circles around cheap offset smokers because temperature control is so much easier. Click here to read our detailed review and the raves from people who own them.
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These products receive our highest accolade, a Platinum Medal (***** 5 Stars). These outstanding Platinum Medal winners are the BBQ tools you really need.
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Franklin Barbecue: A Meat-Smoking Manifesto by Aaron Franklin and Jordan Mackay
Franklin Barbecue in Austin is widely considered the best in the world and people stand in line for hours to get in.
On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen by Harold McGee
If you want to know why we do what we do in the kitchen, not just what to do or how to do it, this fat tome is a must have.
Keys to Good Cooking: A Guide to Making the Best of Foods and Recipes by Harold McGee
From the country's foremost expert on the science of cooking, Harold McGee, Keys to Good Cooking is a concise and authoritative guide designed to help home cooks navigate the ever-expanding universe of ingredients, recipes, food safety, and appliances, and arrive at the promised land of a satisfying dish.
Steak: One Man’s Search for the World’s Tastiest Piece of Beef by Mark Shatzker
This book is great story telling as we follow an inquisitive writer on his quest for great steak.
GrillGrates: The Perfect Temperature Control Tool For Grills
GrillGrates are an amazing invention featuring reversible interlocking panels that increase the grill surface temperature, reduce flare-ups, and deliver perfect sears. GrillGrates also come in a variety of shapes and sizes so that you can customize them according to the size of your gas, charcoal, or pellet grill.
Weber’s Inexpensive Rib Rack Helps You Get More Ribs On
Expand the number of racks of ribs you can cook at one time with this handy tool. Thanks to the Weber Original Rib Rack For Grilling, you can fit five slabs of ribs on a small grill, holding them upright with enough airspace between them to allow airflow and smoke penetration.
Weber’s Grill Pan Sears and Lets Some Smoke Through
The Weber Style Grill Pan has plenty of slots for smoke to travel through, and plenty of surface to brown things like salmon cakes. Handles make it easy to position on the grill and to carry food from your prep area to the grill and back.
CharGon Grill Grate Cleaner Works Better Than a Brush
CharGon is a solidly build grill grate cleaner with a U-shaped tip that makes it easy to scrape the tops, sides, and bottoms of round grill grates with no risk of rogue bristles and the health hazard they present.
Meat 2.3-Ounce Injector Gets The Job Done On a Budget
This heavy 304 grade stainless steel injector (most others are plastic or a cheaper metal with a chrome coat) holds 2 ounces of fluid and comes with three needles, an 8 cm (3") for thin cuts of meat, and two 15 cm (6") needles for thicker cuts.
Cave Tools Stainless Steel Pulled Pork Shredders and BBQ Meat Rake
Shred smoked pork butts, chuck roasts, chicken, and more with ease thanks to our highly rated Cave Tools Stainless Steel Pulled Pork Shredders and BBQ Meat Rake. Unlike plastic shredders, these are made from 430-grade stainless steel and feature comfortable polybutylene succinate (PBS) plastic handles.
Culina Grill Basket Is Like A Frying Pan For Your Grill
Grill toppers are essential for grilling and smoking small objects such as slices of onion and peppers, and nuts, and I prefer them for small chunks of meat rather than skewers. I also prefer mesh types like this Culina Stainless Steel Mesh Vegetable Grilling Basket one because they let in more smoke and flavor.
Big Poppa BBQ Mats Are the Best Way to Smoke Small Things Like Nuts
Big Poppa BBQ Mats are a sturdy wire mesh screens with a non-stick coating capable of resisting grill temperatures, and they are easy to clean. Use them to grill jalapeno poppers, onion rings, potato slices, mushrooms, bacon, and biscuits, and to dehydrate tomatoes and smoke nuts.
G & F 8115 Premium Grain Leather Gloves Reviewed And Rated
Made from genuine grain cowhide and suede with a cotton lining, The G and F Premium Grain Leather Gloves are an excellent option when seeking high heat gloves though prolonged contact with direct flame is not advised. The gloves have 14.5 inch sleeves to protect your forearms and can be washed with soap and water.
The Best Stand Mixer For A Kitchen’s Biggest Tasks
A quality stand mixer is definitely an investment but there is very little that a beast like the KitchenAid Artisan Stand Mixer can't handle, especially with the countless accessories that are offered. If, however, you only need to whisk and blend, a KitchenAid hand blender does a great job and saves a lot of space.
Work Sharp Ken Onion Edition Knife & Tool Sharpener Is a Workhorse
The Work Sharp Ken Onion Edition Knife & Tool Sharpener is a workhorse. This smartly designed electric sharpener can handle an amazing array of knives and blades and is easily adjustable to almost any blade angle. It's fairly inexpensive, too.
OXO Good Grips Stainless Food Scale with Pull-Out Display Review
I don't know how I lived without a good, accurate digital kitchen scale for so many years. If you ever mix up anything with flour, weigh it instead of measuring it with cups. It's so much more accurate.
Beat the Heat With Weber Long Handled Tongs And Spatula Set
A quality set of spatula and tongs are essential for good grilling. We recommend those with long handles such as the Weber Original 2-Piece Stainless Steel Grilling Tool Set as they keep you as far from the heat as possible. The set is dishwasher safe, while the soft touch handles offer comfortable non-slip grip.
RSVP Endurance Stainless Steel Measuring Spoons Review
What can go wrong with measuring spoons? A lot. Trying to fit them into little spice jars is the worst. These rectangular measuring spoons from RSVP make it so much easier. The 18/8 stainless steel set includes everything from 1 tablespoon down to 1/8 teaspoon. Read our review here.
Paint on BBQ Sauce With a Silicone Basting Brush
Silicone brushes are the best thing to happen to barbecue since the charcoal briquet. I long ago relegated my natural and nylon bristle brushes to cleaning computer keyboards. Silicone brushes load up with lots of sauce, deliver it evenly, and are easy to clean and decontaminate.
Spot Remover Takes Care Of Food And Grill Grease Stains
A spot remover that will remove the grease stains on almost all my shirts is something I considered to be as elusive as unicorns. So I bought a 2 ounce bottle and tried it. One drop was enough clean a shirt so well that I could not find where the stain had been originally.
Corkscrews: Screwpulls and Imitators
The finest corkscrew ever designed is a gadget called the Screwpull. Actually there are three excellent models of Screwpull and there are some Screwpull imitators that work pretty well. At the center of the concept is an extra-long, wire helix with an extra wide spiral and an extra sharp tip for piercing corks.
Garlic Press: A Kitchen Gadget You’ll Actually Use
A good garlic press is an important kitchen tool and the Trudeau Garlic Press is the perfect choice. The Trudeau press is sturdily built, and is easy to grip. It's also quite easy to clean, and has a large hopper to hold big cloves.
Kyocera Pepper Mill Makes It Easy to Adjust the Grind
The Kyocera Everything Mill Adjustable Grinder allow you to dial in the size of your grind from coarse to fine and it grinds all kinds of spices from pepper and salt to coriander and cumin. Fresh ground pepper has much more flavor than the pre-ground. And the size of the grind matters making this a perfect choice.Published On: 5/14/2019 Last Modified: 4/26/2023
The Pit Barrel Cooker May Be Too Easy
The PBC has a rabid cult following for good reason. It’s among the best bargains for a smoker in the world. This baby cooks circles around cheap offset smokers because temperature control is so much easier. Click here to read our detailed review and the raves from people who own them.
Grilla Proves That Good Things Come In Small Packages
The small 31.5″ x 29.5″ footprint of the Grilla Pellet Smoker makes it ideal for use where BBQ space is limited, including on a condo patio. Click here for our review on this unique smoker.
The Good-One Is A Superb Grill And A Superb Smoker All In One
The Good-One Open Range is dramatically different from a traditional offset smoker, placing the heat source behind and under the smokebox instead of off to the side. Click here to read our complete review.
The Efficiency Of A Kamado Plus The Flexibility Of The Slow ‘N Sear Insert
Built around SnS Grill’s patented Slow ‘N Sear charcoal kettle accessory, this 22-inch kamado is a premium ceramic grill that brings true 2-zone cooking to a kamado. Click here for our article on this exciting cooker.
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