It’s almost officially summer, and that means we’ve got grilling on the brain! Hopefully, your grill is all cleaned up and ready to go — or on its way. Which means this is a good time to take inventory of what needs replacing, or what you might want to help up your grilling game.
So, to kick off summer, and burger season — beef, veggie, or otherwise — I’ve put together my five favorite grilling accessories that will help make burger prep and grilling that much easier.
Top Image: Mercer Culinary Hell’s Handle Heavy Duty Turner/Spatula
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First: Start with the Best Grills for Burgers
Of course, you can have all the best grilling accessories, but if you don’t have a good grill, you need to fix that immediately!
The Best Grill For Grilling with Gas
This Weber Genesis (above) is rated the best propane grill of 2024 according to Good Housekeeping.
The Best Grill For Grilling with Charcoal
If you like to grill old school, and don’t want to spend a fortune on a new grill, fear not. Both GH and our own team recommend the affordable Original Weber Kettle Grill — currently on sale on Amazon.
The Best Electric Grill For Wood-Smoked Taste
Once you add a little smoke to your burger, you may never go back to a smokeless grill. My family owns the Traeger Wood Pellet Grill and Smoker, and it’s served us well — also 25% off right now!
The Best Grill For Travel and Camping
If you are on the road or camping, this portable Fire & Flavor charcoal grill saved a family camping trip for us. You can read a full review here if you want to learn more. And it’s on sale at Target!
Next…the Best Grilling Tools: 5 I Swear By
1. Best Grilling Tools: A good turner/spatula
For just $19 on sale, the Mercer Culinary Hell’s Handle Heavy Duty Turner/Spatula tops my must-have list. It has a heat-resistant handle, which is so important when you’re cooking over a flame. Plus, it’s sturdy enough to flip those cheese-stuffed burgers we love!
If you happen to have a partner or husband who tends to walk off with grilling tools and misplace them (ahem), for this price, you could order two.
2. Best Grilling Tools: A great meat thermometer
Take the guess work out trying to determine if your food is the right temperature by using a good cooking thermometer like this ThermoPro Wireless Digital Meat Thermometer.
Trust me, insuring your food hits the right temperature before eating can take a lot of stress out of grilling — and saves you from cutting into beautiful cuts of meat to check for done-ness. (And if you’re grilling chicken, for example, it’s also good for safety reasons.
While others are more basic, I love that this is a hands-free meat thermometer and sends the temperature reading to a separate monitor, so you don’t even have to open and close the grill cover over and over to check on your food — and that can really make a difference in your grilling.
An alternate for techies: If you love your tech gadgets, spend a little more for the Bluetooth TheramaPro Meat Thermometer, which lets you check the temp right on your phone. Pretty amazing.
A sleek alternative for indoors and out: Liz swears by her OXO Good Grips Thermocouple Thermometer, which costs a bit more, but stores easily in a gadget drawer, and lasts a good long time. The immediate termperature read is a huge help.
3. Best Grilling Tools: A grill press
For those perfect grill marks on your burger, this Cuisinart Cast Iron Grill Press does the trick. We’re big fans! And it’s so affordable.
It helps burgers keep their shape while cooking, but more importantly, it allows heat to distribute evenly, which imparts a richer flavor in whatever you’re grilling. It’s also handy for getting rid of excess fat and oil from your burger, while still keeping them juicy.
Related: 10 of the very best grilling hacks for the ultimate summer of cookouts.
4. Best Grilling Tools: A silicone burger shaper
Wait…here me out! This silicone Shape + Store Burger Master 8-in-1 Innovative Burger Press is genius, letting me quickly and easily shape 8 perfect burger patties. Plus, it keeps you from handling a burger too much, so the meat stays tender.
It even doubles as a freezer container, so you can pop the entire tray in to freeze the patties in the mold, then just drop them right onto the grill frozen. Plus it transports easily to a park or beach if you’re grilling on-the-go, or toting your own veggie burgers to a family cookout.
5.Best Grilling Tools: Oven gloves…for the grill
Liz recently wrote about these fabulous oven mitt gloves from Beets & Berry that I had recommended to her. She wrote about how they helped her oven-averse daughter get more comfortable with cooking. Not only are they great for kitchen use, they are perfect for protecting your hands and forearms while working over a hot grill — they are heat resistant up to 932 degrees!
Not that you can walk around carrying a 900-degree tray for an hour or anything, but they’re very helpful when you need more dexterity than bulky grilling mitts allow.
I now keep one set in my kitchen, and one set outside by the grill, and there are lots of cute colors to choose from.
Happy grilling, everyone!
Related Posts You May Like:
10 of the very best grilling hacks for cookout and barbecue season
70+ of our favorite summer grilling recipes, from burgers to veggies to dessert
Grilling for a crowd: Tips and 10 easy ideas for your next outdoor party (including dessert!).
5 mouthwatering burger recipes for summer grilling. And they’re not all beef.
5 summery grilled chicken recipes that will make chicken for dinner exciting again.
