There are lots of grilling tools, gadgets, and gizmos in the world of outdoor cooking. Some grilling tools are useful, others, not so much. And some BBQ gadgets have a great price, others, not so much.
I’m usually not a big tool person. My space is rather limited. So, the grilling tools I use in my outdoor cooking area need to earn their place in my barbecue arsenal.
The following is a selection of some of the best low-cost grilling essentials for your outdoor cooking needs. Each of these amazing grilling tools costs less than $34.
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1. Fire Extinguisher
A KID466141MTL – Kitchen/Garage Fire Extinguisher by Kidde.
A fire extinguisher is something that doesn’t make many how-to BBQ and grill lists, but it should. Fire extinguishers are a requirement in your outdoor cooking area at any BBQ competition. That makes total sense to me.
There is a lot of information out there about types and sizes of fire extinguisher. I don’t want to get too far astray with all the ins-and-outs, but I will say that I have two, 1-A and 10-B:C, in my cooking area. A KID466141MTL Kitchen/Garage Fire Extinguisher from Kidde is one of those.
The letters indicate the type of burning materials the fire extinguisher can be used on. “A” being ordinary combustibles like paper and wood. “B” being petroleum products like grease and oil. “C” is electrical equipment. The number indicates the size of the fire you can put out with it in each of its classes. 1-A is equal to 1¼ gallons of water. The 10 B:C means it can fight 10 sq. ft of fire. All in all, not really that big of an area, but it’s big enough to knock down a grill fire and hopefully prevent further damage.
Once you get a fire extinguisher, take some time to go online and learn how and when to use it. Be prepared. Have a safety plan! While this is an extremely important tool, my wish is you never need to use it.
PRICE: The KID466141MTL Kitchen/Garage Fire Extinguisher from Kidde is $25.90 with free shipping on Amazon Prime as of June 2019. Buy the Kitchen/Garage Fire Extinguisher on Amazon.
2. Sturdy Locking Tongs
Walfos Premium Sturdy Tongs for BBQ and Grill — 16 and 12-inch stainless steel Locking Tongs for cooking in the kitchen or at the barbecue.
Everyone needs a few pairs of sturdy tongs both in the kitchen and on the patio. If you can grill it, then you can usually handle it with tongs.
These tongs provide great leverage, grip and they keep your hand back away from searing flames. Tongs don’t need to be grill specific, either. For me, the simple basic style works the best.
I like to have both 16” and 12” tongs. The main feature I want is that they lock closed, which really comes in handy for storage.
At the end of the day, tongs help you get a grip on your grilling!
PRICE: This set of Walfos Premium Sturdy Tongs for the BBQ and Grill is $11.97 on Amazon Prime as of June 2019. Buy Walfos BBQ and Grilling Tons on Amazon.
3. Charcoal Chimney Starter
The Weber 7447 Compact Rapidfire Chimney Starter helps you quickly light charcoal.
So what’s a charcoal chimney? A charcoal starter chimney is a metal cylinder with some type of grate built into it and a handle. The purpose of a starter chimney is to quickly and cleanly get your lump or briquette charcoal fired up.
The grate in the starter chimney holds your charcoal. By placing a wad of burning newspaper under that grate, the charcoal is quickly ignited.
There are other materials to use besides newspaper. Weber and many other companies make various starter cubes that could replace the newspaper. Another great option in the age of electronic news is to save an empty paper charcoal bag for this.
There are all kinds of charcoal chimneys on the market and for the most part, they are of the same basic design, but not of the same quality. The Weber 7447 Compact Rapidfire Chimney Starter and its big brother the Weber 7429 Rapidfire Starter Chimney are extremely well built. The Weber Rapidfire Starter Chimneys will last for years and are much-needed grilling accessories.
Weber’s compact model is a great size for getting into drum smokers or if you just need a smaller batch of charcoal to get your Minion Method going. The Weber 7429 Rapidfire Starter Chimney is big enough to give your grill a nice big coal bed that is ready to go. You can’t go wrong with either one. Matter of fact, you can have them both and still ring up under $34.00.
PRICE: The Weber 7429 Rapid-Fire Starter Chimney is available for $16.99 on Amazon Prime as of June 2019. Buy the Weber 7429 Charcoal Chimney Starter on Amazon. The Weber 7447 Compact Rapidfire Starter Chimney is available for $12.99 on Amazon Prime as of June 2019. Buy the Weber 7447 Charcoal Chimney Starter on Amazon.
4. ThermoPop by Thermoworks
The ThermoPop 3-4 second instant-read thermometer by ThermoWorks.
I think everyone in the BBQ and cooking arena agrees that the most important tool in your outdoor cooking to box is a good instant-read thermometer. We talk on GrillGirl quite a bit about the Thermoworks Thermapen which is definitely the top of the line for instant reads. A close second is beyond a doubt the ThermoWorks ThermoPop.
This amazing little thermometer is always an exceptional value. You can often catch this on sale from ThermoWorks for as little as 29 bucks! I will go as far as to say that this is the best value in instant-read thermometers out there.
What do you get with the ThermoWorks ThermoPop? A rotating display, super-fast readings in 3 to 4 seconds, splash-proof design, big backlit digits, temperature range between -58 to 572°F (-50 to 300°C), and it comes in 9 colors!
Subscribe to the Thermoworks newsletter for all of the sale updates and chances to win cool stuff from ThermoWorks. Click here and go to the bottom of the ThermoWorks homepage and subscribe.
PRICE: The ThermoPop costs $34 on ThermoWorks as of June 2019. Buy your ThermoPop from ThermoWorks!
What is your favorite BBQ and grilling tool? Let me know in a comment below. I’d love to hear from you! Thank you so much for reading. Till next time.
HAPPY GRILLING,
Jon
- If you’d like to know more about thermometers check out my articles WHY YOU NEED AN INSTANT READ THERMOMETER… and HOW TO CALIBRATE THE THERMOMETER ON YOUR GRILL.
