Depending if I’m on the gas grill or the charcoal or both at the same time, I have backup tanks, a chimney starter, hardwood charcoal- no Kingsford briquettes or lighter fluid. My brother the Eagle Scout refers to this as “Girl Scout Water”. No offense to the Girl Scouts, and a little cheater called a creme brule’ torch.

Grill cleaning pumice stones on long handles get the grill grates even cleaner when you get a bit of heat on it. Everyone should do a full clean on their grill either that day or the next to prevent damage to their grills.

I have a set of monster tongs for large cuts, smaller long handled tongs for delicate items such as shrimps or fish, and a large spatula. I rarely use a long fork but I do own a few. I have moved away from skewers to long thin grilling baskets. I also have a silicone basting brush which eliminates brush hairs on your meal.

It’s great as I have all the tools I need within immediate reach, and a spare pocket for beer…erm I mean a sauce/oil bottle. Plenty of little storage pockets for matches, bottle opener etc. This has the added advantage that no-one can attempt to take over the grill without having to mug you for the tools first.

As for using lighter fluid/bricks, not my thing, so I have purchased a Weber charcoal chimney. Only needs a large handfull of shredded documents to start coals in aroun 10 minutes, and all that without petroleum products (IMHO a good thing).

I use welding gloves at the grill, so that I can sculpt the fire exactly as I want it. They don’t work so well in the kitchen, although perhaps they would for some folks.

As for the *Cook’s Illustrated* book, while I’m a big fan of many of their books and the show (if not of Pompous Bow-Tie Man himself), I prefer Steve Raichlen. I avoid his tv show (grating personality), but his expertise is unimpeachable.

My grill gear: tongs; welding gloves; skewers; chimney. Instead of a wire brush, I wad up tinfoil and scrub with that (something recommended by both Raichlen and CI!). I use my kitchen thermometer, and for fragile foods, I use a baking rack. And my camping headlight after dark.

I think it just depends on how much you cook outdoors. For some people, this would be needless clutter. For those of us who are willing to smoke it, grill it, slow cook it, whatever, outside at any time of year and in any weather, though, these specialty tools are really useful!

I also want to make a vociferous argument for metal skewers. Yeah, you can use disposable bamboo ones, but on top of the problems with disposable anything (even bamboo), they don’t conduct heat to the middle of the impaled food item very well.

Lori – I agree about the lighter fluid. Hence I use an old coffee can as my chimney starter. Works just as good as anything from the store. And I totally agree with all season grilling. Even when it was 40 below in Minnesota, I grilled. The snow bank next to the weber in winter keeps my beer nice and cold while I turn the ribs.

I’d love to grill year round, but in my climate area, I can’t find my deck for 3-4 months of the year! And during those months, I assure you, no one wants to even open a door to go outside, much less be standing out there babysitting the grill!

That said, I think our tools are about the same as those mentioned here, with a nice scraping spatula and tongs being the most commonly used. They’re big stainless steel affairs, and (I’m sorry to say) do not multitask indoors.

I agree with King that the long fork is essential, and I would add metal skewers to the mix, and perhaps a grill pan for small and/or delicate items. He is, however, mistaken about the lighter fluid. That stuff is nasty, and no good for your food.

And over the years I have found that tools created specifically for the grill are critical for successful grilling. Tools made for use indoors generally aren’t long enough or sturdy enough to use safely, nor are they made to last very long in contact with flame. Much better to buy quality grilling tools that will last a long time than to blow through your good indoor tools in a fraction of the time they should last.

Wire brush
Tongs
Spatula
Long fork – A necessity for carving any bird
Sauce brush – A necessity for making BBQ ribs, (unless you want a messy grill)

Those are the true grilling essentials. With good old Kingsford lighter fluid, you don’t need a chimney (I use an old coffee can though), and oven mitts aren’t necessary either, unless you are BBQing in a Disney movie.