Featured Archives - Griller’s Gold

Griller Gifts – what to get for that hard-to-buy-for Griller in your life!

by Grillers Gold | BBQ, Featured, Grilling, Holiday, Uncategorized

Got a griller in your life and finding it hard to shop for him or her?

Well our grilling blog crew at Griller’s Gold happens to be a bunch of “gear heads” and always love shopping for the latest and greatest bits to use when we indulge our favorite hobby. That is of course, turning out favorite yums for our families and friends on our pellet grills fueled with Griller’s Gold Premium Hardwood Pellets.

We hope that our idea list below sparks some good ideas for your griller:

Thermometers

No good chef or serious BBQ griller doesn’t have their favorite thermometers. Having the ability to accurately measure temperatures means that you can accurately deliver food off your grill that is to the right doneness level, at a safe eating temperature and is of the highest quality.

Here’s a few of our favorites in a couple of different categories:

Instant Reading Thermometer: The ThermaPen

Ask any serious chef which instant-reading thermometer they use, and they’ll all say the same thing: ThermaPen.

A ThermaPen is a product from ThermoWorks, a company that makes professional quality temperature measuring devices for a variety of applications. The “standard” ThermaPen has a folding probe, and the best part is its speed and accuracy – it measures the temperature at the absolute pinpoint of the probe, and it delivers the reading within a few seconds. It is truly a pro tool!

A ThermaPen isn’t cheap by any means (regular price around $100) but they are built like tanks and last forever. We have one that is 20+ years old and still works perfectly! On sale now at $69.95 at https://www.thermoworks.com/thermapen-one/

Remote-Monitoring Thermometers and Probes

Some pellet grills come with plug-in temperature probes and that’s great – but we’ve heard they can be pretty variable on accuracy, and accuracy is what it’s all about. Here are some great products proven and used by the Griller’s Gold Team for remote-monitoring of your food (meaning that you can get the information without standing at your grill).

Meater Thermometers: We have to admit to falling in love with this thing when it was just an idea on Kickstarter and after waiting a year for it to arrive, well, we weren’t disappointed.

That’s several years ago now and they have continued to evolve and innovate the product. The concept is simple – a metal probe pen that you insert in your meat and pair with your phone and you’re good to go!

It measures both temp of your food and the ambient temp of your grill. They come in single packs, multiple-pen setups and more! Lots of sale prices right now at https://store-us.meater.com/products/meater-plus

meater themometer - great gift for grillers

Inkbird Remote Thermometer: Inkbird is a pretty cool company and they make a variety of temperature control and temperature measurement products. A remote thermometer like this has several probes that you can push into your food, hang in your grill to monitor temperature, etc.

Great for if you’re cooking things that don’t get done at the same pace like a chicken plus a beef roast. Rather than picking just one for you, we suggest you shop their website – they have everything from fairly inexpensive bluetooth probe setups ($51.99) up to multiple-probe wifi-enabled counter-top consoles. See what fits your budget and your griller’s needs at https://inkbird.shop/collections/bluetooth-bbq-thermometers

inkbird remote themometer - gift for griller in grillers gold blog

ThermoWorks Smoke remote thermometer: Another item we’ve had for years – ours is past 10 years old now and is still on its original set of batteries!

This thing is bullet proof and works great and is on an insane deal. This is only a two-channel thermometer, but it’s dedicated remote receiver seems to have a much longer range than standard Bluetooth.

And the reason we’re suggesting this one is it is at an insane deal right now – $64.35. We paid close to double that when we first bought ours. That said, Themoworks has a huge selection BBQ products so you may want to shop a bit on their site. Here’s the link to the SMOKE: https://www.thermoworks.com/smoke/

Tools and Accessories for the grill

These items are fun/useful tool items to add to your pellet grill to be able to make different food items, enhance your grill’s performance, and the best part, have more fun:

GrillGrates

GrillGrates are accessory grates that lay right on top of your pellet grill’s cooking grates. They work by absorbing the heat of the grill and somehow concentrating it, delivering up to 200F more heat at the grate rails, which delivers great searing and grill marks – moreso than what you can get from your grill’s standard grates.

We don’t need to know why they work, but trust us, they work great. We have them and love them! They make kits sized to fit your grill, or you can buy their standard sizes.

They interlock together from smaller sections so you can use them on part of your grill while still using the regular cooking grates. Check them out for pellet grills at https://www.grillgrate.com/pellet-grills/?gclid=Cj0KCQiA1ZGcBhCoARIsAGQ0kkqFQMrjWkPzju7zpo8yxbWDnc8ERvA_vB1RZbYPNDYTEszgvCB3ycwaAhFrEALw_wcB

Flat Top grills

Flat top grills are metal plates you can lay on your grill’s cooking grate to cook typical flat-top grill foods like burgers, breakfast items like pancakes, hash browns and eggs, and even Japanese “Hibachi” style food.

There are a lot of selections out on the marketplace and for this category, we don’t have a particular one we recommend.

We do know that the GrillGrate folks (above) also make one. Things to keep in mind on these are to make sure that if you buy one that’s the same size of your grill that it is made for it – we’ve heard that these can obstruct airflow if they aren’t designed for your grill.

Now this all said, one “flattop” solution we love the best is our simple cast iron griddle from Lodge Cast Iron – this isn’t anywhere near the size of our pellet grill but it’s big enough to make a couple of omelets, or a few fried eggs all at once. A flat top on top of your pellet grill can save you the cost of one of those big dedicated flat top grills. Here’s a link to that product on Lodge’s site:

https://www.lodgecastiron.com/product/chef-collection-reversible-grillgriddle?sku=LCDRG

cast iron grill - great gift for grillers, grillers gold blog

Cast Iron Cookware

Of all the grill-friendly cooking accessories to have, cast iron cookware is the most versatile.

We own several sizes of skillets, as well as the griddle mentioned above, and because a) they are all-metal; and b) are cast-iron with no special finish to discolor or get ruined by grill use, they are perfect for grill cooking.

What to cook in them? Side dishes such as potatoes or vegetables, fish, especially delicate fish that might fall apart on grill grids, and even desserts (ever tried wood-grilled peach cobbler?) are amazing when kissed with that delicious Griller’s Gold flavor from your pellet grill!

Our favorite brand is good ‘ol, USA made Lodge, made in South Pittsburg, TN near the border with Alabama and near Chattanooga. Great place to visit! Visit their website for lots of ideas for gifts for your favorite griller. https://www.lodgecastiron.com/

lodge cast iron assortment - great gifts for grillers

Grilling gift hand Tools:

Here’s a list of things in our grilling bits cabinet that we can’t live without:

Nomex Gloves

These are gloves made made of knitted fireproof Nomex fiber so they are very heatproof. Useful for lifting hot grates and other hot grill tasks: https://www.amazon.com/Heat-Resistant-Grill-Insulated-Grilling/dp/B075GXPC8K?ref_=ast_sto_dp&th=1&psc=1

nomex black gloves - grilling gift, grillers gold blog

Neoprene BBQ Gloves

These gloves are heavy canvas coated with heat-resistant neoprene and are just the ticket for handling hot meats off the grill. Not heat resistant enough for cookware at oven temps but for food off the grill they work perfectly. We use them for pulling pork, handling briskets and birds and just about anything where you need hands on the actual food. https://www.amazon.com/Mr-Bar-B-Q-Insulated-Barbecue-Gloves/dp/B000XAL1QE/ref=sr_1_20?keywords=neoprene+bbq+gloves&qid=1669664667&sprefix=neoprene+bbq%2Caps%2C149&sr=8-20

insulated black bbq gloves - great grillers gift, grillers gold blog

Bear Paws

Bear Paws are specially designed to help you rip and tear apart pork shoulders and Boston Butts for pulled pork and wow do they do the job! https://www.amazon.com/Original-Bear-Paws-Shredder-Claws/dp/B003IWI66W/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=bbq+bear+claws+tear+meat+shredder&qid=1669664853&sprefix=bbq+bear%2Caps%2C121&sr=8-3

Drink Holder

And finally, the one thing you can never do without – a magnetic drink holder for the grill! Sticks to any strong metal surface (like the pellet feeder box on your grill!) and lets you park your favorite beverage while you tend your grill. Here’s one that we have: https://www.amazon.com/LEKUSHA-Magnetic-Tractor-Refrigerator-Treadmill/dp/B09GXHPRXT/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=magnetic+cup+holder+for+toolbox&qid=1669664967&sprefix=magnetic+cup+holder+for+%2Caps%2C115&sr=8-5

That’s a wrap to this edition of the Griller’s Gold blog! We hope you’ve gotten some great ideas for gift giving for your favorite griller.

From all of us at Griller’s Gold, we wish you the happiest of Happy Holidays!

Whatever the weather: winter grill and smoker tips

by Grillers Gold | BBQ, Featured, Grilling

From the fine Floridians at Grill Junkie, here’s a whole lot of hot info on grilling and smoking in cool spells. Yes, even in Florida, wind and weather can challenge the outdoor cook. You need to make adjustments to help ensure success. Read this excerpt, check the forecast, and get ready to BBQ with attitude all year ‘round.

The Prime Directive: Keep your BBQ hot enough to smoke, no matter how cold it is.

Smoking in cold temperatures presents several challenges. When operating a charcoal, gas or wood-fired backyard smoker, the weather is always something you need to pay very close attention to. When temperatures are very low you need to be especially careful. Reaching and maintaining ideal smoking temperatures can be difficult at best, and very hard if the wind is blowing. Metal smokers are particularly challenging because the metal acts to conduct the heat quickly away from your BBQ, grill or smoker.

Temperature

The first thing to imagine is the temperature difference. On a nice warm summer day, you might find that your smoker, sitting in the sun, has an internal temperature around 100° F. without a fire in it. Open the lid to get things ready and maybe it cools down to 85° F. If your target temperature is 225 degrees F. then you need a fire that will increase in smoker temperature by 125-145° F. If, on the other hand it is a cold, overcast day the internal temperature of your smoker could be 35° F, meaning you need to increase the temperature by 190° F. This is near twice the temperature difference. This means that you will have to have better temperature control, a hotter fire, and more fuel than usual on hand.

Wind

Now we need to take into account the wind. The most important thing about wind is the direction relative to your smoker. Some smokers, like the large offset smokers, have a definite airflow path. Air comes into the smoker through the firebox and moves across the cooking chamber and out the stack. If the wind is blowing in this direction the increased airflow will burn your fuel faster and can cause high-temperature spikes. This means keeping the vents closed down more than normal. If the wind is going in the other direction it can stop the airflow entirely and keep the heat out of your cooking chamber. It is best to let the wind add to the airflow and not stop it so if possible position your smoker so that the wind is blowing in the direction of the natural smoker airflow. It is very important to keep an eye on the wind as well as your smoking temperature.

Precipitation

Of course, it’s very difficult to smoke in heavy rain but cold weather also brings the occasional unanticipated light rain or snow. When water hits your smoker it is going to evaporate. Evaporation pulls heat from your smoker. If, during the course of a smoke you find some rain or snow falling it is time to open up the vents, getting things stoking, and bring up the temperature to offset this heat loss. Keep a close eye on it and you should be okay.”

Read more about the technical aspects of smoking and cooking on a wood pellet grill in this article about Indirect Heat.

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