The Best Grilling Gifts

Gloves for the charcoal griller

America's Test Kitchen put these welding gloves first in its grill glove test, ahead of the silicone and neoprene pairs. They had testers pour out a hot chimney starter and shift grates over coals, and the suede with its foil and cotton layers kept the heat off while still letting them grip a pair of tongs. The length matters more than it sounds, since your forearms are what get close to the coals.

Yes, they look like welding gloves, because they are. At about $19 nobody's going to mind. Pair them with the OXO set below and you've got a present for about $51.

The gift for a new griller

The tongs held everything from chicken wings to a whole pork shoulder when Reviewed put them to work, and the scalloped ends don't let go. They lock shut and hang from a metal loop. The turner is thin and slotted, so it slides under a burger and lets the grease run off, and the silicone rest gives both tools somewhere to sit besides the side table. There's also a bottle opener built into the tongs, which I'm guessing will be the first thing anybody tries.

I'd skip the boxed sets of 20 or 30 pieces. Most of that stays in the case, and these are the two tools that do the work.

The best grilling spices and rubs gift set

Holy Cow is the beef rub, and it has fans on the Weber forums, where one brisket cook called the choice "Holy Cow all day." Holy Gospel blends it with Meat Church's Gospel rub, and it goes on chicken and pork as well as steak and beef ribs. Holy Gospel leans on black pepper and gives the meat good color. That's a better present than a box of twenty tiny jars from a brand nobody's heard of, since these two will actually get finished.

Smoke on a gas grill, with nothing to install

Fill the steel tube with wood pellets, light one end with a small torch, blow out the flame, and set it on the grates. A-Maze-N says it runs for about 2 hours and that a gas grill needs no changes at all. Wings, a slab of salmon and a block of cheddar all fit in that time, and cold smoking cheese or nuts is the fun part of owning one.

I'd tuck a bag of apple or hickory pellets and a kitchen torch in with it if they don't own one. It's a small gift, and it needs both to work.

The best gift for meat lovers

Nothing ruins eight hours of smoke like tearing the brisket apart with a short knife. Twelve inches lets you slice in one long pull, and the grooves along the blade let air in, so thin slices of ham or brisket come away instead of clinging. Victorinox guarantees it against defects for life, and the plain black handle stays grippy when it's wet.

It's a plain black restaurant knife, about $83, and I'd pick it over anything fancier at the same price.

For the grill master who wants to know why

Meathead Goldwyn spends a lot of pages explaining heat and smoke and picking fights with old habits, such as soaking wood chips or searing a steak first. He doesn't pick a side between charcoal, gas and wood, which is rare for a barbecue author. There are 118 recipes for rubs, sauces, meats and sides, and one reader got a prime rib right on the first try with it.

At about $18, it goes with any other gift on this list.

The one big BBQ gift

It's first in my portable propane grill guide, and a griller with a huge rig out back can still find a use for it, because the huge rig doesn't fit in a trunk. It has one 10,000 BTU burner under a lid high enough for a whole chicken, and the cast iron grates hold their heat for a good sear. Pick the color, wrap a bow on it, and you're done.