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Grill Accessories

BBQ Mitts

If you have done any amount of backyard barbecuing, you know how easy it is to get your hands in the wrong place and suffer a nasty burn.

Sometimes you may just wish you could get your hands in there to handle that unruly piece of meat. BBQ gloves let you do just that. You no longer have to depend solely on those unwieldy barbecue tools; instead, you can stick your hands right in and get the job done right. But before you do, make sure you choose the right pair.

BBQ MittsBasic BBQ Mitts

BBQ gloves need to fulfill two basic requirements: they must have enough pliability to allow a fair amount of dexterity, and they must have enough heat resistance to protect hands from burning. Manufacturers have come up with all kinds of different materials to accomplish these goals including leather, rawhide, treated cotton, neoprene, Kevlar, Nomex, and silicone.

Materials that focus solely on heat protection often sacrifice pliability. This results in mitts that are hard to maneuver and can lead to accidental dropping or smashing of food. On the other hand, a focus on pliability can sacrifice heat resistance, resulting in uncomfortably hot temperatures, sweating, and burns. The best mitts are those that successfully meet both criteria.

What to Look For in BBQ Mitts

  • Flare-Up Protection–BBQ grilling invariable involves unexpected flame flare-ups. It is important that the BBQ gloves you choose not only resist the radiant heat of extended periods close to the flame, but also withstand actual contact with the flames. If they fail to do so, they may ignite and cause serious burns to the hands. Cotton gloves tend to be the least flare-up safe, but watch the stitching material on other gloves. Some stitching can be flammable.
  • Length–Many BBQ gloves are relatively short (around 12 inches). This length may protect the hands, but it doesn’t cut it for active grilling.  Many grills are up to 35 inches deep. Reaching across a grill that deep with 12-inch gloves will leave areas of the arm exposed to pretty intense temperatures. Fifteen-inch gloves are better, but the 17 or 18-inch lengths seem to offer the best protection without sacrificing maneuverability.
  • Washable–An often  overlooked factor in BBQ gloves is their ease of cleaning. BBQ is messy, from the cooking to the eating, and while it may be easy to wash up your hands after enjoying a nice meal, cleaning some of the gloves may be a chore. Choose gloves that can be easily washed up with soap and water, both inside and out. There are always those times when you forget and stick your raw-meat covered hands into the gloves.

Ready for the Grill

BBQ mitts may revolutionize your outdoor cooking experience. Hands-on ability really improves cooking dexterity and ensures the finest cooked meals, the kind that will impress your friends and family. Choose your mitts well and enjoy your days of grilling!

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Grill Accessories Grill Parts

BBQ Igniters

The BBQ igniter is a simple tool with many applications. Of course, it is made for the primary purpose of lighting gas grills. Unfortunately, however, BBQ igniters sometimes get a bad reputation for being undependable.

BBQ Igniters: The Little Tools that Accomplish Great Things

It seems like every time you want to light the grill, the igniter fails to work properly. This requires you to go in the house and dig around for a match or lighter to get your grill going. A little known fact is that the igniter is rarely the cause of such undependability. More often, the burners are not properly feeding fuel to the igniter, which makes it difficult to light.BBQ igniters

How a BBQ Igniter Works

BBQ igniters use piezo electricity to create a spark that lights the gas in a grill. When we think of electricity, we think of plugging something into a wall, or inserting fresh batteries to power a device.

Piezo electricity is different from what we normally think of as electricity. If you speak Greek, you will recognize the word “piezo” as meaning pressure. Piezo electricity is essentially an electromagnetic charge generated by applying pressure to something. There are certain crystal elements that produce electricity when they are struck with force. In a BBQ igniter, one of these piezo electric crystals is struck, which causes it to emit a spark to light the grill. The spark is small and only lasts for a split second, but it is all that the gas needs to light quickly.

What to Do When Your Grill Won’t Light

If your grill won’t light after you’ve turned on the gas and hit the igniter, there are a few steps to diagnose the problem. Remember to turn off the gas and remove the propane tank completely before attempting any diagnosis or repairs.

1. With the gas turned off and the tank removed, locate the igniter element and watch it as you press the igniter button. If you see a small spark jump across the element, you know your ignition issues are not caused by the igniter. If there is no spark, your easiest option may be to get a replacement igniter. BBQ igniters are available at many online retailers.

2. If you see a spark on the igniter, the problem is likely with the gas burners. With the propane tank still safely disconnected, remove the burners one by one and check for signs of blockage. If there is any blockage in the burners, replace them.

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Grill Types

Contact Grills

Need a contact grill? Are you stuck inside your apartment again, nothing in the kitchen cabinets but ramen, spaghetti, and frozen pizza?

Are you in need of a hot sandwich, but can’t fit an oven in your tiny workspace?  Maybe what you need is a contact grill.

Contact grills (the smaller ones are just called sandwich makers) have seated surfaces not only beneath your food, but over it as well.  The food is sealed in, giving you a quick, easy bite of homecooked tastiness.

The George Foreman Grill is a great example.  It is, in fact, the “iPod” of contact electric grills.  Just as the iPod is the only mp3 player people want to buy, the George Foreman Grill is the premier contact grill on the market.

Contact Grills: Features

Most contact grills are cleverly designed to have a low footprint.  They use nonstick surfaces that often press the food into a unique, hot pocket-ish shape.  They’re also extremely easy to clean—often more so than the dishes you eat the food off of—and don’t produce the smoke that larger grills do.  Fantastic for dorm rooms or small apartments, they’re are often the lowest-priced variety of grill.  Though they are designed for a specific purpose that sets them apart from other types, they definitely fill a need.

Contact Grills: Pros and Cons

Contact Grills make fantastic sandwiches.  More expensive varieties are used to produce premium deli-style Panini sandwiches in restaurants.  Smaller indoor grills can produce a similar culinary effect, lightly crisping the outside of a sandwich and making the inside warm and tasty.

This type of grill is definitely not for the barbecue.  You won’t find yourself making standard-issue hamburgers on these grills.  Typically, a consumer-level contact grill does not produce the same variety of dishes that charcoal or propane grills can.  They are unique, and therefore are used to make unique foods.

They are often small, highly portable, and inexpensive.

Contact Grills: Is it for you?

Though small and specific in purpose, indoor grills definitely hold a special place among the varieties of grills found in the marketplace.  If you’re on a budget, live in a tight space, and need your food cooked fast, then there’s no question you should purchase one.  If you’re looking to hold an epic, porterhouse steak bar-b-q, then you’ll probably want to look into something else.

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Grill Types

Portable Grills

Are you ready to have a cookout at your small apartment or college dorm room? Travelling and can’t live without your grill? Try a portable grill!

If you’re pressed for space, you’ll definitely be looking at a portable grill that both saves space and enables you to smoke some great barbecue.

Portable style grills come in nearly infinite varieties, each with distinct advantages and disadvantages.

Portable Grills Features

Mobile grills are designed for portability. They are not mounted on a beautiful brick assembly in your back-yard. These grills are portable grillsdesigned for the tailgate party, the campout, or even the dorm room barbeque. They save space, and are an essential for a camping trip or football event. They come in four varieties, each with distinct features:

Portable charcoal grills are a smaller version of the old-school, smoke-billowing grill your Dad used to use. If you don’t have neighbors—or a college fire code—to worry about, a portable charcoal grill may be for you.

Portable gas grills use propane to cook your delicious bar-b-q, which gives the grill man control over the cooking temperature. Safe storage of the propane is essential, but mature handling of the tank makes this a highly effective grill.

Portable electric grills are a great alternative if you need to cook indoors. This type of grill not only produces less smoke, but cooks in a healthier manner. There’s less grease, and a more locked-in style of flavor.

Finally, Portable infrared grills cook the meat faster—and in many cases, better—than the above portable grill alternatives. However, with all new technologies, the primary downside is price. Portable infrared grills are also more rare and, frankly, much more expensive. But if you’re after a premium cookout experience, a portable infrared grill is for you.

Portable Grills Pros and Cons

The portable grill’s distinct advantage is that… well, they’re portable. You can haul your grill to a campout, cookout, friend’s house, or to a new place of residence. This is an advantage that larger, mounted grills, though classier, just don’t have.

However, a portable grill has its downsides. Most portable type grills don’t have the premium controls of their larger cousins. In addition, they aren’t designed to create a feast for huge groups of people.

Portable Grills Is it for you?

There are thousands of varieties of grills out there… but only one for you. If you want to enhance your campout, tailgate party, small apartment, or dorm room, then consider adding a portable grill to your cooking arsenal.

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