New Guy, Question on Accessories

[GrillNoobster]

Hey guys, just purchased a Weber 3-burner Spirit E-310. I'm completely new to grilling and only know as much as I've read on this fantastic website. My question is as follows: what would be the bare necessities for accessories to start grilling? I'm looking for advice on tools/brushes, thermometers, and any other misc. items. I'm planning on grilling at least once a week, with the intention of doing it more often than that. I also don't want to go overboard with accessories until I know for certain this will be a big hobby of mine. I'm interested in your thoughts, thanks!

[DWCowles]

Welcome GrillNoobster

[Jerod Broussard]

Welcome and definitely look into a digital thermometer.

Thermapen MK4

Thermopop

[Mosca]

That's a nice tool you got there!

For the Spirit E-310, you want a good digital thermometer to track the pit temp. The Maverick 732 is well respected, and will do both food and pit at the same time. A good instant read digital is nice to have for steaks, chops, and chicken. Thermapen is the gold standard, but a cheap Taylor from the grocery store works just as well and the difference in time to reading is only a couple seconds.

GrillGrates will allow your gasser to reach restaurant temps for steaks. That was always my bugaboo when I rocked a gasser, that it never really seared a steak. I wish I had them then, I just ordered a set for my kamado.

I think those are the only essentials: pit temp monitor, instant read thermometer, and GrillGrates. You will be able to put out a lot of great meals with those. Gassers are really versatile, you can put out pretty much anything with one.

For a smoke box, when you want that extra flavor, go get those throwaway aluminum loaf pans. Fill one with wood chips or chunks (DO NOT SOAK THEM), wrap it wth foil, and poke a few holes in the bottom, like 3 or 4. Then put it in the firebox next to the burners, with the holes facing down. The smoke will get drawn down, then up with the gas flame. This is a tip from a kamado user here, CeramicChef. I tried it in my kamado and it worked really well, and there is no reason it wouldn't work on a gas grill too. You won't (shouldn't, at least) get billowing clouds of smoke, you don't want that. You should get either no visible smoke, or a thin wisp of light blue smoke. But you should also get a nice smoke flavor to what you are cooking.

[LA Pork Butt]

GrillNoobster As usual Mosca has great advice. I would add long tongs and a wide spatula. Maybe a long handle fork.

[LA Pork Butt]

The Weber cooks will have great advice on grill brushes.

[GrillNoobster]

Awesome, thanks! Any recommendations on tools, brushes, etc? Any tips on cleaning? I read the amazingribs section on it, but I'm at a loss for the best way to take care of my new purchase.

[Huskee]

Welcome aboard GrillNoobster! I'd like to add that a Maverick ET 732 is a great accessory to have to monitor your actual cooking temps and meat temp during the cook. We all use a variety of brushes, general consensus is the cheap $5 Home Depot grill brushes work well. I like the triangle-shaped Weber brush, sometimes called T-brush, for my kettle grates and The Last Brush for my smoker with expanded metal grates. All grill brushes have their inherent flaws though, not much sense in buying expensive ones if you ask me.

[Jon Solberg]

Agree with all of the above. Welcome!

[Danjohnston949]

GrillNoobster, Welcome to The Pit! You are definitely going to want a Set of Tongs, a Flat Blade Turner and a Grill Brush of some type! Brushes commonly used can vary from dedicated(i.e. Expensive) Grill Brushes to Inexpensive Steel Wire Welding Brushes! You may profit by a trip to your local Ace Hardware Store, a look through the accessory section on this Amazing Ribs Site, Amazon and take a real good look through Your Wife's Kitchen Drawer to see what She's holding out on you? You will also need a good Pair of Inulated or Heat Resistant gloves that you can use to position Meat etc. on or off a hot grill. Look at Silicone or similar that can be washed and sanitized against food borne illness!
Just Keep in Mind it called BBQing Not BUYing! A crumpled piece of Aluminum Foil will clean a Grill very Nicely!
Eat Well and Prosper! From Fargo ND, Dan

[BigBear]

Welcome to The Pit Noobster. All good advice given so far. One other thing you might want to consider is a rotisserie attachment. You can get a good one for $50 - $100 that will allow you to roast chickens and large pieces of meat. Good luck and have fun learning!

[Mosca]

Oh: the best grill gloves are the ones that go by the name Ove Glove.

EDIT: I read the name wrong, it is GuLife Oven Glove, http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ilpage_o02_s00

Remember, if you order on Amazon, use the Amazing Ribs click through on the right.

[jholmgren]

I have to respectfully disagree with you Mosca - I hated my 'ove glove' and threw it away after badly burning my hand. I now use a pair of leather welding gloves - $5 from Harbor Freight and haven't burned myself since.

[beachgriller]

I'll add to the chorus on the Maverick 732. It was the first recommendation I followed after joining this site and second on the list of things most critical to my improvement in outdoor cooking. (The first being this site itself). Also, I love my Grill Grates!
Last year, I read a number of news stories, including a warning from the CDC, regarding pieces of wire grill brushes breaking off, getting swallowed and sending people to the hospital. Now, I use crumpled foil to clean the grill...

[GrillNoobster]

Fantastic! Thanks again for the replies. I did purchase the Maverick 732 (thanks for the tip!). I'll get a nice pair of tongs too and a big box of tin-foil. Oh, and a nice steak .

I spent all last night reading about GrillGrates -- I'm assuming this is best used for reverse searing (low/slow 225, hot/fast nuclear). The question is, do you guys sear with the flat or raised side of the GrillGrate? However, I don't think I'm ready to buy GrillGrates just yet, since the Spirit says it comes with coated cast iron -- I suppose that means it gets hot enough to sear if left to heat for long enough? I guess I'll wait and see what the searing is like.

[EubieQ]

Got GrillGrates for my gas grill last summer to replace a couple of my porcelain-over-cast-iron grates. Did strip steaks using the reverse sear method (rails up) and they were awesome! Have only done about a dozen cooks on them, but love them so far.

[Mosca]

have to respectfully disagree with you Mosca - I hated my 'ove glove' and threw it away after badly burning my hand. I now use a pair of leather welding gloves - $5 from Harbor Freight and haven't burned myself since.

You know what, you're right, jholmgren. I looked really quickly at them and read "Ove Glove", but what it said on them was "Oven Gloves".

What I'm talking about are these:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FCXWBH0?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00

They are heat resistant to 900*+ for about 13 seconds, and 600*+ for 15 seconds.

[stevecz]

I was all excited when I read your question. As an owner of that very grill, I finally found a post I could contribute to. Then all saw all the great advice that everyone already posted!

I agree with all of the great advice above. A good digital thermometer is a must. I have one with a wireless display that I can carry around, and it works well. The long handled tools are also important.

I use a long handled wire grill brush for regular scraping of my grates. Periodically I take them off and scrape out the inside. An old putty knife works great. Make sure you keep an eye on the grease pan underneath, and replace that when necessary.

Good luck, and have fun grilling!

[Marauderer]

Wow, so much great Gasser info.

When i am through with my cook and have a lot of drippings I turn all burners on high and leave them on 5-10 min until the grill stops smoking and then turn it off. Somewhere in there clean the grates with your wire brush. I usually take mine apart about once a year and thoroughly clean it.