15 December 2011

10 Best BBQ/Grilling Gift Ideas

Thermapen™
One of the best tools when it comes to cooking meat is the Thermapen™. There are several cuts of meat that have a small window of perfect doneness, and the only way to nail it every time is with a Thermapen™. With 3-second readings and High accuracy to ±0.7°F, no other thermometer can match it. Note: the red one is the fastest.


Cookbooks
There is no better way to explore your horizons than with new cookbook Here are a couple of my favorites:

The Southern Foodways Alliance Community Cookbook

Primal Cuts: Cooking with America's Best Butchers

Whole Beast Butchery: The Complete Visual Guide to Beef, Lamb, and Pork


Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing


If you are looking strictly for a BBQ cookbook, I would go with one of these:

Paul Kirk's Championship Barbecue: Barbecue Your Way to Greatness With 575 Lip-Smackin' Recipes from the Baron of Barbecue


Big Bob Gibson's BBQ Book: Recipes and Secrets from a Legendary Barbecue Joint


Serious Barbecue: Smoke, Char, Baste, and Brush Your Way to Great Outdoor Cooking


Knives
Who doesn't love a good knife? Knives are the essential cooking tool, and you can never have too many. Here are a couple of good options:

Need a brisket slicer? Check out the Forschner Fibrox 12" Granton Edge Slicer.


How bout a nice Japanese Knife? The Shun Pro Usuba 6.5" is a really nice choice.


Edge Pro Knife Sharpening Kit
Once you have sharpened a knife with the Edge Pro, you will never use any other method. This kit allows you to get a mirror finish on a blades edge. If you are ever in a pinch and need to shave with a household kitchen knife, I would be sure to sharpen it with the edge pro first. There is no gimmick, and the price tag kinda gives that away, but you will never have to use another sharpening system again.


Big Green Egg
Why not go all out and get an egg. You know you want one, and what better time to splurge than at Christmas. They come in all shapes and sizes, so I'm sure you can find the one that is right for the special person on your list. Note: just because they may already have an Egg does not mean that they couldn't use another one.


The Pig Tail Food Flipper
A great alternative to the bbq tool set. Easily flip and handle smaller cuts of meat. I recommend the medium or small version. The largest one is just too big.


A BBQ Class
For the serious bbq'er in your life, look into some of these cooking classes.

Pellet Envy Competition BBQ Classes

Bub-Ba-Q Competition Cooking Class

Jack's Old South Cooking School

Chimney Starter
Most grill masters are probably already using one of these, but if you've seen a bottle of lighter fluid at your buddies house, by all means buy them a chimney starter. If they are using the lighter fluid in other ways you might want to check into this.


Epicurean Cutting Board
These cutting boards are rock solid. I have two of them that I use daily, and they are still as good as new after 5+ years.


Booze
What goes better with meat than booze? This one is really up to your preference, because most booze goes with bbq. Well everything except these:





13 December 2011

10 Worst BBQ/Grilling Gift Ideas

Apron Sets
No one really wants one of these things.



BBQ Tool Set
If you want to get someone a nice spatula or tongs, that's fine. However, the items that come in these sets are crap.




Bacon Themed Anything
These were slightly funny about two years ago, but don't waste your money.



Hamburger Press
If you feel like someone needs a hamburger press, they probably shouldn't be making hamburgers.



Fork Thermometer
You shouldn't poke you meat with a fork to turn it or to get the temp of it, and the thermometer on these is about as accurate as this guy.



Grill Branding Iron
Clever idea? In theory maybe, but they don't work very well. Beef is too dark for it to really show up, and your chicken and pork really don't need to be branded for any reason.



Indoor Grill
A true grill master will fire up the grill in snow, sleet, rain, or a tornado. Also these things are a bitch to clean up.



I Can't Believe It's a Lighter
Is that a shotgun shell? That's a cute little camera. No, they are lighters silly.




Themed BBQ Sauce
Really? I like Georgia, but I don't need some generic bbq sauce just because it says Georgia on it.



Bottle Brush
Have you ever tried to use one of these? If you have, you would never buy this for someone.





Check back tomorrow for the 10 Best BBQ/Grill Gifts.