Take Your Smoked Meats to the Next Level: 10 Awesome Meat Smoking Accessories

Smoking foods on a grill is a great way to enhance your meats' flavors, textures, and aromas when BBQing. Because this tends to be a slow process, it also gives you plenty of time to sit back and relax with a cool drink while chatting with family and friends. But why not take your smoking game to the next level by adding accessories that can make the experience even more enjoyable?

When cooking over several hours, you may find these items add convenience while improving your grilling results. You can start with a few pieces and build up your smoking toolkit while becoming a master BBQ chef.

Let's dive in and find out which accessories make a great addition when smoking meats in your backyard.

1. Charcoal Chimney Fire Starter

One of the best meat smoking tips is about what to do before placing food on the grill. It can be challenging to get charcoal lit, so using a chimney fire starter is good to make the process faster and more efficient. You light some paper at the bottom and allow it to ignite the charcoal above.

When you see smoke, you can easily tip the charcoal into your BBQ.

2. Heat Resistant Gloves

When working with hot coals and metal grills, safety is paramount. A thick pair of heat-resistant gloves can protect your hands from contact with hot surfaces and from the warm air coming from the grill. While they should offer plenty of protection, you'll want to check you can still comfortably handle utensils when wearing the gloves.

3. Charcoal Baskets

If you choose to smoke over indirect heat, you may find it helpful to place your charcoal in baskets that keep the fuel in one place. You can then position your meats on the other side of the grill. While this process is slower than cooking over direct heat, it allows smoke to permeate the meats.

You can also get excellent results and increase the cooking speed by using high-quality butcher paper.

4. Basting Brush

Among other expert smoked meat tips is the importance of keeping your foods moist while allowing them to absorb flavors. You can use a basting brush to add marinades and sauces without the need to remove meats from the grill. This is also an excellent way to ensure you have an even coverage of your marinades over the entire surface of each piece of food.

5. BBQ Tongs

While it is good practice to let your meats sit on the grill while the smoky aromas infuse the food with that authentic BBQ smell, there are times you need to use tongs to ensure thorough cooking. Rather than allowing one side of your chicken breasts or burgers to absorb all the heat, you can use a set of tongs to flip the meat easily.

6. Meat Thermometer

When learning how to smoke meat, one of the critical factors is ensuring it is safe to eat without causing illness. Even if you have been smoking meat for many hours, this does not guarantee the food is cooked through to the center. You can purchase a meat thermometer to check the internal temperature before serving your meal to hungry guests.

7. Butcher's Block

When cutting thicker meats, you can easily apply too much pressure and go through to the board underneath. Therefore, one of the most valuable accessories for smoking meat is a good quality butcher's block. Look for a wooden butcher's block with inbuilt drainage rivulets that prevent tasty juices from spilling onto your worktops.

8. Boning Knife or Shredding Claws

A boning knife is a great addition that makes it easier to separate meat without ripping or tearing. But, you can also use shredding claws that allow you to split large chunks of meat into smaller, more manageable sections. Shredding claws are ideal if you are grilling for many people and divide your food quickly and evenly.

9. Rib Racks

Depending on how many ribs you are smoking, you could find space is at a premium. While you want to space your ribs out to allow smoke to reach each side, this can mean you have little room to add other meats, such as chicken or sausages. But, using a rib rack keeps your food in a compact space while still allowing the smoke to add those delicious flavors.

10. Grill Brush

One of the more underrated meat-smoking tools is a grill brush. If you are smoking foods, you want to make sure your meat is moist and tender, but this is more difficult if debris is stuck on the grill from your last cook-out.

You may find bits of fat or some juices drip down and cause flare-ups that toughen the outside of your meats. These bits of food could also attract insects or other wildlife that contaminate the surface before you place your heart on the grill. It's good practice to rub your grates with a brush after smoking to ensure your smoker is ready for the next BBQ visit.

Add to Your Meat Smoking Accessories Collection

Adding a few meat-smoking accessories can make a massive difference to your grilling experience. Not only can they make preparing your food more leisurely, but you may find grill lighting is less hassle and cleaning up takes less time. The only question is when you'll throw your next outdoor event to let your guests sample the fantastic results!

If this post has put you in the mood to fire up your grill and smoke some tasty meats, be sure to find more valuable articles in our Lifestyle section before you go.