Avoid Buying These 7 Grill Accessories That Pitmasters Secretly Skip For Their BBQ

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Nothing beats a day behind the barbecue. Flavorful smoke in the air, sizzling meat cooking to golden perfection, and most importantly, the opportunity to practice the true art of the pitmastery. Whether you're a barbecue enthusiast or not, everybody knows that pitmasters have spent countless hours behind the grill perfecting their tasty craft. They know which essential grill accessories you really need and which are actually marketing gimmicks that hurt your barbecue station more than they help. That's why we contacted expert pitmasters Ben Carroccio from PRK 101 in Carlsbad, California, and Carey Bringle with Peg Leg Porker in Nashville, Tennessee, to offer you the best insight on which tools to avoid.

Whether you're into barbecuing or not, you might notice that grill stores and culinary shops alike push expensive gadgets promising perfect results. To avoid breaking the bank and filling your kitchen with unnecessary tools, consider using this list as your guide and read about which tools the pros quietly skip over in favor of simple techniques.

Everybody loves an aesthetic — whether that's having all your kitchen tools be stainless steel or making sure to only wear canvas aprons. Today's kitchens are overcrowded with supposedly "must-have" tools that often cause clutter and chaos rather than help. Among these unnecessary gadgets, pitmaster Ben Carroccio says, are bun branders, which are particularly useless. He describes them as "strictly cosmetic" devices worth skipping.

If you haven't seen one before, bun branders are a heated tool often used to create a design or logo on hamburger buns, hot dog buns, and sandwiches. Restaurants, catering companies, and bakeries will slightly burn their brand mark on the bread to give their presentation a unique touch. For an average novice pitmaster who is just getting their hands in the coals, a bun brander isn't necessary. They make sense if you're trying to promote a brand or the restaurant's logo, but if you're trying to master the craft of the pit, then you might want to invest in a more useful tool.

Stop right there! You probably are going scroll past this thinking that a Bluetooth thermometer is not only an essential tool but also the only type of thermometer you should have at your barbecue station. However, Ben Carroccio disagrees. "They're flashy, but unnecessary," he says. "A standard instant-read kitchen thermometer works just as well, if not better." For those of you who don't know, an instant-read thermometer allows you to check the temperature of the food in different spots in quick succession, whereas Bluetooth thermometers have a leave-in probe that continuously monitors the internal temperature in one location and transmits its data to your smartphone or other device. Carroccio recommends either the Cooper-Atkins digital thermometer or the Taylor digital thermometer because they're inexpensive, reliable, and accurate.

Carroccio further explains, "The key is knowing when to pull [the meat], then letting it rest 15–30 minutes so the juices settle. High-dollar gadgets won't beat patience and technique." So, if you really want to improve your barbecue skills, then investing in an instant-read thermometer is the best choice. When cooking meat, from pan searing a steak to grilling a burger, developing a feeling of doneness is essential. It sounds a bit odd, but you need to teach yourself how to recognize the subtle difference between a well-done and medium-rare piece of meat by just touching it with your fingertips. If your station is filled with fancy thermometers that send temperatures to your smartphone, you might never learn this technique that's so crucial in becoming an expert pitmaster.

One thing that most people don't tell you when you're trying to become a pitmaster is that you're going to be cleaning your grill a lot — so much so, you're probably going to go through quite a few grill brushes. After a day barbecuing briskets, burgers, or sausages for a crowd of people, your grill is going to be pretty dirty, and the last thing you'll want to do is put that precise grill brush you spent hundreds of dollars on through the ringer. Instead of rushing to fancy culinary stores and grabbing the most expensive and premium grill brushes on the shelves, expert pitmaster Carey Bringle says, "A simple wooden scraper or a Grill Rescue water brush does the job just fine." Examples include this Grill Rescue BBQ Replaceable Cleaning Head Barbecue Cleaner or this Wood Grill Scraper from Amazon.

There isn't really a point in wasting your money on an expensive piece of equipment that you'll most likely end up replacing after a few months of cooking behind the grill. As Bringle says, "Spend your money on good meat and hardwood instead."

Another grill accessory that expert pitmasters secretly skip for their barbecue setup is rib racks. For those of you who don't know, rib racks are designed to hold your ribs upright to ensure all-around airflow so that heat and smoke can evenly travel around both sides of the ribs. While this might seem important if you want your ribs to be packed with smoky flavor and optimize every inch of grill space, Ben Carroccio says, "Stores love to push them because they look like a space-saving solution, but they actually make ribs harder to cook evenly and can restrict airflow." Blocking essential airflow on your barbecue will result in unevenly cooked meat and hot spots.

The last thing you want when you're cooking a rack of ribs is overcooked or completely raw meat that will send your guests running. Carroccio suggests laying the ribs flat on the grill grates to give them the most exposure to smoke and heat. The result will be a delicious, smoky, aromatic flavor that's so notable from grilled ribs.

If you haven't seen one before, a grill mat is used to create a flat cooking surface that prevents flare-ups and keeps food from falling between the grates on your grill. It's often advertised to new pitmasters or beginner barbecue hobbyists who aren't familiar with occasional flame flare-ups — however, just like temperature fluctuations, flare-ups are a normal part of barbecuing.

Similar to rib racks, grill mats block the smoke that gives barbecue its signature flavor, defeating the entire purpose of grilling outdoors, let alone being a pitmaster! If you're concerned about flare-ups or food falling through the grates, Carey Bringle recommends keeping it simple and just using a cast-iron skillet or mesh basket that allows proper smoke penetration. Also, if you're using a grill mat for easier cleanup afterward, then you might want to pick a different cooking style for a hobby because the only way to clean your grill is to get down and dirty with a grill brush.

If there's one thing that people crave the most from good barbecue, it's that mouthwatering, smoky, wood flavor in the meat. But buying a tool like a smoke tube does more harm than good. It's a mistake that many beginner pitmasters make. For those of you who don't know, a smoke tube is a perforated metal container filled with wood pellets or chips that produce a stream of smoke to grill food. It works great for electric or propane grills that don't have any built-in smoking capabilities. However, for charcoal or wood-fired grills that already produce natural smoke, these tools are unnecessary and might actually oversaturate your food with smoke. 

This gadget is often advertised to beginners to get them thinking that more smoke equals better barbecue, but it actually makes meat bitter and inedible. Carey Bringle says, "Clean fire and steady heat beat gadgets every time." If you want to get professional results and a delicious flavor, steer clear of gadgets that flood your food with smoke.

Nothing is worse than being stuck at the kitchen sink, scrubbing away on a tool you shouldn't have bought — and that's exactly what you'll get with a grill basket. Grill baskets are messy, difficult to clean, and completely unnecessary. If you haven't seen one before, a grill basket is a metal grate with parallel bars that lock together. The device can be used to grill meat, seafood, or vegetables together, without the food falling between the grates. Ben Carroccio says, "They might look convenient, but all they really do is add another item to scrub when you're done."

Beyond being challenging to clean and maintain, grill baskets also eliminate one of the most prized features of barbecue cooking: those delicious grill marks. Carroccio further explains, "Cooking directly on the grates gives you better grill marks, better flavor, and less cleanup. Simplicity usually wins on the grill." So, the next time you're looking to level up your barbecue station, consider putting the grill basket back on the shelf.