Que Gear

As with any hobby or passion, there are certain tools, equipment, gear, or Toy's, required in order to achieve the desired results. A custom fitted

bowling ball, that prize shotgun, or the fastest bass boat on the lake. Below are a few of the toys, I mean tools, that will make your BBQ experience not

only easier and more fun, but also help you produce the quality of food you will be proud to serve your family and friends.

A good meat thermometer is a must have for any outdoor cooking. As you can imagine, there are many different brands, types, styles and price ranges. Regardless of which type you choose, keep in mind, a thermometer is of little value regardless of price or style if it doesn't give you an accurate reading.

The least expensive, and least useful thermometers are the oven type meat thermometer that is placed in the meat and left there while cooking. There are two major problems with this type of thermometers. First, as a rule they are not very accurate since they use the old fashion dial type readout which relies on a metal spring or link contracting and expanding. The second thing is you have to open your smoker to read the temperature, which of course should be avoided if possible.
The next type is a digital thermometer with a probe attached to a long cable or wire. With this type, the wire is ran inside the smoker via a vent hole or other opening and the probe inserted into the meat. The probe is left in the meat during cooking as with the oven type thermometer but the wire leading to the outside is connected to a digital readout unit. These type thermometers are in general much more accurate than the mechanical type and since the display unit is on the outside, you don't have to keep opening your pit.

Next is the same as the digit thermometer with one major difference. It has a Wi-Fi (or Bluetooth) transmitter and receiver. Personally I love this type of setup. You can have a seat in the shade of your patio or relax inside and check your meat temperature with the remote Wi-Fi receiver or your phone with a Bluetooth model.
Keep in mind, with all these different types, the probe is still only reading in one area of the meat, unless of course you open your pit and move it.

The next type is the instant read thermometer. In my opinion, this is an absolute must for grilling and smoking. A good instant read will give you an accurate reading in about 2 seconds. Even though you do have to open your pit, you are able to quickly take a reading in different areas of the meat, which can be very important with many meats such as poultry, and then close your pit in short time. You can find various brands of these on Amazon for around $20.00 or less.

An even better method, and what I highly recommend, is to use a combination. You can use a digital to monitor your meat continuously and when the done temperature starts to get close, you can open your pit and take a quick reading of various areas with the instant read.
So how do you know your thermometer is really reading accurately? You check the calibration. No you don't need any fancy electronic equipment, just a glass, some ice and some water. Here's how you do it.
Fill a glass with crushed ice. Add clean water until the glass is almost full and stir.
Wait for about three minutes then inserting the probe on the thermometer into the ice-filled water. Be sure the probe is not touching the bottom or sides of the glass. Wait for about thirty seconds and check that the thermometer reads 32°F., if it does, then it is accurate, but if not, it requires calibration. You'll need to check the manufacturers instructions on calibrating your specific model.
This is by far the easiest and most accurate method of checking your thermometers accuracy.
Now I know some of you are already thinking if you can check it on one end, shouldn't you be able to check it on the other end, the hot side. Yes you can. You can check the accuracy using boiling water. Since we all know water boils at 212 degrees you could just insert your thermometer into some boiling water and check the reading right? Wrong.
Water boils at 212 degrees at Sea Level. The boiling point of water will vary for different elevations: sea level at 212°F, 1000 feet at 210°F, 2000 feet at 208°F, 3000 feet at 206.4°F, 5000 feet at 202.75°F, and 8,000 feet at 197.5°F.. Technically, the elevation will affect the freezing point of water also, but the difference is so small it's almost immeasurable. So if you want to do some quick geological research for your area and adjust your desired calibration accordingly, then by all means throw on a pot of water and have at it. I would suggest just using the ice water method which is accurate enough at any altitude.
Note:
Many thermometers today are not adjustable, which makes it impossible to calibrate the unit if it's inaccurate. Most digital thermometers are pretty accurate. I've purchased several over the years and have only needed to send one back and it was just three degrees off. I would still check any new thermometer with ice water to make sure of the reading. If the unit is more than about 3 degrees off, I would return it. Even if your thermometer is one or two degrees off, by checking it, at least you know to allow for the off degrees when you are checking your meats temperature. In most cases an off reading of one or two degrees is not going to make much difference in your cook, but there are some foods where accuracy is very important, for example smoked salmon. So I suggest anything above or below a couple of degrees is reason to consider a replacement. Keep in mind also, since nothing in life stays the same for ever, it's a good idea to recheck any thermometer a couple of times a year.

Injecting is a great way to add flavor and moisture to meats. Just about any type or cut of meat can benefit from being injected, if done right. There are more types of injectors available than there are cuts of meat. You can pick up a plastic syringe at most groceries for just a couple of bucks. If you want something a little more durable with a choice of different needle types, then you can spend a few extra dollars and get a stainless steel injector. If your into whole hog, your not going to waste time with a little two ounce injector, go for the big boy. There are many more, including much larger injectors with electric pumps for just a couple hundred dollars more. If you are an average backyard pitmaster, I would recommend going ahead and getting the stainless model. It will last a long time, perform well and not let you down in the middle of a cook.
Be sure to check out the helpful information on injecting your meats on our "Que Tips" page.
The plastic, economy syringe is exactly the same thing you might find at a hospital emergency room. They work well for an all liquid injection and like their medical counterparts are made for a "One Time Use". Although you can clean it and get a few uses out it, don't push your luck. In addition, the needle orifice is small and easily clogs with injections containing spices. Even a course ground black pepper can jamb the needle.
The stainless steel model would be the best for most backyard pitmaster as well as competition cooks. They have a larger tube capacity so you can inject more meat without reloading. You get a variety of needles for better performance on different cuts of meats, and the needle orifice is sufficiently large for most injections with multiple spices. You can find various brands of these on Amazon for around $15.00 or less.
The tank sprayer injector might be the ticket if your doing a dozen briskets or a whole hog. These are typically comprised of a 1 gallon plastic tank, a hose and a multi-needle attachment allowing you to inject larger cuts of meat faster. Chances are, if you need one of these, you know more about injectors than I do.

There are many good products to make your smoker more efficient, and to help eliminate baked on messes, saving you tons of time and aggravation. Below are a few of my favorite items to help make your cooks more enjoyable and your food tastier.

It would be difficult to say too much about this product. It is a life saver around the oven, grill and smoker. The non-stick surface keeps even the toughest foods, like cheese or wings, from sticking. It is made using a food safe silicon, the same type material used to make Silpat cooking pads. During manufacturing one side of the foil is coated with a fine layer of silicon. The bulk roll is then heat treated to "set" the non-stick coating to the foil. The best thing I love about non-stick foil is not using it to keep food from sticking, but rather cutting down on your smoker cleanup by keeping your smoking pans, trays, water pan and drip pan clean. By placing the non-stick side down, next to the metal, and using it to line all of your smokers internal items, it eliminates removal of almost all of the dried and baked on drippings and sauces created from hours of smoking. Regular foil will help with cleanup but the foil itself often sticks to the metal parts and makes cleanup even more difficult.

One word of caution. Do Not cover your smoker racks with any kind of foil. Especially, electric, propane and pellet smokers. The design of most of these type smokers is such that the smoke is created in the lower part of the unit and flows upward to an exit vent, cooking and flavoring your food along the way. If you cover too much of a rack, it cuts off the heat and smoke from rising above it, interrupting the cooking process and preventing a good exchange of fresh air which is essential for a good clean burning smoke. It can even cause some serious damage to your smoker as well. Give this product a try, and you'll be a believer too. It is also available by store or generic name in many of the major food stores. The store brands work just as well as the name brand and in most cases made by the name brand company.

Another handy wrap to have around is butcher paper. Most people don't think too much about this little wonder, but there are some good reasons why it's been around for over 100 years. You'll find it being used in butcher shops, deli's, restaurants and many other food establishments. For example, butcher paper tray liners, basket liners, and table coverings have offered many delis and restaurants clean, crisp, and functional utility at a much lower cost than traditional plates and tablecloths. Before the advent of paper plates, it was used in the early BBQ joints to serve the meat on, and is still used by some of the classic BBQ restaurants today. We're all accustomed to seeing our meat sold to us wrapped in butcher paper at your local butcher or meat counter, but in more recent years it has made a big splash in the BBQ world, aside from serving as a plate.
In his effort to set his brisket apart from everyone else's, Aaron Franklin discovered that by wrapping his briskets in butcher paper (in this case pink or "Peach" butcher paper) during the later part of the cook, it allowed the meat to be cooked low and slow to the perfect interior consistency while maintaining a gorgeous “bark” on the outside. His use of butcher paper soon earned him the title of the best BBQ Joint in America, by Bon Appetite. Since then, butcher paper, particularly pink butcher paper, has become a favorite tool of many competition teams as well as restaurants nation wide. Peach paper is the most popular term used for the pink-hued paper we see used at barbecue joints, however, within the paper industry, “peach paper” refers to a variety of "steak paper".
So what's the difference between Kraft, Brown Butcher, White Butcher and Pink Butcher paper?
Both Kraft and butcher paper begin with the same exact raw materials, meaning kraft paper actually shares the same wood fiber as butcher paper. When it comes to the true differences between these papers, it depends on how they are processed beyond their raw materials and their intended use.
What makes butcher paper different from Kraft paper comes down to the internal treatment to the product or formula used to strengthen it for food grade use. This determines the moisture or vapor barrier of the paper. Butcher paper is engineered to withstand moisture better than Kraft paper and offers superior blood, and moisture holdout over standard Kraft paper. Even more important, Butcher paper is FDA Approved for direct contact with food. This is important to note whether your in the food service industry or not.

Both butcher and steak (peach) papers have something called “sizing” added, which is basically a treatment that dictates the wet strength of the paper, which is what keeps it from falling apart when it gets wet.
Butcher paper is designed for same day use because you buy your piece of meat and carry it home, then discard the paper, so it’s more porous. The natural base of most butcher paper in the U.S. is made using only Southern Pine. Steak paper is made for retail display, and therefore is designed to be more robust, and not let as much air reach the product (because air discolors the meat). Steak or Peach paper is far denser than butcher, and is manufactured using more hardwood fibers which results in a more rigid product. Dense enough to hold in moisture, but also porous enough to allow the meat to breath.

Though you could technically use kraft or any cheaper paper in your cook, you have no idea what the composition of the paper is, or if there are certain dangerous chemicals used in the manufacturing that you do not want touching your food. Food grade however, doesn’t automatically mean it’s ok to use in the smoker either. Some White Butcher paper, although FDA approved for food use, has a wax coating which obviously doesn't handle heat well. Some Freezer Paper, very popular with hunters, has a layer of polyethylene plastic that will melt at 180 F..
Bottom line, the use of butcher paper can greatly enhance the quality of your meat, just make sure you use the proper type of paper and don't try to cut corners.
One more note worth mentioning. Before I get flooded with email damning me for misspelling "Kraft/Craft" there's a difference. "Craft" is an activity involving skill in making things by hand, and "Kraft" (taken from the German term for strong) is a kind of strong, smooth brown paper. So while you might use Kraft Paper in doing a Craft, the two are not interchangeable.

These could possibly be the most useful items to have when firing up your smoker. This combo will make it easier to move your food, cover your food and most of all, help tremendously with keeping your smoker clean. There are times when you might want to place your meat directly in the pan, but more often than not, having a rack in the pan will work much better and serve several purposes at once.
You will still need to place your proteins directly on the smoker rack at times due to the method of smoking or the size of the food your preparing. You are not going to be able to use a pan with a full packer brisket, but for the majority of cooks, a pan and rack are worth their weight in gold.
Before going any farther, let me caution everyone "To Use The Right Size Pan". This is especially important when using an upright type smoke, like most of the electric, propane and pellet smokers. You need a pan large enough to fit bigger or longer cuts of meats such as briskets or a full rack of ribs, but at the same time it must allow a reasonable air space around all side of the pan so air can flow freely from the bottom of the smoker to the top. As mentioned previously, your smoker requires adequate air flow throughout the inside in order perform at it's best and prevent possible damage to the smoker itself. If possible I would suggest a minimum 3" inch space between the pan and all sides of the smoke. With my electric smoker, this took a bit of close measuring and considerable searching online to find just the right size pan, but once I found the right combination it has been well worth the effort involved. The rack is not as critical. As long as it fit inside the pan well enough to cover most of the bottom, it does not need to be a perfect fit and many times you can use the same rack with various pans. You can find almost any size rack online and even order custom sizes, so find the right size pans first then get the racks to fit.
I would also suggest you obtain a cookie sheet type pan and also a deep or baking pan. The sheet pan works better when doing meats such as ribs, beef jerky, wings, fish and sausage. For meats that shed a lot of juice or melted fat, such as a pork butt, brisket, whole chicken or ham, you will definitely want to use a deeper pan that will hold all the drippings.
Once you have the proper size and type pan, I highly recommend you line the inside of your pan with the nonstick foil, nonstick side against the pan. This is a life saver after a long slow cook to prevent having to clean a baked on mess from your pan.
Occasionally you will see meat placed directly in the pan without a rack, even with competition cooks. This is not a problem with some lean cuts of meat but I have found whenever possible, I prefer using a rack with almost all meats, at least during the first part of the cook. By placing the meat on a rack, it keeps your meat high and dry rather than soaking in a pan of grease for hours.
Another reason I like to use a rack with all my cooks, is that it allows an air space under your meat for smoke and heat to more evenly contact all areas of your food. This provides a more consistent smoke flavor throughout your meat and also allows the meat to cook more evenly.
Another advantage of having your meat in a pan, with or without a rack, is ease of wrapping. Once a protein has been smoking for a couple of hours, it has absorb about all the smoke flavor it can or needs. Once this has been achieved it is generally a good idea, especially with larger cut of meat, to wrap it so it can continue to cook slowly until tender without drying out. If your meat is already in a pan (with or without a rack) you can simply slide the pan out, cover the whole thing with foil and slide it back into the smoker. Simple, quick and clean.
There are a few meats that I prefer to remove the rack from the pan before wrapping so the meat can continue the cooking time while sitting in it's own juices or Au Jus. Of course you would never want a nice pork shoulder laying in a pan of melted fat, but this can greatly improve the tenderness and moisture of a brisket or pork tenderloin. At the very least, a pan will preserve your precious Au Jus so it can be used later as a sauce or to make a gravy with.
The next type of tray I would like to mention are vegetable trays. The most common type used is basically like a cookie sheet with dozens of perforations in the bottom. They also come in more of a basket style which makes stirring your veggies much easier. This design keeps everything from falling through your smoker or grill racks and at the same time allows all the heat and smoke to directly contact the food. Although these are commonly referred to as vegetable trays they also work amazingly well for some meats, such as fish. They are usually available in stainless steel or with a nonstick coating. I much prefer the nonstick finish especially for fish and starchy type vegetables such as corn and potatoes. These also do a great job when making your own chipotle peppers. Keep in mind, that even though these are heavily perforated, they will still interfere with your smokers air flow if they cover to much of your smoker rack. Use the same rule of thumb for sizing as with any other sheet or pan you place in your smoker.
I very much recommend you do your pan shopping online. Take a good measurement of your smoker, allowing for the air space needed and then search for a pan of the proper size. By looking online you can search hundreds of pans and see the exact size of each without having to go from store to store in search of the right one which you will probably never find. Also online you can find a wide array of racks also. Smaller racks, stainless racks, custom racks, etc..
So take your time, find the right pan and rack combo to meet your needs and enjoy some more trouble free cooking.

If you plan to turn out great smoked food, you are without a doubt going to need to baste, spritz and sauce your foods. Here again there are many tools available to do just that, and just like other tools, some are more suited for specific jobs than others.
First is the the regular, everyday, plain old spray bottle. Widely available at department stores, hardware, groceries stores and just about any other store you can name. These are one of cheapest tools you can buy and can serve several task such as spraying water to knock down grill flare ups or spritzing apple juice on your prize pork butt. They are not without limitation though. They clog easily so are not suitable for thicker sauces, or liquids with course spices.
In addition, spray bottles are also available in a set with the outdoor cook in mind. They are a little smaller than the household model and are color coded. These are very handy if you are smoking several different meats at one time. You can have apple juice in one for your pork, vinegar in another and Worcestershire sauce for your brisket in another. But like their big brother, they clog easily and only work well with thin liquids.
Next is a rather strange looking device consisting of a plastic bottle with a brush attached. I was a bit skeptical about these until I tried one, and now it's one of my favorite tools. They will clog with very course spices but handle thin liquids and even thicker sauces well. The brush actually works very well and they are by far the least messy of the brush type applicators.
Next is the common everyday turkey baster. Something almost everyone already has on hand, this does get the job done, but for using with the smoker probably my least favorite of all. If your using the juice from the bottom of a pan your cooking your meat in, as with your thanksgiving turkey, it serves the purpose pretty well, but if you are transferring your liquid from another container to your meat, they can be very messy.
Next is an ingenious set up that works very well around the smoker or grill. A brush is attached to the lid of a canister. You can put your favorite sauce in the canister and the lid serves to brush your meat and at the same time, keep flies out of your sauce. The only drawback I have is the canister is rather small. Mine holds 16 oz., plenty of sauce for two racks of ribs or a few chicken quarters, but if your doing a smoker full of meat as I often do, you will need to plan on doing a few refills. All in all, it is still a very convenient and practical setup.
The next applicator has probably been used more than any other applicator shown here. The mop shown here is a scaled down version of the larger mops pitmasters have used for generations. The older large establishments, would use regular house mops trimmed up for easier use. Competition teams use these smaller mops a lot because they sauce the meat very well and most important, they don't leave brush marks on the meat which most judges will fined unattractive. They are a great tool to apply sauces, but are without a doubt the messiest applicator of all.
The next two are your basic basting brushes. These are probably the most used of all by backyard chefs. You can purchase ones that are specifically made for outdoor cooking which consist of a brush on one end and a handle made of rustproof, dishwasher safe plastic. They are fairly inexpensive and will last almost for ever. Last, but certainly not least, is the regular disposable type paint brush sold at any hardware store. These come in a variety of sizes and usually only cost about a buck. Though they are considered disposable brushes in the painting industry, you can get many BBQ cooks out of one. I have some I've been using for a few years an aside from a little surface rust on the metal band, they are still in good working order. Personally I prefer the 2" width.

Grinders and Processors

A grinder is a great addition if you plan to mix your own rub ingredients. They come in many different sizes, electric or manual grind as well as many other features. One of the main things to consider is how much spice mix you plan to make at one time. Spice grinders are typically smaller in size where as coffee grinders are generally more suited to the amount you might need for one cook, such as a couple of racks of ribs, a pork butt or brisket. If you plan to make enough to store or share with your friends you will want to look at food processors.

This is a typical, small, one serving grinder made for coffee or spices. This generally makes enough spice to do a single meat. I prefer this size because I generally smoke more than one protein at the time. This small grinder allows me to make just enough rub for my pork butt and then make a different mix for my brisket or chicken, etc.. I also like to make my spice fresh for each cook. Although I have my standard rub recipes, sometimes I might have friends or family over who like a little more heat or maybe a little more sweet. By making my rubs one at the time, it allows me to more customize my cooks.

If you prefer to make enough rub to store for future cooks or share with your friends, a food processor might be a better choice. A regular size processor will make enough rub for several smoking adventures. In addition, if you are planning to take part in competition cooks, you will need to make a considerable amount of spice for each event. This type of unit will help save you a great deal of time.

There you go. Add a few or all of these to your BBQ arsenal and make your cooks easier, tastier and more fun.
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