BBQ 101 - A Complete Guide to Smoking & BBQ (2024)

Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
SMOKING BASICS
SMOKING VS…
HOW IT WORKS
WOOD
Get Started
HOW TO SMOKE MEAT
BBQ Accessories
THERMOMETERS
GLOVES
CHIMMNEYS

In this guide we'll cover the basics of how to smoke meat and provide best practice tips.

Most of us already love the aroma of smoke from a campfire. Now, imagine that aroma absorbed into the softest, juiciest piece of beef you’ve ever had. Smoke a piece of meat and that’s what you get.

But have you ever wondered what exactly it means to “smoke” meat? Are there different smoking methods? How is it different from other methods of cooking? And why even go to the trouble of doing it in the first place? A shiny new smoker is glistening on your back porch and you're eager to start your first smoke job.Smoking is a delicate science that requires more finesse than grilling brats or burgers.

By the time you complete this article you'll have a full understanding of the various types of smokers and the art of BBQ as it relates to smoking.

SMOKING BASICS

Why Bother With It?

If you look up "smoking" meat in the dictionary, the definition you pull up will be something like: The Cooking Method That Makes Barbecue Real Barbecue. Okay, so it will likely be something more defined than that but when people say “smoking meat,” they are referring to one of two methods: 1) preserving meat through long exposure to heat and smoke, which dehydrates it and imparts antibacterial properties; or 2) barbecuing it.

The first method is the more traditional, having been used for thousands of years for preserving meat.

The now-more-common use of the term is that of barbecuing: cooking meat slowly over indirect heat for extended periods (often 12 to 16 hours, sometimes even more), while the smoke flavors the meat and gives it a unique flavor and texture. This is the method we’re talking about in this comprehensive guide to smoking meat.

If you think about it, smoking meat (in the barbecue sense) derives from one of the oldest means of cooking used: cooking over an open fire, where the smoke naturally imparts flavor into the meat as the heat cooks it. And who doesn’t love a good piece of steak cooked over a fire? It’s a very primal experience.

A common misconception among those not in the know is that “barbecue” is any kind of meat cooked on the grill, or over open flame. You’ll often hear people invite say they are “barbecuing” this weekend, when really, they are just grilling some chicken and burgers out back.

True barbecue refers only to slow-cooked meat over indirect heat, flavored by smoke, until it reaches that soft, juicy, delicate state we all know and love.

What Makes Smoked Meat So Special?

We’ll be the first to admit that smoking isn’t exactly a quick, easy process. It can take all day (and even all night) to get a large pork shoulder or brisket done just right, and a lot of babysitting can go into it, especially when you’re just learning. If you’re more the sear-and-serve type, the process might bore you. So why even bother?

There are a few reasons to smoke a piece of meat instead of just cooking it over direct heat – even with the extended effort. One reason – and perhaps the most important – is flavor.

Flavor

As the meat sits over the flame, it absorbs the thick, somewhat tangy, comforting flavor of the smoke itself, creating a unique, all-natural, and dare-we-say, smoky, flavor.

People have been doing this to cook and flavor their food for thousands of years, but thanks to science, we can (to a degree) tell you what causes smoked food to taste so good. Smoke contains over 100 different compounds and phenols. Some of these are solids, like ash. Some are gases, like carbon monoxide and dioxide. And, some are liquids, such as water vapor. The exact content of smoke depends on exactly which wood is being burned, how much moisture is contained within it and even how much oxygen is available for the fire to consume.

Much of the smell and flavor we usually associate with “smokiness” comes from the compounds syringol and guaiacol, respectively. The more of these compounds absorbed into the meat, the “smokier” it will taste. Creating maximum syringol and guiacol may be a too complicated for most of us, but we can control how much smoke we create inside our smokers. Methods include limiting the amount of oxygen and air coming into the fire and using wetter wood to create more smoke.

You don’t want to create too much smoke. That results in a very bitter, acidic flavor that can make your barbecue unpleasant to eat.

The Bark

Absorbing smoke into the meat also helps create the bark, the dark, chewy, spicy and tangy, crust-like texture that forms on the outside of the meat during the smoking process. The bark is considered one of the tastiest parts of the meat and is an important part of judging smoked meats in competition; it’s formed by the smoke reacting with the meat, moisture and spice rub in what is called the Maillard Reaction more on that later.

The second advantage to smoking meat is that that it creates a softer and much more tender piece of meat, by virtue of its low-and-slow cooking process.

Melt In Your Mouth...

Cooking over high heat tends to dry the meat out very quickly. Any moisture within the meat is essentially blasted out, leaving it tough, dry and difficult to chew. For delicate meats, cooking over high heat also means that you have less control over the final product, as the internal temperature can quickly rise beyond your desired temperature before you realize it.

Smoking meat low-and-slow, on the other hand, keeps the moisture from evaporating too quickly, allowing you to achieve the perfect combination of tenderness and juiciness.

More importantly, low-and-slow cooking allows the fats and connective tissue – collagens - in the meat to slowly break down (render) into something soft. Collagen has a very high melting point, and when cooked too quickly, dries out and toughens up into something that feels and tastes like rubber, and is just as hard to chew.

Slow cooking, on the other hand, gives collagen time to soften and melt, rendering into a soft, gelatin-like texture. The result? A super-soft, juicy, and tender cut that can be pulled apart and enjoyed. It’ll also be packed full of the meat’s natural flavor. It’s a delectable, melt-in-your-mouth, culinary experience.

That’s why barbecue was invented, actually. Tradition says that Caribbean islanders who could not afford the more expensive, tenderer cuts of meat simply devised a way to render the tougher, chewier pieces (like pork butt or flank steak) softer and actually edible: cooking them over lower heat for hours on end, till all the collagen had rendered.

How The Smoking Process Works:

Direct and Indirect Heat

There are two ways to cook meat: using direct heat or indirect heat. Direct heat is how you grill those tasty burgers. But to smoke, you'll be using indirect heat.

Grilling meat is all about using direct hot heat for short periods of time, while the key to smoking is to use indirect heat to cook meat at a low temperature over a long period of time. Basically, a smoker and a grill are polar opposites.

The magic of smoking lies in indirect heat. In other words, you’re not placing the meat right on top of the flame or heat source; that’s too hot and too hard to control. Instead, you’re letting the heat and smoke from the flame waft over the meat, while keeping it out of the direct path.

Using a dedicated smoker makes cooking with indirect heat simple. A smoker is uniquely designed to keep the meat out of direct heat while still letting smoke reach it and absorb. A good smoker is crafted to ensure smoke and heat properly circulate around the meat for an even cook.

Smoking on a Charcoal Grill

If you’re smoking on your gas or charcoal grill, however, you’ll need to use 2-zone setup, which splits the grill into a hot (direct heat) zone, for browning and searing, and an indirect zone, for smoking and slow-cooking.

A 2-zone setup is simple to create. On a charcoal grill, simply pile all the charcoal on one side of the grill, leaving the other side empty, and ignite. The side with the coals will burn hot as it normally does, allowing you to sear your steaks and get good browning. But the real magic – for smoking – is on the other side. If you own a kettle style grill you can purchase the slow 'n sear, which is an ideal accessory to perfect the 2-zone cook.

The indirect, away from the coals, won’t be hot enough for browning but will let you cook food at a lower temperature, via convection. Perfect for low-and-slow smoking.

Controlling the size of the fire on the hot side will let you get the optimal 225ºF to 275ºF needed achieve maximum tenderness and juiciness. It’ll take practice, as you learn the right amount of charcoal to use, and how your smoker behaves in different weather. But, it’s more than possible with the aid of a BBQ thermometer.

Smoking on a Gas Grill

Setting up 2-zone cooking on gas grill is even easier. Just turn on the burners on one side of the grill, leaving the others off. Like with charcoal, it will take some experimentation to find exactly which burners to turn on and how high to crank them up. But once you have, controlling the temperature and getting it to 225ºF requires little work.

One trick to help keep a consistent temperature using 2-zone cooking is to place a water pan on the grill. Water absorbs the heat and then radiates it out again, which helps keep overall grill temperature consistent when the heat source spikes or drops suddenly.

The added moisture from evaporating water can also prevent the meat from drying out, keeping it moist and flavorful.

The Maillard Reaction & The Bark

We spend a lot of time talking about how slow-cooking creates soft, tender and juicy meat, but that’s not the only thing that makes smoked meat so delicious. Most of us also love that dark, chewy, blackened outside full of smoky flavor that we call the bark.

If you’re familiar with the delicious flavor imparted to a steak by a good sear, take that and amplify it 5x, and you’ll have an idea of the sensory delight that is a good crust.

This deliciousness is created by what, in barbecue and in scientific circle, is called the Maillard reaction. The name comes from the French scientist Louis-Camille, who studied the way foods brown when cooking.

The Maillard Reaction is what happens when the surface of a food is heated, and the chemicals and compounds in the food react and change, creating new compounds – thousands of them over the surface of the meat.

Specifically, the amino acids in meat (proteins) being heated react with the reducing sugars (glucose and fructose) in the meat, creating new compounds in the process. It’s like caramelization – what happens when you heat sugar on the stove.
That’s how steaks get their beautiful sear and smoked meats get that chewy bark – by undergoing a process similar to caramelization, but this time with proteins and fats from the meat, instead of sugar alone.

The new compounds created by the reducing sugars reacting with the amino acids, all combine to create that crispy, brown texture we all know and love, as well as the accompanying flavor.

The reaction begins at lower temperatures but gets faster and more intense at higher heats – hence why throwing a steak on the grill browns it so more quickly than smoking a brisket at 225°F. Caramelization, on the other hand, doesn’t really occur until about 300°F.

The Maillard Reaction also helps create one of the most comforting aromas in existence: that of cooked meat. This aroma is the result of methianol, a compound of α-dicarbonyl, itself a compound created in the Maillard reaction, and the amino acid methionine. So if you want really delicious-smelling meat, maximizing the Maillard reaction can help.

The Proverbial Stall

The Maillard Reaction is super important to getting a really-good piece of barbecue. But it requires some exact conditions in order to take place.

For one, you need to be cooking with a dry heat. Moisture can slow down the process or even sabotage it and prevent that bark from forming, as it essentially keeps the meat from getting above the boiling point.

This is why "The Stall” when smoking a meat is essential for excellent bark; the water in the meat must be present to break down the water-soluble ingredients in the rub, but also needs to dry out before turning into bark. Riding out “The Stall” gives the moisture more time to brown. This is also why, if you decide to skip pass the stall by wrapping the meat in foil you'll sacrifice complete development of the bark in exchange for a reduced cook time.

To really get a good bark, you can also help maximize browning by sprinkling with some sugar, giving the amino acids more fructose and glucose to work with to create maximum browning. Oil liberally, too, as oil conducts heat better than just air. Removing any excess fat can help as well.

Another tip: turn the meat frequently which slows down the cooking inside the meat, by essentially cooling each side of the meat, and then gives the outside more time to brown.

As for sugar, using a bit in your rub will help maximize browning when cooking low and slow. However, too much or cooking at high temperatures will cause the sugar to burn and blacked – not what you’re trying to achieve.

Sauces

Few things elicit as many strong emotions among barbecue lovers as the sauce being slathered on. Carolina barbecue fans love their vinegar-based sauces, while Texas-style aficionados may not care about the sauce all that much. A Kansas City eatery might give you dozens of sauce choices.

There’s a lot of sauces to try out there, and if you wish to experiment, it’s not hard to come up with your own – whether tomato or vinegar-based.

In classic barbecue, sauce isn’t applied until the meat is removed from the smoker, and at the discretion of those partaking.

Get Started

What Makes Smoking Different From...

...Grilling

Grilling is the process of cooking food by exposing it high, direct heat from an open flame. Grills can use gas, charcoal or wood to create this flame. Each of these fuels has its own cooking properties and creating its own unique flavor; cooking over wood and charcoal creates stronger smoke flavor than cooking over gas.

Grilling is meant to trap the moisture and juices in the meat while creating a crust of sorts on the outside (usually called the sear). Done right, the sear is like a lesser version of the bark formed by smoking. Hopefully, the inside is juicy and tender, too.

Grilling uses hotter, more direct cooking than smoking – often temperatures up to 500 or 600 degrees. If you’re not careful, it can quickly dry out or overdo meats if the right technique isn’t used.

...Grill-Roasting

Grill-roasting is the act of roasting your meat on the grill, using said device like an oven to create indirect, convection-heat; you crank up the heat on the sides (either by piling charcoal or using the burners) to heat the grill up to 300 or 400 degrees, while leaving the middle cooler so you can place the meat on it. The lid is left down, to trap the heat in like in an oven.

This method is close to that of smoking meat. The difference is the lack of smoke, which doesn’t impart its flavor into the meat. The roast will incidentally pick up some of the flavor from the charcoal or gas flame, but only a tiny amount – not the strong, bark-forming smoke used in barbecuing meats.

...Braising

Braising is when a piece of meat is browned in fat or oil, and then simmered over low heat in a liquid (maybe that same fat or oil, maybe in wine) for a slightly-more extended time. This creates a softer, juicer, more tender piece of meat – similar to the soft, succulent meat that barbecue creates – and helps it gain a lot of flavor. It’s frequently used on tougher cuts of meat but works great for virtually anything if tenderness and flavor matter.

...Hot Vs. Cold Smoking

As you can probably guess from the name, hot smoking and cold smoking are differentiated by the temperatures at which the food is smoked. Hot smoking is our usual barbecue method, usually somewhere between 225°F and 300°F (or at least 165°F) where the food is cooked while also being flavored by the smoke.

Cold smoking, on the other hand, uses lower temperatures; you’re flavoring the meat with the smoke till it’s delicious, but you’re not cooking it. This is like the traditional definition of smoking that has been used for millennia; drying out and preserving meat with smoke. This would be achieved by placing the meat further away from the flame or in another chamber, where the smoke could reach it.

As with many things barbecue-related, there’s some debate over the exact temperature where these two are differentiated, but generally, a cold smoke is done between 90°F and 120°F, sometimes up to 140°F. Bacteria breeds rapidly at temperatures between 40°F and 140°F.

If you leave food out for too long while being cold-smoked, you could be venturing into dangerous territory.

Cold smoking best done with with foods that don’t need to be cooked. Doing it properly and safely requires expertise and the right tools.

Wood & Smoking

Science of Smoke

You need to have a basic understanding of how smoke works.

Smoke is created by the process of combustion. When you light a grill you are creating combustion, which is just the reaction of oxygen when it hits fuel, but combustion is what creates smoke.

Depending on the heat source, coal, wood, gas or pellet, the flavor of the smoke changes because each fuel source produces its own unique combination.

Let’s try layman's terms... when wood burns it creates chemicals, some of those chemicals dissolve, what's left attaches itself to new chemicals found in the meat. The correct combination of chemicals in the smoke and in the meat are essential, too much nitrogen dioxide or smoke, and you will end up with a culinary Hindenburg.

With that being said, the best smoke is almost almost invisible.

A common rookie mistake is to create billowing white clouds of smoke. You're after a light blue smoke.

Burning the right type of wood will make or break your meal. You need to use hardwoods for the best smoking flavor, like fruit and nut trees. Softwoods usually contain more air and sap and cause a mixture of garbage that makes your food taste like, well, garbage.

Types of wood

So, it’s time to start smoking that thing, but not before we get the smoker all set up. First step? Wood.

One of the main reasons to smoke meat is, of course, to get all that delicious smoke and wood flavor in the meat. The kind of wood also has some effect on the final flavor.

Hickory is a common choice for smoking, thanks to the very strong smoky flavor it imparts; it’s reminiscent of bacon.

Oak is another very popular choice; it’s easy to find, well-rounded and works with almost anything you throw on the grill.

Some like their barbecue sweet. In that case, choices might include apple, mesquite, which is popular in Texas barbecue; and almond.

With that said, many people believe that the exact wood being used doesn’t have a huge effect on the flavor of the final product. Just be sure to avoid pine and other sappy woods, which flare up, create a lot of smoke, and give off a bitter, unpalatable flavor. You also want to find wood that has been properly dried and aged (aka, cured). Kiln dried wood is very low in moisture and thus burns much hotter and faster, while naturally-cured wood might have a bit more water in it, burning more slowly and creating more smoke (for more flavor).

You can even try out the same kinds of wood but from different places; each wood is affected by the terroir (climate, soil, weather, etc) in which it is grown, and will taste and burn a bit differently tree to tree. Applewood from New England is different from applewood grown in California.

For a more detailedpairing chart, check out this PDF from Deejay's smoke pit.

Logs, Chips, Chunks, or Pellets?

When smoking with wood, you can get it in wood chips or whole logs, or pellets. The exact choice depends on what kind of smoker you’re using; traditional pit smokers often use logs, smoking on the grill calls for wood chips, and a pellet smoker necessitates wood pellets.

Throwing whole logs into your pit might sound fun and “old-timey,” but requires expertise to get right; whole logs need to burn at higher temps to create clean smoke. Instead, they are often pre-burned into embers, which are then used for smoking.

Chunks are more desirable for pitmasters of all skill levels; they burn faster and are easier to control than logs, but more slowly than chips, giving you more control over the cooking process.

Wood chips are common and can be picked up at almost hardware or grocery store. They’re good for smoking on a gas or charcoal grill, as they can be placed in foil and moved around. And while they burn quickly, you can easily add more by grabbing a handful and tossing them on.

Pellets are becoming more common as pellet grills become more popular. They’re created by taking wet sawdust and pressing it so tightly that it holds together in pellets; there are, no fillers or glues holding them together, and if they became wet, they would merely become sawdust again.

Wood pellets are very convenient as, like chips, you just toss some more into the fire when needed. Many pellet smokers also have automated augers that feed pellets into the pit when the thermostats signals, keeping a consistent heat going. They also create a smooth, clean smoke that imparts a generally desirable flavor.

Avoid using pressure-treated wood, which can sometimes contain toxic compounds.

Soaking the Wood

Many people think it’s a good idea to soak your wood chips or chunks before putting them on the fire, but we don’t think that’s the case. The conventional wisdom is that soaking the wood helps it burn more slowly, while also creating more smoke. In practice,the water barely makes it beyond the outer layers of the wood and the interior remains bone dry.

If you put wet wood on top of the flames, it will smolder while the water on the outside evaporates. Once it has evaporated, the wood will simply burn.

Throwing wet wood right into the pit also makes it harder to keep a consistent temperature, as it cools off the fire before having time to dry and ignite.

Preparing Wood for Smoking

If using wood chips on a gas or charcoal grill, you can prepare them by placing them either in an aluminum cooking tray, or by wrapping them up in an aluminum foil and creating a pouch. Pole some holes into it to let smoke and air in.

You then place this pouch or tray full of wood chips either right on top of the charcoal, or above one of the gas burners. As the wood burns, it gives off the smoke, just like a wood-burning smoker.

Some gas grills come with dedicated smoker boxes, set right over their own gas burners; alternatively, you can purchase a smoke tube. Simply place your wood chips directly in the smoker box and crank up the burner. Voila.

How Much Wood Do You Use?

There really isn’t a rule for this; you’ll need to add enough wood to keep producing smoke as long as you need.

One thing worth mentioning, people often ask if the meat stops taking on smoke after a certain period of time. The answer is no. As long as the wood's still smoking the meat will continue to absorb smoke throughout the duration of the cook.

For a classic pork butt or brisket in a traditional smoker, that usually means starting with about 10 ounces of wood, and adding more as it burns down. On a grill, you can get away with less. On a charcoal grill, you likely need a little more.

Chickens and turkeys need less wood for smoking than brisket or pork as you aren’t trying to impart as smoky a flavor or as thick a bark. Fruits, vegetables, cheeses, etc, need even less.

Always remember, if your creating billowing clouds of smoke you're doing it wrong. Your neighbors shouldn't wonder if you've set fire to your house. Too much smoke will give the meat a bitter flavor after about an hour. The goal is to maintain a light colored, almost invisible, stream of smoke throughout the duration of the cook.

Feel free to experiment and find the amount of wood – and thus the amount of smoke – you prefer for your barbecue.

BBQ Accessories

Start out by checking our collaboration of cool things grillers should own. Aside from that, the items below are good basics to have on deck.

Thermometers

Control is Key, Knowledge is Power: Why You Need a Thermometer

We’ve mentioned several times how essential a meat thermometer is for smoking meat. Allow us to reiterate that point:

Thermometers are the only way to ensure that meat is properly cooked to a safe temperature and that all harmful pathogens in or on the meat are killed off.

For most cooking, an instant read is all you need; poke it deep within the meat and see your food’s doneness within seconds.

When barbecuing, however, thermometers have other equally important purposes: 1) monitoring and maintaining pit temperature, and 2) watching the meat’s internal temp to ensure its reaches the point of maximum tender juiciness without drying out.

Types of Thermometers

Bi-Metal Dials

These are the small dial thermometers with red needle you see embedded in the top of your grill or smoker. You can also find them in probe form for sticking into a roast or bird. Bi-metal thermometers use two metal coils within the probe, which expand when exposed to heat.

Bi-metal dials are generally included with grills because they’re simple and cheap. Unfortunately, they’re also unreliable. Many have been to be anywhere from 50 to 100 degrees off! Hard to achieve a tenderly smoked brisket that way. They are also quite slow, taking up to a whole, tedious minute to stabilize.

Just throw that cheap one out and invest in a real meat thermometer.

Instant Read Thermometers

Digital instant read thermometers are perfect for regular grilling and cooking in the kitchen; insert it into the meat and an accurate reading appears within seconds. They’re quite accurate, within 1F +/- of true temperature, and read out within 1-2 seconds.
Instant reads come in two types; thermistors and thermocouples.

Thermistors are cheaper and more basic than thermocouples. They conduct electric signals through the probe, where a resistor sits, and measure the changes in resistance as changes in temperature. While not as accurate as thermocouples, they can get within 2-5 degrees. They’re also slower, taking anywhere from 5-10 seconds to stabilize.

Thermocouples are more expensive and sophisticated; they are more accurate (down to .7F) and faster. They function thanks to two metal wires in the probe, which react to changes in temperature and create an electric current in response. They are usually bit pricier than thermistors, but we find the few extra bucks worth the accuracy and speed.

Instant read thermometers are designed for quick and general use in the kitchen, so they’re usually simple in design. But, they may have some extra nice features like waterproofing and intelligent displays. Battery life is great, too. Our pick is the ThermoPop coming in at $34.

Bluetooth Thermometers

Instant read thermometers are great for everyday cooking, but barbecue calls for a little more power. With the magic of Bluetooth, you’ll be able to monitor these temps live with the app on your phone or tablet, as you wander around the house instead of hovering about. Most thermometers have an effective range of 100 feet, while some might get 150-300 feet. Our favorite Bluetooth thermometer is the BlueDot by TheremoWorks. It combines the best of affordability, ease-of-use and features into one complete package.

Bluetooth thermometers are smart devices, consisting of a device and a handful of probes (usually 2-4, sometimes 6 or 8) attached by way of heat-resistant cables. By sticking a probe (or several) into the slabs of meat and placing one in the pit itself for an ambient reading, you get to keep an eye on temps during long, all-day smokes.

Bluetooth thermometers include smart features such as auto alerts and temperature thresholds alerting you when your food or pit gets too hot or too cold. Most have cool features like cooking graphs and logs to track your progress and learn from each meat smoking session.

WiFi Thermometers

WiFi thermometers are the biggest, baddest and most powerful of all meat thermometer for BBQ. They’re also some of most expensive. For a true meat geek, there’s no other choice: you need a WiFi thermometer. You can see our complete write-up where we review all the top WiFi devices here.

These devices are similar to Bluetooth, the big difference, they connect to your phone through the cloud via WiFi, as opposed to Bluetooth. Cloud connectivity means you can monitor your meat on your phone free from distance limitations. So, feel free to head out and do some errands or grab a cool beer with a friend during the 14-hour smoke. As long as you keep your phone with you, you can watch the meat’s precise progress.

High-end WiFi thermometers also often support integrated pit controllers; using a special PID-enabled cable or device, the device can be connected to a fan blower which attaches to your smoker/grill to control your internal pit temperature to maintain your desired ambient pit temperature throughout the duration of your smoking session. You are now free to enjoy a set-it-and-forget cook (like you can with an electric smoker) while getting all the benefits of smoking meat with wood or charcoal.

We love the Fireboard, it offers the most features of all the WiFi thermometers on the market, while receiving 5 stars from us across the board for quality, accuracy, and functionality.

BBQ Gloves

Smoking meat involves heat, and where there’s heat – there’s the danger of burning yourself. A good pair of BBQ gloves can help keep your hands safe – and comfortable.

BBQ gloves come in 4 types:

Silicone

Silicone gloves are the best for handling food directly, fashioned from food-grade silicone. They don’t have as much insulation as other types of gloves and aren’t very dexterous. But the non-slip silicone lets you grab food and move it around the smoker; it’s also easy to clean.

Our favorite silicone gloves are the EkoGrips BBQ Oven Gloves.

Leather

Leather is old-school, and reliable. A pair of leather gloves makes grabbing hot grates, handling tools, and throwing logs into the fire comfortable and easy. Their thickness makes them good for protecting your hands, but not for dexterity. And since leather is hard to clean, they are not ideal for handling food directly.

Our top pick for leather BBQ gloves? Steve Raichlen Extra Long gloves, which boast 18” long gauntlets.

Fabric

Usually made from some sort of heat-resistant fabric like Kevlar or Aramid, fabric gloves are nimble and easy to use, with non-slip grips on the palms. They’re not great for handling food but work fine for grill grates and hot pans. Just don’t use them when wet: water makes them conduct heat rapidly, making them dangerous to use.

Our favorite fabric gloves are the Grill Armor 932, with their insane 932F rating.

Synthetic

Synthetic gloves are a good compromise between fabric and silicone gloves. They usually have a fabric inner and rubber or silicone exterior, for grabbing both utensils and hot food directly. They’re usually pretty easy to clean thanks to the rubber outside, and well insulated to keep your hands safe – just don’t use them when wet, as with fabric gloves.

We like the Mitt Pitt BBQ gloves.

Charcoal Chimneys

As anybody with a charcoal grill can attest, fires can be difficult to start in a hurry. A charcoal chimney can help. A chimney has a place for sticking newspaper in the bottom compartment and charcoal above it; light the paper and put the charcoal above it. The oxygen coming in from the bottom creates a bellows effect that causes the fire to burn white hot, lighting the charcoal within minutes. From there, put the coals into your smoker and add more if necessary.