Do you love cooking or grilling outdoors? If so, then you would need a few more cooking essentials than just the basic flat top grill. When you have the right tools, you can easily prepare the best meals and handle a lot of hot food on your flat top without creating a mess.
An instant-read digital meat thermometer, a scraper, a spatula, and cooking tongs are some of the basic flat top grilling accessories essential for every grill master. Besides these fundamental grilling tools, some of the other grill accessories include smoker box, grill & griddle scraper sharpener, grilling mat, meat injector, and flat top grill cover.
Experienced professionals know how the right kind of grilling accessories can make a huge difference to the taste of food. A few well-chosen and compatible flat top grill tools and utensils are all that you need. Some of these tools will also help in both grilling and smoking. Read more to learn more about the top eleven grill accessories and why you need to invest in them.
The 11 Best Flat Top Grill Accessories
If your flat top grill did not come equipped with basic accessories, the following is a list of grilling tools that will make all the difference:
Instant Digital Meat Thermometers
If not anything else, an instant-read digital meat thermometer is one of the indispensable grill and griddle cooking accessories. Digital meat thermometers give fast and accurate readouts and help to monitor the degree of doneness of your favorite steak, chicken, beef, fish, or any other food on your flat top grill.
When buying an instant-thermometer, make sure it has a fast response time, is calibrated to give accurate readings, made of waterproof/ stainless steel material, and is of course, durable. Backlit, Motion Sensors, or even Bluetooth and WiFi connectivity are an added advantage. The best instant-read digital meat thermometers for flat top grilling are:
Scrapers
Keep your flat top grill always ready for the next cookout with multi-purpose griddle and grill scrapers. The best scrapers are made of high-quality stainless steel blades and are rust or corrosion-resistant. Besides being a useful tool for scraping leftover food, debris, and grease from the flat top grill surface, these scrapers are also sharp enough to chop and dice food on the go.
To use a scraper, simply place it perpendicularly or at an obtuse angle on the grill and scrape off all the grease and debris into the trough. With a little pressure, you can scrape off even the most stubborn food remnants. While choosing a scraper, make sure it has got an ergonomic handle that doesn’t slip and is easy to work with. Here is a list of the most popular scrapers:
Cooking Tongs
Whether you are grilling burger patties, kebabs or steak, cooking tongs are a must-have to flip or pick up anything from the hot grill. Tongs have gripping ends, which are usually insulated and have a non-slip design. The best cooking tongs are made of stainless steel and are non-stick/ corrosion resistant. These tongs will make your BBQ grilling sessions a lot easier:
Spatula
For cooking on a flat top grill, we recommend using long spatulas with rounded tips. These spatulas help in the easy turning and flipping of your grilled foods without damaging the surface. The round tip will also help with stir-fries, scrambled eggs, hamburgers, sautées, and getting underneath the finest layers of ‘crust’ on food. Some of the best spatulas to choose from are:
Grill Brick
Grill bricks are the newest and most convenient way to clean dirty grills. These grill bricks are made of mildly abrasive pumice stones that can easily scrub away the debris and carbon build-up from the flat top grill. They are reusable, environment-friendly, and safe to be used on stainless steel or cast-iron griddle surfaces.
Smoker Box
Does a smoker seem to be out of your budget? To introduce a smoking flavor to grilled foods, all you would need is a convenient and inexpensive smoker box. A smoker box is made of stainless steel with unique vent designs. Good quality smoker boxes have a hinged lid and a large space where you can easily add your choice of wood chips. The box can be filled with chips or pellets and placed on the flat top grill to produce the smoke. The smoke gives a pro-touch to your grilled foods.
The smoker box protects the wood pellets from being burnt and keeps the grill clean. The best smoker boxes are from brands like Stanbroil, Char-Broil, and Skyflame.
Griddle Accessories Kit
If you own a Blackstone flat top grill, then you just need this 20-piece Blackstone Flat Top Grill Accessories Kit for all your grilling needs. The set includes a slotted spatula, a long griddle spatula, scrapers, chopper, tongs, sauces brush, egg rings, and various other essential flat top grill utensils. These tools are made of high-quality stainless steel with an efficient handling and cleaning design.
Grilling Mat
Deck and patio grill mats are designed to protect surfaces from drips and spills. The mats have a heavy-duty protective barrier that is reusable for years. You can also order custom-sized mats depending on the size of your grill. These grilling mats are dishwasher safe, non-stick, and are easy to clean. So if you want mess-free outdoor grilling, these mats would certainly be of great help.
Griddle Scraper Sharpener
A scraper is probably the most important and the most used flat top grill tool that needs regular maintenance. If you grill regularly and the scraper loses its effectiveness over time, do not invest in a new one. Instead, buy a griddle scraper sharpener to reduce the repetitive cost of replacement blades.
The Edlund 79010 Griddle Scraper Sharpener comes with a reversible sharpening file that can be used to strengthen and sharpen your scraper. It is made of stainless steel and works with most grill and griddle scrapers.
Griddle Squeegee
The Griddle Squeegee or Srubble from ACS is a convenient tool for easy cleaning of grease and food that build-ups on your flat top grill. The lightweight body and the mess-free cleaning design are perfectly suitable for removing liquid and grease from the surface into the grease trap. It has heat-resistant blades that can be directly used on high-temperature flat top grills and griddles.
Keep reading: Top 5 Essential BBQ Tools Sets
Flat Top Grill Cover
Rusting due to moisture and deposition of pollen, dirt, and grime can corrode the surface of the grill over time. This is why flat top grill covers are a must for protecting and restoring a long life of your grill. Your grill cover should snug fit your flat top model, be lightweight, and be easy to take on and off. If you find original grill covers to be expensive, you can also try using off-brand covers.
Some of the other grill accessories to look for are – a grilling pan, oil sprayer, heat-resistant gloves, BBQ fork, meat injector, and basting brush. Our handpicked selection of the best flat top grill accessories will make all outdoor grilling experiences more comfortable, mess-free, and professional looking. You can also use these ideas for gifting on father’s day, mother’s day, birthday, anniversary, or to anyone who loves barbequing.
Also read:
- The Best Flat Top Grills for Cooking Indoors [TOP MODELS]
- The Best Flat Top Grills With Lids [TOP MODELS REVIEWED]
Scot has loved smoking food in his free time for the last few years. Each major holiday or off-weekend, Scot spends days testing and prepping new recipes for perfection.