Things are steaming up outside and you know what that means–It’s grilling season. Whether you’re cooking for yourself, your family or hosting a backyard barbecue, there’s nothing quite like the smokey flavor and charred crunch of burgers, hot dogs, and veggies pulled right off the grill.

When it comes to grilling, it’s important to come prepared when it’s time to grill. At bare minimum, you need the basics–tongs, a serving platter, and a grill brush to clean the grates when you’re done. That’s just scratching the surface, though. There are lots of grill accessories out there that can make cooking outside easier, more efficient and, dare we say, more fun. If you love grilling (or know someone who does), these are the best grill accessories to step up your backyard barbecue game.

1.  A charcoal chimney starter. A chimney starter is an open-ended metal cylinder with a grate at the bottom and air holes up along the side walls.  The flame and heat from the kindling is pulled up through the coals and it sets the coals alight. The good airflow in the chimney starter means the coals burn evenly and quickly, making the perfect set of base coals for your grill.

2. Digital Thermometer.  No matter which type of grill you are cooking on, having a consistent temperature is essential to producing good food.

3. Grill Lights.  With these hot summer temperatures, many people might opt to grill later into the evening once the sun starts to go down, and grill lights will be your best friend if you are one of those people.

4. Grilling Utensils.  Tongs, a spatula, gloves, etc. are all necessary grilling utensils that you will want to make sure you have on hand while you grill.

5. Grilling Accessories.  You have all of the basic grilling tools that we listed above, now you can look into getting the fun accessories, a grill basket, metal skewers, a grate mat, just to name a few.

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