Best BBQ Gifts For The Outdoor Grilling Enthusiast
Nov 09, 2023
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Our 2023 BBQ Gift Guide for the BBQ and Food Lovers on your list. From essential ingredients, to the awesome BBQ tools to make you a backyard hero. We walk through our favorites for this year.
Head over to our beverage version if looking for a wine and cocktail gift guide.
We tend to keep our gift guides short and simple every year. But this year, with so many more folks looking online for gift giving, we decided to share all of our favorite tools for barbecue, grilling, general kitchen… and also wine!
Grilling Gifts Guide: Grilling, Barbecue and Cooking Hardware
For our grilling gifts guide we test out new gear, gadgets, cookers, and food items, throughout the year (sooo many!). The ones that make the cut are the ones we’d happily buy for ourselves and friends. These all fit that bill. These are great ideas for any grilling, barbecue, or foodie on your list.
If you have questions or need advice, we’re always here to help. So ask away. Have something we should add to the gift guide? Let us know!
I hope these give you some fun ideas for the BBQ, Grilling, or just foodie on your shopping list. Some (but not all) contain affiliate links*. All are products we use and love.
Table of Contents
Small Businesses – Our Favorite Food Entreprenuers
Any BBQ Gift guide should include a nod to entrepreneurs who are dedicating their time to making great products. Whether it’s locally sourced, or supporting the community around them.
Our Red Wine Barbecue Sauce is a Pacific Northwest blend of flavors from wine impacted by 2020 wildfires, with rich flavors, a smoky note and hints of tomato and vinegar. It’s perfect on chicken, turkey, pork, and fish.
Grab a 3-pack of our premiere Vindulge BBQ sauce!
*Received raved reviews by The Oregonian.
Some of the finest Olive Oils made in the Willamette Valley. Whether for cooking, or a fragrant dip with bread, their oils are a must for your favorite foodie. We’re also obsessed with using their White Peach Vinegar as a salad dressing. Just toss it with some fresh greens and you’ve got a wonderful salad. We love it all!
Our friend Tina Cannon has been crowned the best BBQ chef by Netflix and has an amazing herb seasoning that is perfect on anything. It’s delicious, believe me! 100% of the proceeds also go to Meals on Wheels.
High quality salt is a must for any foodie. This finishing salt is perfect for salads, dressings, or simply topping a steak. You can also browse their kosher and gift set options. YUM!
Hey Grill, Hey Signature Seasonings 6-Pack
This 6-Pack from the awesome folks at Hey Grill, Hey is a great variety pack to have on hand. They have created an impressive line of rubs and sauces. In particular we love their beef rub, but the 3-pack makes for a great stocking stuffer.
With brisket we usually keep it simple, but this rub is to die for! Don’t let the title “brisket” sway you. This rub is fantastic on any beef (grilled or smoked). It’s even good on poultry. I’m dying to know the secret behind this addictive rub.
We fell in love with Finex Cast Iron years ago. We have a 10″ skillet, a Dutch Oven, and a sauce pan, and love them all. These aren’t cheap! But these make amazing heirloom gifts for the food lovers on your list and handmade in Portland, Oregon.
La Tienda – Spanish Seafood Tin Gift Pack
We enjoyed this amazing selection of Spanish tinned seafood with some Sherry. It includes 6 tinned seafoods from small producers like Galacian octopus, the most amazing sardines, and scallops in salsa Gallega. Pair it with the olive oil crackers included and a fresh baguette and cheese.
This is an amazing gift for the wine and food lover in your life.
This kit is an awesome present for someone looking to get into smoked foods. It includes wood chips, a nice stainless steel smoker box, grate cleaner, and more. Works great with the BBQ enthusiast with a gas or smaller kettle grill.
BBQ and Grilling Tools
These tools are a must for any grilling enthusiast.
Leather Gloves for Handling Heat
High heat gloves are a must. From grabbing hot cast iron, to managing logs and flame, these gloves get it done. These are built like welding gloves. We use them and swear by them!
Great for wrapping meats like pork shoulder or brisket, but also great for presentation.
Metal skewers are great because you will use them over and over versus disposable wooden ones. Go for both short and long skewers. Short skewers are great for typical kabobs, and the long skewers are great for things like Picanha Steak.
Available online or at your local restaurant supply store, these are great when laying out steaks, or keeping a brisket stable while trimming. Having two goes a long way.
Cedar planks can take proteins from boring to AMAZING. But these aren’t just for meat. We love them for grilling brie too. Use them for our favorite salmon recipe. These are the ones we use.
Long tongs are a must for moving meat and not burning your arms and hands. These are great for flipping steaks, burgers, and handling large roasts.
This is a must have tool for any charcoal grill. Avoid lighter fluid by using a simple chimney starter to get your coals hot. We have 2 of these on hand at all times.
Grilling Basket for Vegetables
Makes grilling up veggies or smaller items of food simple!
Cooking pizza on any grill requires the right tools. This pizza stone is perfect to conduct the high heat. At 15 inches, it’s also the right fit for most grills.
Pizza Ovens
Grilling Gifts can also include pizza ovens. And with the explosive growth in this market we’ve rounded up our favorite pizza ovens.
The Ooni series of pizza ovens are some of the first affordable backyard pizza ovens. The Karu 16 comes with a large opening and pizza deck that handles 14 inch pizzas and baking.
Also portable it’s a great pizza if looking for a pizza oven under $1,000.
The debut pizza oven for the company that brought you the beautifully designed Solo Fire Pits. This compact pizza oven is perfect for 12-inch pizzas and is very portable.
Rated one of Oprah’s Favorite Things list in 2022. Read our Solo Pi Pizza Oven review.
The Gozney Dome is from the same company that makes the Roccbox. These beautiful ovens are a great option instand of $4,000 custom oven starter kits. Great for pizza and baking.
Read our Gozney Pizza Oven review.
Grills and Smokers
Pack the most flavor based on your budget. Below are a range of cookers that make the ultimate grilling gifts.
Weber Kettle 22 inch Charcoal Grill
This kettle grill was the first grill we experimented with and remains, to this day, the one we use the most. It’s the perfect starter grill.
You can smoke, sear, and in between on this multi-tool of outdoor cookers.
When it comes to quality pellet grills at or under $1,000, this is a great choice. Good controller quality, large space, and a great grill feature where you can create a direct grilling zone.
If you are looking for a starter pellet grill then this is the one. Consider adding on with the Sidekick feature too.
MAK Two-Star General Pellet Grill and Smoker
The MAK is a beast of a pellet smoker and one of the best high end grills we have ever used. This grill will last a lifetime and has the range and scale to tackle any cook. From a low of 160 to a searing hot 600+ degrees, this smoker will get it done.
Made in the USA.
We love our kamado style smokers, and the Big Green Egg Mini Max with stand and shelves is perfect. Big enough for the patio, and portable enough to take with you to the beach, RVing, or even to a park.
We use this thing all the time and it can sear or smoke. Grab one at your local Big Green Egg Dealer!
Fuel – Charcoal and Pellets
If you are using standard briquettes then consider adding premium hardwood lump charcoal to your grilling gifts this year. These are some of the best burning and flavorful brands.
Large chunks and great burn describes this awesome charcoal. Using hardwoods from South America, you will find that this charcoal and large format bag is one of the hottest and cleanest burning. They also have briquettes that are just as good.
Fogo is another great brand of lump charcoal with large sized lumps. It’s also very consistent in size and burns very hot. The Super Premium is our preference when choosing Fogo.
These are great pellets with a clean, low ash burn and consistent flavor. This sample pack will let you pick your favorite. They are affordable and cook well.
Thermometers
From stocking stuffers to the ultimate temperature tools – a good quality thermometer is one of the most important grilling gifts you can give.
At $34, this amazing instant read thermometer gives affordability and fast temperature reading. Also has a nice backlight. If you aren’t ready for the full MK4 experience, this is the next best thing.
Read our ThermoPop Thermometer review.
Besides a grill itself, the next most important purchase is a great instant read thermometer. We have been using this product for over 10 years, and most trained chefs keep one in their kitchen. The Thermapen One is the fastest and most reliable instant read thermometer on the market. Thermoworks also has incredible customer service, making them #1 in my book.
Read out Thermapen One review.
If you are smoking low and slow or want to know the perfect internal temperature of the grill and meat, then the Smoke Unit is perfect. It measures two zones and will broadcast to a small hand held unit. Upgrade for the professional with the Smoke X with four zones to get even more range and probes. Never overcook another cut of meat again.
Kitchen Grilling Gifts
We have the 7.5 QT version of this. This is simply THE most affordable cast iron that works wonders. If you want some great cast iron, but not ready to splurge, Lodge is a great place to start.
Lodge Cast Iron 10.25 Inch Cast Iron Pan
This pan we use almost every day. It’s durable to throw over hot embers for some roasted chestnuts, and seasoned enough to make delicate scrambled eggs.
Blenders are essential for the barbecue pitmaster. Whether blending sauces, or prepping a blended marinade, having a high quality blender needs to be in the arsenal.
D’Artagnan has been supplying quality meats to chefs from around the US for decades and feature finely curated foods from small farms around the world.
We love the quality of their food. Shop from amazing lamb from the US or Australia, or consider their beef options.
They also feature olive oils, charcuteries packs, and amazing pantry gifts too.
American Wagyu Beef – Snake River Farms
Give the gift of incredible meat! A holiday gift roast from Snake River Farms would make most people dance. From Prime Rib Roast, to a Rack of Kurobuta Pork, the options are endless. Grab your favorite holiday roast and have it delivered to their doorstep (or yours).
We love these slate boards for serving, and we have several in all sizes. This size (12×16) is the one we use the most. This is great gift for those who like to entertain!
Outdoor Entertaining
TerraFlame S’Mores Kit by Solo Stove
A well designed indoor (and outdoor) tabletop S’mores Kit. Bamboo and concrete combined with 3,000 BTU fuel gel flame.
It’s the perfect gift for your outdoor entertainment friends. We have a complete review of the TerraFlame S’Mores Kit.
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Books
Books are always an awesome gift for any food lover on your list. Here are a few of our favorites, from understanding fundamentals to getting really geeky on BBQ.
Fire + Wine: 75 Smoke Infused Recipes with Wine Pairings: Signed Edition
Of course we’ll add our own critically acclaimed book to the list. We’re super proud of it!
Now on the second edition! Check out our cookbook page for more details.
Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking
A fantastic and intriguing book about the 4 elements of cooking — Salt, Fat, Acid, and Heat — and how to understand those elements in order to transform your cooking and empower you in the kitchen (or outdoor grill!). A must have for the cook in your life.
The Elements of Pizza: Unlocking the Secrets to World-Class Pies at Home
Ken Forkish, Owner of several Portland restaurants, makes some amazing pizza. This book is a must for anyone grilling pizza in their backyard grill or pizza oven.
Franklin Barbecue: A Meat-Smoking Manifesto
This book is amazing. Want to understand one of the greatest BBQ Pitmasters secrets to managing fire? Or trimming brisket? This is your book.
Aaron Franklin walks us through what he’s learned about fire management, building pits, trimming brisket, and managing the cooking process.
That’s it. If we find more good deals we’ll be sure to let you know, either via our Facebook page or weekly newsletter. So make sure you’re following along so you can be in the know of a good deal when we see it.
