Looking to up your outdoor cooking menu beyond burgers and steak? Here are three simple and inexpensive ways to add versatility to a basic gas grill. Of course if your grill is a goner, you may want to consider replacing it before trying these tricks.
Smoky flavor without a smoker. Soak wood chips in water for an hour, drain, and wrap in heavy-duty foil ( 1 cup per pouch). Hickory, oak, mesquite, and pecan are some of the flavors available. Poke holes in the top of the pouches and put them under the grates above a burner. Use two for a midsized grill, four for a large. Turn the heat on high until the pouches smoke, then lower the heat to about 350° F. Check with a temperature gauge.
Low and slow. Cook briskets, pork shoulders, other tough cuts of meat, and whole fish or poultry on your grill. Start by preheating the grill. Once it’s warm, set one burner to high and turn off the other. Place the food over the burner that’s off. If you have a three- or four-burner grill, keep only the front and back or outside burners on; put the food over the burners that are off. Keep the lid closed to keep in the heat.
Pizza and grilled vegies. The grill aisles at home centers and hardware stores are filled with pizza stones, baskets, and rib racks. White pizza stones are harder to keep clean than darker ones, but all get blazing hot and require watching so that the pizza doesn’t burn. Look for grill baskets with small holes to let juices drain and high sides so that shrimp, scallops, and cut-up veggies, chicken, and meat don’t fall out when you’re flipping them. Before you head to the checkout with a rib rack, take it over to the grill display to make sure you can close the grill lid with the rack inside. Our tests have found that stainless-steel gadgets can be cleaned with steel wool or stainless cleaner. Porcelain-coated tools are more fragile, so use a plastic scrubber.
The best midsized grills
Unless you routinely cook for a crowd, a midsized grill, which typically has room for 16 to 30 burgers, will likely suit your needs. Our top three had excellent high- and low-temperature performance, and indirect cooking and were very good at preheating.
For more choices and more sizes see our full gas grill Ratings and recommendations.
—Kimberly Janeway
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