All the Grilling Tech and Tools I Use in Barbecue Competitions

Why You Can Trust CNET

Our expert, award-winning staff selects the products we cover and rigorously researches and tests our top picks. If you buy through our links, we may get a commission. How we test grills

Barbecue can bring people together and is, to many, considered an art form. Perfecting the art of managing fire, smoke, sauces and seasoning to perfectly cook meats, veggies takes practice. Because of this learned skill, there are competitions all over the world where aspiring pitmasters gather to show off their grilling prowess. It's also a great way to learn and meet people while tasting delicious foods.

My brother, sister and I recently too part in a local barbecue competition using some of the best grills on the market and some handy tools to cook chicken thighs, St. Louis-style ribs and brisket. While we didn't win, we were proud of the food we made, and it was enjoyed by many of our fellow competitors. 

Here are the grills and tools we used for the competition and are also used regularly at home.

Fire and ash: Grills that were used

When it came time to decide which cookers to use for the competition, I'm lucky to have had options. After discussing the types of proteins we had to cook, the flavors we planned to season with and the type of fuel source we felt would best compliment it all, we decided to go with three: a pellet grill, a charcoal smoker and a kamado grill.

For the pellet grill, we picked the Recteq Flagship XL 1400 due to its expansive 1,437-square-inch cooking area and massive pellet hopper. It was perfect for cooking one of our two briskets overnight. Early the next morning, when we wrapped the meat in some Reynolds Butcher Paper, plenty of cooking space was available for half of the chicken thighs we had been marinating overnight and a slab of our ribs. We then added blended fruitwood pellets that produced great smoke that meshed wonderfully with the seasonings and flavor of the meats.

To handle the other brisket, we dedicated the Kamado Joe Konnected Joe to take care of that. We loaded the firebox with both lump and briquette charcoal and used the electric igniter to get it started. Once the ceramic cooker was at 225 degrees Fahrenheit, we added some chunks of hickory wood for more smoke flavor and placed our second brisket on the grates. When we wrapped the meat the following morning, about 12 hours later, the kamado grill maintained perfect temp with the same charcoal it started with.

Lastly, we used the Nexgrill Oakford 1150 Reverse Flow Offset Smoker to cook the other half of our chicken and slab of ribs. While this cooker doesn't offer an electric ignition, using a charcoal chimney, like this one from Weber, the smoker was up and going in no time. We added the same wood chunks before loading our chicken and ribs into the smoker. 

Each grill and smoker we used did exactly as we had hoped, producing consistent heat and smoke to help us cook some delicious foods. But some help was needed to get it all done just right.

Time and temp: Keys to great grilling

When it comes to grilling and barbecue, the temperature of your cooker and the food are essential to producing tender results. You must be able to hold that temperature for long enough to not only cook food that's safe to eat but also properly breaks down proteins. 

To help get exact temperatures, it's a good idea to use a reliable meat probe. We used the new Meater Pro XL, ThermoPro Lightning and ThermoPro's Twin TempSpike.

Each of the meat probes used provides accurate temperature readings while the meat cooks, offering ambient temp for the grill and internal readings of each piece of meat. The Meater Pro XL has four fully metal meat probes that connect to the charging block, which also has built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth that connects to the Meater cloud and your phone. This let's you keep an eye on your cook and preset temps for notifications. 

ThermoPro's Twin TempSpike works similarly, but the probes aren't fully metal, and it doesn't offer built-in Wi-Fi. The Lighting is an instant read probe that we used to get additional temp checks when we'd briefly open the grills to check on the food. 

In addition to the third-party meat probes, we also used the included thermometers that came with the Recteq pellet and Kamado Joe grills. As I said before, it's important to know the temp of your food on the grill to ensure the best results, but it's also important to know your grill's entire cooking area to know where to place your food.

Other gadgets that helped

While the grills and meat probes were the primary devices used to get foods properly cooked, we employed a few other devices.

We used the Anker EverFrost power cooler to store the meat before cooking and also to hold chicken while it marinated. The combination of battery power and AC power offered flexibility in how we powered the device. It can also use solar, but it was pretty cloudy during the event. 

When we needed to plug in the cooler, the Bluetti AC240P power station was exactly what we needed. Aside from the 1,843Wh of power capacity and 2,400 watts of output, the IP65 dust and water resistance was very much appreciated as we had some spotty rain showers to contend with.

To keep our spirits up, we played plenty of music, and to handle that task, we looked to the Treblab HD-Max Bluetooth speaker. Aside from sounding great, the 20-hour battery life was a big selling point. But so was the IPX6 water resistance rating, because, again, we needed to be prepared for some rain.

Are all of these things needed to cook some amazing barbecue? Nope. But many of these gadgets and many others that are available can help make the cooking process easier, help you bump up your barbecue skill level and maybe even save you time. Evey pitmaster, or those aspiring to be one, has preferences on everything from the grill used to the fuel that goes in it and the temperature levels to the seasonings used. But what works for you is all the really matters in the end.