Every year as the holidays roll around we are inundated with dozens of gift guides on the same theme: GRILLING GIFTS FOR MACHO MANLY MEN or GRILLING GIFTS FOR DAD/GRAN-DAD/HIM/BOYFRIENDS or DUDE-LY GRILL GIFTS FOR GRILL DUDES. Etcetera, etcetera. And I, for one, am TIRED OF IT.
But despite the persistent stereotypes, it's not just men who like to cook over an open flame! And while gender definitely does still shape the way we think of grill culture, mostly thanks to the way grilling is represented in the media (e.g. "grill king!"), things are definitely changing.
So now that we all agree that anyone, across the entire beautiful spectrum of genders and sexual orientations, can grill and can love grilling, I have a confession: The real problem I have with most of these grilling gift guides? They're BORING.
They're predictable. And they all assume everyone who likes grilling fits into the same narrow version of lumberjack masculinity.
Oh yay, another wood and leather monogrammed box of grilling tools. I'm sure this person who already loves grilling doesn't have any grilling tools! (Can you hear me rolling my eyes?)
So this isn't a grilling gift guide for women, or non-binary or queer people, nor is it not for men. This is a grilling gift guide FOR ANYONE WHO LIKES GRILLING, plain and simple. No pointlessly gendered items. No assumed macho wood-and-leather lumberjack aesthetic. Just great grilling gifts that anyone, of any gender, who enjoys grilling will appreciate.
**Some of the items on this list I requested or received as PR gifts/review samples. I wouldn't include them here unless I really loved them and thought you would too.
1. 15" Carbon Steel Paella Pan — because grilling shouldn't be limited to burgers and steaks
Paella is a Spanish rice dish made on the grill. The wide surface area of the pan and the thin metal ensure the pan heats evenly across the bottom so that everything cooks evenly. You just can't replicate that even heat on a stovetop. There are lots of varieties of paella — from chicken and ham paella to seafood paella and even veggie varieties too.
A paella pan makes a great gift because it's not something most people have, even if they love grilling. But once they have it, there's no reason to not give making paella a try! It opens up a whole new world of grilling possibilities.
2. The Ultimate Rub Collection by Spiceology — 12 mini BBQ rubs in a range of unique flavors
Spiceology is known for creating amazing, creative spice blends. This Ultimate Rub Collection gift set includes 12 one ounce jars of their best grilling rubs.
There are a ton of different totally unique flavor profiles here, from raspberry chipotle to black & bleu to chile margarita. This is the perfect gift for the grilling enthusiast who loves experimenting with bold flavor!
3. Meater+ — wireless meat thermometer**
The Meater+ is a wireless meat thermometer that pairs to an app on your phone so you can keep an eye on your grill or smoker from a distance (up to 165ft). The thermometer is about 5 inches long and charges in a compact bamboo box that sticks to your grill or fridge with a magnet so it never gets lost.
Using the Meater+ is easy. Select the cut of meat in the app, and it walks you through the rest, including how to place the probe to get to get an accurate reading and taking resting time into account.
The Meater+ measures the internal temperature of the meat as well as the ambient temperature around it, which makes it a great gift for anyone who does a lot of low-and-slow grilling or smoking.
(It's also a great gift for anyone with ADHD who has a tendency to forget about things in the oven!)
4. Rodney Scott's World of BBQ: Every Day Is a Good Day - Recipes from a legendary pitmaster
Rodney Scott got his start cooking at his family's barbecue restaurant in South Carolina. Today he owns his own legendary barbecue joint in Charleston.
His debut cookbook, the first by a black pitmaster, was published earlier this year and celebrates the legacy of barbecue cooking — from main dishes and whole-hog cooking to sides, burgers, and desserts.
Beyond the recipes, the book has been widely praised for expert storytelling and stunning photography, bringing the richness of barbecue culture and flavors leaping off the pages. Rodney Scott's World Of BBQ is more than just a collection of recipes; it also contextualizes the techniques, history, and inspiration behind those recipes, turning them into absolutely page-turning reading.
5. Baking Steel® — To turn their grill or fire pit into a flat top griddle
The original baking steel is a 16 pound, quarter-inch piece of steel designed primarily to fit in a home oven for pizza making. But it also makes a great gift for anyone who loves grilling. On top of a grill, the flat surface becomes a griddle.
With a baking steel on top of their grill, they can make smash burgers, fried eggs and hash browns (grilling! for breakfast!), cheese steaks, flatbreads, and so much more. It's also great for camping trips, where the flat steel fits neatly over a campfire or fire pit, creating a flat cooking surface.
Read my honest review of the baking steel here.
6. Any Night Grilling by Paula Disbrowe for Food52 — A weeknight grilling cookbook
"We wanted a grilling cookbook that wouldn’t be like every other chest-pounding, aggressively typefaced, you’re-a-wuss-if-you-don’t-cook-a-whole-pig cookbook on the market. These books don’t speak to us. They make us feel bad about our Webers. They make us resent grilling. And, yet, we love grilled food! We’d like to do more grilling!" — Food 52 co-founder Amanda Hesser on the motivation for this excellent weeknight grilling cookbook.
The recipes here might be a little basic for the most expert of expert grillers, but is perfect for the beginner to intermediate griller looking to make more use of their grill.
7. Gooseneck Grilling Lights — so they can actually see what they're doing in the dark
Just because a grill has fire in it doesn't mean it's always easy to see what you're doing. This set of two grilling lights has magnetic bases so they can attach anywhere on your grill, and gooseneck adjustable lights so the light ends up exactly where it's needed.
These make a great gift for anyone who enjoys late night grilling or grilling into the colder months when sunset happens earlier and earlier.
8. Buxton Hall Barbecue's Book Of Smoke + Spicewalla Barbecue Rubs - A cookbook and spice set designed to work together
Pitmaster Elliot Moss's Buxton Hall Barbecue in Asheville, NC takes smoking meat very seriously. The restaurant is famous for its locally sourced whole-hog barbecue, with three massive barbecue pits right in the middle of their kitchen.
Moss's cookbook, Book of Smoke, gives readers everything they need to start smoking meat at home. The book includes plenty of economical, easy options for infusing food with delicious, smoky flavor even without a fire pit or room for a smoker.
And if you're going to give the gift of a cookbook, you might as well give the gift of ingredients to go with it. So small-batch spice company Spicewalla teamed up with Moss to create three Buxton Hall Rubs, which are included along with his cookbook in this thoughtful gift set.
9. S'mores Griller - The joy of s'mores with less mess and toasted graham crackers
This cleverly designed s'mores griller makes it easy to make 6 s'mores at a time. Simply pop the assembled s'mores on to the platforms and drop the cage overtop to hold them in place while the grill toasts them whole.
Why toast a whole s'more (a whole s'mores?) at once? Have you ever had a toasted graham cracker? SO GOOD. The toasting really brings out all the nutty, honey flavors in the cracker. And when you make s'mores over an open flame, thats exactly what you get.
Who is this not for? Anyone who likes their s'mores marshmallows charcoal black with gooey centers. Sorry! There's just no way to get that crispy blackened marshmallow with this contraption, unless you toast the marshmallow separately first.
10. Grilling Favorites Gift Crate - Barbecue sauces and rubs from across the country
This Grilling Favorites collection from Stonewall Kitchen includes three sauces and rubs, purposefully curated to highlight the different flavors and styles of American barbecue. It's packed neatly in a real wooden crate, which makes great gift packaging.
The kit features three sauces and three rubs for making fall-off-the-bone ribs, tender brisket, grilled chicken, glazed wings, and even seafood! It also includes an easy-to-clean silicone brush and a 100% cotton tea towel illustrating different cuts of meat.
11. Personalized family grilling portrait - Commemorate those summer grilling memories
How cute is this???? Not every grilling gift needs to be for use with/on/around a grill. A great grilling gift can also commemorate all of those great memories you make around the grill each summer.
The illustrations are hand drawn and painted by artist Patricia Carlin and can be ordered unframed or with a mat and frame included. Each painting can be customized with up to 14 different figures, including pets, and features your family's name written in the grill smoke across the top.
For more of my product roundups, reviews, and gift guides click here. For a master list of my favorite kitchen tools click here.
Brett Heckford says
Thanks for sharing this! I've been bbqing all year and looking forward to it again this weekend!