Essential Grilling Techniques and Maintenance Tips

Our experts share their time-tested strategies for better grilling. Senior staff writer Lesley Stockton reveals the proper way to clean and oil grates, why it’s probably time to clean your entire grill, and the unexpected tools (like restaurant tongs and a grill basket) that will immediately uplevel your next cookout.

Then Sam Sifton, assistant managing editor at The New York Times and co-founder of NYT Cooking, walks us through heat zones, why you should limit food flipping, and his favorite recipes to try this summer.

Products we recommend:

• A superior grill brush: Grill Rescue Grill Brush
• The best grill tongs: Winco Heavyweight 16″ Stainless Steel Utility Tongs
• The best all-purpose grill spatula: Mercer Culinary Hell’s Handle Fish Turner
• The best basting brush: ​​OXO Good Grips Large Silicone Basting Brush
• The best grill basket: Grillaholics Grill Basket
• Our favorite charcoal grill: Weber Original Kettle Premium Charcoal Grill 22″
• Our favorite gas grill: Weber Spirit E-425
• A griddle for larger Weber Spirit grills: Weber Rust-Resistant Griddle Insert for Spirit Grill
• A griddle for the three-burner Genesis grill: Weber Rust-Resistant Griddle Insert for Genesis Grill
• Sam recommends: Momofuku’s Bo Ssam recipe
• Sam’s go-to portable smoker: A-MAZE-N Stainless Steel Tube Smoker 2.5 in. W

Additional reading:

• How to Clean a Gas or Charcoal Grill
• The 3 Best Gas Grills of 2025
• The Best Charcoal Grill of 2025
• 10 Best Grill Tools and Accessories of 2025
• Smoking a Turkey on a Gas Grill Sounds Hard. Here’s the $40 Hack Sam Sifton Swears by That Makes It Easy (and Delicious).

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Find edited transcripts for each episode here: The Wirecutter Show Podcast