Extras for Your Backyard Grill

In addition to the insulated cooking mitts and long-handled utensils already mentioned in today’s section, a multitude of accessories are available for the outdoor grill. Here’s just a sampling of the things being offered:

--Hinged wire baskets with long handles are useful for holding and turning fragile foods such as fish. They’re available in many sizes and shapes and are sometimes adjustable to different thicknesses of food.

--A variety of wire racks can hold everything from roasts and ribs to potatoes and corn on the cob while cooking on the grill. Still others provide a place to hang utensils or hold spices, herbs or basting sauces.

--Skewers, for creating kebabs, come in metal and wood and an assortment of sizes. There are even electric models that do the turning automatically.

--Both quick-reading and regular meat thermometers (the same type used for cooking indoors) are useful when cooking foods more than two inches thick, such as large roasts and birds.

--Rotisseries--standard spits, as well as flat or round baskets that can be attached, are options for some types of grills.

--Foil drip and baking pans come in many shapes and sizes and are disposable. Heavy duty foil is also useful for making drip pans and wrapping foods for cooking.

--Even griddles and woks are now available for use with outdoor grills.

Also being touted for extra flavor in outdoor grilling are:

--Aromatic chips in a variety of flavors

--Grape vine cuttings

--Fresh herbs sprinkled directly over the coals

--Mesquite charcoal and wood.