Grilling season is quickly approaching here on the North Shore. Our thoughts turn to gathering in the backyard and grilling up our favorite foods over an open flame.
With the latest trends and accessories, you can make your barbecue so much more than just a cooking rack over a fire. Different cooking methods and styles release different flavors, while other grill trends make life easier as well as complement our backyard oasis where we escape from the daily grind.
“Barbecue accessories seem to be endless these days, but there are several that will truly make your grilling experience that much better,” says Steve Gauci, director of retail operations at Napoleon Gourmet Grills. “Staying on top of these trends will help you experience foods in new ways with new flavors that will excite your taste buds, or may just make cooking outside that much easier and convenient for you.”
Here are some of the latest trends that will be popular in backyards across the North Shore this summer:
Charcoal tray Just because you have a gas grill doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice the flavors of classic charcoal cooking. Place a charcoal tray on the burner of your grill, fill it up and enjoy delicious, smoky flavors.
Get colorful Stainless steel is giving way—a little bit—to colored porcelain lids. The porcelain doesn’t require as much cleaning and polishing as stainless—and the color can be selected to match your backyard décor.
Infrared grilling Just like they do in a restaurant: the high heat of infrared grilling comes from 10,000 ports flaming a ceramic burner until it glows red. The result is a clean, consistent method of cooking that produces juicier, tastier steaks and burgers.
Smoker tube Pick your choice of woodchips, soak them in water, put them in smoker tube and place it on one of your heat shields to enjoy beautiful smoked meats.
Shish kebab wheel A handy attachment that fits right on to your existing rotisserie spit, the shish kebab wheel holds your skewers of meat and vegetable in place as it evenly cooks them over the consistent heat your grill.