Grilling Gadgets to Fire Outdoor Cooking

Memorial Day signals the less official start of summer and the more official nod to outdoor cooking. If the weather allows, many of us will be firing up the grill and searching for marinade recipes and summer drinks. While nothing may seem simpler than lighting a fire and throwing some meat and veggies on the grill, here are some tech ideas to fire your grilling plans.

Prepare the grill: The Motorized Grill Brush from Brookstone ($25) adds tech to the elbow grease usually applied to cleaning the grill for the next grilling. The brass brush, which Brookstone says polishes as is cleans, removes for easy cleaning.

Don't overcook! You've spent time and good money picking out those juicy steaks or marinating the chicken. To eliminate guesswork at the grill, the ProAccurate Digital Programmable Thermometer/Timer sounds off when meat hits the right temperature. Elizabeth Karmel at GirlsattheGrill.com recommends this $30 thermometer and timer. Insert the probe and set cooking preferences, and an alarm sounds when the cooking is done. If you'd rather go wireless, check out the pictured Oregon Scientific wireless meat thermometer ($40).

Shed some light: Find yourself at the grill past twilight often? Even if you've got some decent outdoor lighting, the grill area may not be so well lit. These grilling tongs with barbecue guru Steve Raichlin's name on them may be just the thing. The Ultimate Luma Tong with Grab-Light have an LED light that helps you see the meat as you turn it on the grill. ($15)

Turn up the heat outside: You've got corn on the cob, maybe even lobster, on the menu, but you're not eager to heat up the kitchen for an outdoor party. Here's a solution: The Char-Broil Commercial Series Outdoor Stove Top ($119), recommended by the Good Housekeeping Research Institute, is a freestanding gas-powered burner that heats up a big pot of water faster than any grill-side burner could.

Bring out the music: If you're not already wired outside for sound—no rock speakers in sight—you may want to bring an iPod outside and dock it into something that actually allows you to hear the songs. We like this Kensington Speakers and Dock for iPod & iPod Nano. ($100).

Alternative grilling: Gina found this solar-powered grill on Coolest Gadgets. It's made by Tammock Trading and Marketing, a Swiss company, and sells for $240. A concave piece of metal coated with a mirror focuses the sun's rays on a long shelf that the manufacturer says can cook just about anything. Of course, you need the sun to be shining, but it may be a good answer where grills are not permitted.

Not sure I can actually recommend this final piece of grill gear, but you've just got to see it. Gizmodo calls this L'il Pig Barbecue "every pig's worst nightmare." At $1,599, it's not one of my dreams, and it makes for one expensive pig roast. So you'd have to have lots of pig roasts to get the ROI, which could either be a big hit with the neighbors or, more likely, not. 

Happy Memorial Day, and happy grilling!

Related: Use the Sun to Cook Those Juicy Steaks
An All-American Cook-Out