The Grilling Tool You Should Always Use 2 Of For The Easiest Backyard Cooking

Whether you're making casual weeknight burgers or using your grill for a more flavorful shrimp cocktail, grilling is a warm-weather cooking activity that should be as enjoyable and stress-free as possible. While spatulas are great for flipping burgers, tongs are the ultimate grilling tool — allowing you to move almost anything imaginable around on the grill's surface. But as easy as they are to use, tongs can also cross-contaminate food if you're not careful, which is why it's essential to use two pairs. 

Tongs are the most important tool for grilling safely, especially when working with a larger grill, as longer tongs keep your hands away from the intense heat. It's helpful to designate one set of tongs for raw meat and the other for cooked meat. If your grill has flat areas on both sides of the grill to hold food and tools, the easiest way to keep things organized is to keep raw items on the left side and cooked items on the right side (or the opposite, if you prefer) and work from one side to the other, making sure that the tongs touching raw food always return to their designated area.

When cooking over the high heat of a grill, no matter if it's gas or charcoal, make sure to avoid using plastic cooking tools and stick with a lighter metal like stainless steel. Silicone-tipped tongs are an option too, as long as you've verified that the silicone is heat-resistant, as you don't want part of your tongs melting off onto the food you're preparing. 

While this is an important rule for any raw proteins like seafood or steak, raw chicken is the most dangerous raw protein due to its tendency to carry salmonella and other harmful bacteria. Take grilling chicken drumsticks, for example. You'd use one set of tongs to transfer the raw chicken to the grill, then use that same pair of tongs to turn over the chicken. Once the chicken is fully cooked, you'd use the other set of tongs to move it to a serving platter so that you don't risk transferring any raw chicken juices or contaminants.

There is an instance where you may want a third set of tongs. When cooking over charcoal or real wood, a third pair of tongs is great for when you need to adjust the heat source or move around any coals. With an extra set of tongs dedicated solely to rummaging around in the flames, you can be sure that those ash-covered tongs will never touch your food as it grills, which would impart a less-than-desirable taste. However, if you're cooking over a gas-powered propane grill, there is no need for a third set of tongs, as you simply turn a few knobs to adjust the heat. 

Before your next time firing up the grill, stock up on your tongs. Then, check out some of the tips from celebrity chefs for all your grilling needs.