We have all had that feeling when leaving the house that we forgot something important. As I have traveled for barbecue cooks on four continents I know the feeling well. The pressure is amplified when you know you will be thousands of miles from home without an opportunity to return to get any supplies or equipment that you haven’t brought with you. For this reason, I put together a “barbecue go-box” several years ago that contains everything I might need to do a barbecue cook, no matter where I might find myself. Whether I’m across town at a friend’s house grilling up dinner or I’m in the Omani desert preparing to cook a lamb in the traditional Shuwa style with a bedouin camel herder, I know that I can face any challenge with the tools in my barbecue toolkit. The small plastic container that holds my barbecue essentials travels with me any time I’m expected to cook. Inside is a small knife roll, an apron, gloves, glove liners, and temperature measurement equipment.

Thermapen NANO

The first thermometer I don’t leave home without is the new Thermapen® NANO. Simply put, this thermometer provides the fastest temperature reading of any product made by anyone. This thermometer is all of the superlatives. A brighter display, thinner design, built-in magnets and a 0.4-second read allow the Nano to register and display a reading in the time it takes a Major League fastball to reach home plate. Blink and you’ll miss it. The IP 67 water resistance makes it THE go anywhere, do anything thermometer. You may ask “Why does a thermometer need to read temperatures so quickly?” There are multiple reasons. First, when cooking say 25 briskets on a 1000 gallon offset smoker, the less time you need to take temps, the less time you need to have the doors open, slowing the cook. Moreover, on some big cuts like brisket, you may want to take separate readings of the temperature in the point vs the flat. Where NANO truly shines, however, is in high heat environments. When steaks are being seared off above nuclear hot coals, the less time your hand lingers over the fire, the less likely you are to get burned. The latest design of Thermapen isn't a facelift or an aesthetic makeover. This is the next generation of temperature instruments, allowing a cook to achieve better results and have maximum confidence in so doing.

Thermapen IR

The next item in my toolkit is Thermapen IR. This tool is essential to me because it performs two functions with one instrument. If I’m searing a steak, I want to know both the temperature of the pan and the temperature inside the steak. There is simply no more versatile bbq tool in my arsenal. Truth be told, I could probably do almost any cook with a Thermapen IR and a shovel. If I were allowed to choose only one thermometer for the rest of my life, it would have to be Thermapen IR. It’s simply too capable to choose anything else. So when I was asked to cook steaks in Argentina with a plancha over an open fire, I used Thermapen IR to make sure I wasn't going to boil or burn my steaks. I built the fire, allowed the steel to heat up, used the infrared feature and saw 397°F. I knew I was ready to throw down some beef tallow and some South American ribeyes. When the temperature probe gave me an internal temperature of 124°F I pulled the steaks off and let them carry over to a perfect medium rare. Unfamiliar location, elevation, wood, meat, and equipment can all be overcome if you’re using the right tools. Versatility, reliability, and durability make Thermapen IR absolutely indispensable for any barbecue cook. 

RFX Wireless

The next tool in my toolkit was one that I waited on for a number of years. The RFX Wireless Meat thermometer has been transformative in its ability to provide temperature readings without the need for tangled wires. At Peru’s International Barbecue Festival (Festival Internacional de Parrilla) I had to cook about 500 lbs of meat on three different smokers while monitoring temperatures of 2 whole hogs being cooked on cinder block pits. There was only one tool that could give me insight into the progress of every cook without opening doors, repeatedly probing, and slowing the whole process down: RFX. The breakthrough performance of this system relies on the patent pending 433 MHz frequency it uses rather than a bluetooth connection. Bluetooth connections work well for phones, but in order to cross ¼” thick steel and traverse barriers, the lower frequency is a vastly superior choice. Combine that with the port for an air temperature probe, I can monitor both the proteins and the environment in which they are cooking. So whether I'm using an offset smoker, a cinder block pit, a pressure cooker, or a grill, RFX provides me the flexibility to monitor temperatures constantly so I can execute exactly the kind of cook I want. 

Signals BBQ Alarm Thermometer

Recently, I had the opportunity to compete on the Food Network show Pitmasters. We could only bring four items with us onto the set. I brought my knife roll, Thermapen IR, my leather apron, and Signals BBQ Alarm Thermometer. We cooked over open fires, inside smokers, on grills, and even under the ground. Signals not only survived every challenge, but passed every test with flying colors. When my teammate and I cooked an underground Curranto-style dish for the judges, we needed to be able to monitor the temperature of our buried lamb without needing to dig it up to check with a probe. We used signals to monitor the internal temperature of our lamb with a fixed, wired connection so there could be absolutely no doubt that we maintained connection and had accurate information. Considering we were under the gun, we benefitted greatly from the air temperature probe we placed in the pit before burying it. Whereas most teams were flying blind, hoping their food was finished but not burning, signals let us know that our temperatures were right on track. This was especially important, because every challenge had a time limit. There was no time for do-overs and no room for mistakes. When money and bragging rights were on the line, I trusted signals to guide me through the cook. For your next dinner  bbq competition when failure is not an option, Signals will give you the information you need. 

Alternatives

These are the four tools I never leave home without. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but it is the list of essentials that make any cook possible. Your needs and budget may be different than mine, but here are some other products that may better fit your bbq go bag. There is no replacement for Thermapen. It is simply the best product of its kind, but if your budget won’t allow you to purchase one, SIZZLE is a lower cost alternative with excellent accuracy. 

Smoke and Smoke X4 are remote BBQ alarms that allow you to monitor temperatures remotely, without Wi-Fi capability. This means that you don’t need a phone to follow your temperatures, but it also means a slightly lower cost alternative that provides the same accuracy and precision you’ve come to expect with Thermoworks. .  If you already have Thermapen, but want to measure temperatures with infrared, the Industrial IR Gun allows you to read temperatures up to 1022°F.