Grilling has a large and enthusiastic category of accessories designed to separate you from your money. Some of them are excellent and will improve your results in measurable ways. Others are expensive solutions to problems that don't exist.

Here is the split.

WORTH BUYING

A quality instant-read thermometer — $25-100

The single most important grilling accessory that isn't the grill itself. An instant-read thermometer eliminates the guesswork from every cook: chicken thighs to 165°F, steaks to your preferred internal temperature, pork to 145°F. Without one, you're guessing or cutting everything open.

The Thermapen ONE ($100) is the category benchmark — 1-second read, accurate to ±0.7°F, waterproof. The ThermoPop 2 ($35) is the value option that covers every practical use case. Anything that reads in under 3 seconds and is accurate to ±1°F will do what you need it to do.

Long-handled tongs — $15-30

Not the cheap aluminum ones that came in the grill kit. Real tongs with a comfortable grip, a locking mechanism, and enough length that your hand isn't directly over the coals. OXO Good Grips 16-inch Locking Tongs are the standard recommendation, used by everyone from home cooks to professional kitchens. Get two pairs — one for raw, one for cooked.

A grill brush or cleaning block — $10-30

The grill that isn't cleaned is the grill that sticks and flares up. A stainless steel bristle brush or a bristle-free cleaning block (GrillArt, Grillstone) gets the grates clean in three minutes after the grill is hot. Do this every cook.

Caveat: bristle brushes shed over time. Check occasionally that no bristles are detaching into the grill surface. The bristle-free grill stone option avoids this entirely.

A cast iron skillet for the grill — $20-50

A Lodge 10-inch or 12-inch cast iron skillet placed on the grill expands what the grill can do: vegetables that would fall through grates, eggs for the tailgate morning after, sauces that finish on the grill, smaller proteins. A $25 Lodge pre-seasoned skillet lasts indefinitely. This is the highest-ROI addition to any grill setup.

A quality basting brush — $10-15

Silicone bristles that don't retain flavors, dishwasher safe, and won't melt if they touch a hot grate. The Oxo Good Grips or the OXO Silicone Basting Brush are both excellent. The cheap options with natural bristles shed into your food and deteriorate quickly.

SKIP THESE

The grill light — $15-40

The solution to grilling in the dark is either doing it earlier or using your phone's flashlight. The grill light that clips onto the handle sounds convenient and is mildly inconvenient to position, in the way, and doesn't actually illuminate the grill surface evenly. Your phone solves this problem better.

The grill mat / copper mat — $15-30

The silicone or copper mat that lies on the grates and prevents food from sticking. Theoretically useful; in practice, the mat eliminates the grill marks, changes the cooking environment to closer-to-baking-than-grilling, and creates cleanup issues. The cast iron skillet does everything the grill mat does and better.

The grill press / weight — $15-40

For pressing burgers to ensure full contact with the grate and faster cooking. The same effect is achieved by simply cooking on a hot enough grate. The press is also the tool most likely to squeeze juice out of a burger in a way that makes it drier. Skip it.

The One Upgrade Worth Making After the Basics

A charcoal chimney starter ($20-30) if you're using charcoal. The chimney starter gets charcoal to full temperature in 15 minutes without lighter fluid, produces zero chemical taste, and is the tool that makes charcoal grilling consistent and manageable. The Weber chimney starter at $20 is the category standard.

If you're on propane, the tools above are the complete list.

The grill itself matters. The food and the temperature management matter more. The accessories matter a little, specifically in the categories above. The grill gadget collection on the pegboard in the garage matters primarily as a visual.

Buy the thermometer first. Everything else is secondary.