Amy

When I bought my first pellet grill three years ago, I had no idea what a PID controller was or why hopper capacity mattered. I just wanted food that tasted like it came out of a Texas smokehouse without spending my entire weekend tending a fire. That is exactly why pellet grills are perfect for … Read more

Vertical pellet smokers are the shortcut I wish I’d known about years ago. I burnt through a decade of fiddling with offset sticks and charcoal before I finally plugged in a vertical cabinet smoker and watched a 14-pound brisket turn out perfectly while I sat on the porch with a cold drink. After 90 days … Read more

I burned my first attempt at pulled pork in a charcoal smoker at 2 AM, and I have never been more frustrated with backyard cooking. That disaster pushed me straight to electric smokers, and after testing more than a dozen models over the past three years, I can tell you with confidence that the best … Read more

I’ve been running an outdoor cooking test lab out of my garage for the past six years, and the single question I get most often from friends and readers is simple: what is the best electric smoker I can buy right now? After spending over 200 hours running ribs, briskets, pork shoulders, salmon, and jerky … Read more

Last Saturday morning, our team cooked breakfast for 14 people on three different outdoor griddles at once. Pancakes on one, eggs and bacon on another, hash browns on the third. By the time the coffee was poured, we knew which models deserved a spot on our best outdoor griddles for families list. Over the past … Read more

I’ve spent the last three months testing flat top griddles in my backyard, running over 200 smash burger patties through each one to find out which griddles actually deliver that crispy, lacy crust that makes smash burgers legendary. The science is simple: a flat top creates more surface contact than grill grates, and that extra … Read more

I have spent the last three months running pancakes, smash burgers, and bacon across a stack of flat top griddles in my driveway. Some were lightning-fast preheaters with perfectly even heat. A few struggled when the breeze picked up or left me scrubbing rust spots the next morning. Our team reviewed the best flat top … Read more

When I moved into my apartment three years ago, I had to give up my backyard charcoal grill. The lease said no open flame, my building manager said no propane tanks over a pound, and my downstairs neighbor made it clear smoke would not fly. So I went down the rabbit hole to find the … Read more

I have owned three separate grills in my backyard over the past decade, and switching between them every weekend was driving me crazy. When I finally tested a true hybrid grill that runs both propane and charcoal in one frame, the convenience alone changed how my family cooks outdoors. That experience is what pushed our … Read more

Feeding a family of four or more from a tiny two-burner grill is an exercise in patience that nobody signed up for. By the time the last batch of burgers comes off, the first batch is cold and the kids have already raided the snack cabinet. That is exactly why we spent weeks testing and … Read more