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Grill accessories

Updated: October 2026Hub page

Grill accessories covers the parts and fuels around a barbecue you already own, for a UK garden, patio or campsite. Tongs, gloves, aprons, brushes, grates, plates, covers, thermometers, charcoal, firelighters and smoking wood are different products. A sheet on the grate is not a mat under the barbecue.

Choose the card that matches the job. Lighting charcoal, turning food and adding wood smoke are not the same purchase, and a wheeled table is not the grill. Listing details stay on the comparison, so this page can stay put when a model changes.

Grill accessories

WZQH 40 cm cowhide gauntlet in the Barbecue gloves comparison

Barbecue gloves

Heat gloves for a grate or a short lift

Barbecue gloves are heat gloves for a grate, a chimney starter, a tray or a short lift, in silicone, leather or a pit style.

Comparison guides

Weber 6317 (40 cm) in the Barbecue tongs comparison

Barbecue tongs

A long pair for turning food on the grate

Barbecue tongs turn food on a kettle or gas grill without piercing it, with a reach that keeps your hand off the fire.

Comparison guides

OXO Good Grips grilling brush in the BBQ basting brush comparison

BBQ basting brush

A silicone brush or a cotton mop

A BBQ basting brush puts oil, glaze or a thin mop sauce on food, as a short silicone brush, a long grilling brush, or a cotton mop.

Comparison guides

Big K instant-light (4 × 1 kg) in the Charcoal comparison

Charcoal

Lumpwood fuel, not the grill itself

Barbecue charcoal is solid fuel for a charcoal grill, and the useful split is piece size, dust, and whether the bag is instant-light.

Comparison guides

Ivtivfu round rolling grill basket in the Grill basket comparison

Grill basket

A holder so small pieces stay on the grate

A grill basket is a perforated metal holder on the grate so vegetables, prawns and small pieces do not fall through the bars.

Comparison guides

HULISEN wide turner in the Grill spatula comparison

Grill spatula

A steel turner for burgers and flat plates

A grill spatula is a stainless-steel turner for lifting food on a barbecue, a plancha or a cast-iron plate.

Comparison guides

Ninja All-Purpose 900 g in the Smoker pellets comparison

Smoker pellets

Wood pellets for flavour or for fuel

Smoker pellets are compressed wood sold either to flavour food or to fuel a pellet cooker, and the bag has to match the appliance.

Comparison guides

Weber whiskey oak smoking chips, 700 g in the Smoking chips comparison

Smoking chips

Small hardwood pieces you smoulder

Smoking chips are small hardwood pieces you smoulder on a lidded barbecue so the food picks up wood aroma while the fuel does the cooking.

Comparison guides

Stove Wizard oak, 2 x 1.5 L in the Smoking dust comparison

Smoking dust

Fine hardwood for a cold-smoke setup

Smoking dust is fine hardwood for a cold-smoke generator, a tray smoker or a small foil pouch, not a bag of chips for a long hot cook.

Comparison guides

Grill accessories guides

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Tongs, charcoal, a cover and smoking wood are different jobs. The cooker you already own, the fuel, and whether you need a UK plug decide which comparison to open.

Common questions about grill accessories

What does the grill accessories hub cover?
This hub links forty-five amazon.co.uk comparisons for the parts and fuels around a barbecue in the United Kingdom. The cards cover tools, gloves, aprons, brushes, grates, griddle plates, covers, mats, thermometers, charcoal, firelighters and smoking wood. Each card is one product type. Peter F. read the UK listings and did not run a laboratory test. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
How do you choose a card?
Start with the job, then the cooker you already own. Turning food is tongs or a spatula. Lighting charcoal is a chimney, a solid firelighter, or a mains wand that needs a UK socket. Flavour without replacing the fuel is chips, dust, a plank, or pellets matched to the appliance. A cover, a floor mat and a wheeled cart are not the grill. Open one card for that job.
What is the difference between charcoal, briquettes and coconut fuel?
Barbecue charcoal is lumpwood, and piece size and dust vary by bag. Briquettes are pressed charcoal fines in a repeatable shape for a stackable bed. Coconut charcoal and coconut briquettes are made from coconut shell, and a small cube for a coil burner is not grate fuel. Instant-light bags are treated charcoal. A chimney starter and a firelighter are starters, not the fuel itself.
When do you need a thermometer, and which kind?
Use a thermometer when you need the centre of the meat, not a guess from the clock. A folding instant-read comes out after the check. A wired or wireless leave-in stays in for a long cook with the lid shut. A pit or smoking thermometer also reads the air at the grate. A phone link only helps if the range matches where you stand. Safe cooking temperatures stay a food-safety check, not a star rating on the listing.
How do grates, griddle plates and planchas differ?
A grill grate is the grid the food cooks on, and a cast-iron replacement has to fit the cookbox. A griddle plate or plancha is a solid surface you set on a grate or a hob you already own, so food cooks by contact. A cast-iron plate is heavy and often reversible. A salt block is a rock-salt slab you heat or chill. None of these is a gas barbecue with its own burners.
What should you check on a cover, a mat or a cart?
A barbecue cover is a weather shell for a grill that stays outside, sized to length, depth and height with the lid shut. A grill mat or BBQ mat may be a thin sheet on the bars or a pad under the barbecue, and those jobs are not the same. A grill cart is a wheeled prep table. It is not the trolley built into a gas barbecue, and it is not a fabric cover.
How do smoking chips, dust, pellets and planks differ?
Smoking chips are small hardwood pieces you smoulder on a lidded barbecue while charcoal, gas or electricity does the cooking. Dust is finer wood for a cold-smoke generator or a tray. Pellets are compressed wood, and a flavour scoop is not fuel for an auger cooker. A plank is a board you cook on. A cold-smoke generator is the device, not the bag of wood. Keep that smoke outdoors.
How were these comparisons put together?
Each comparison uses amazon.co.uk listings. Prices are the GBP shelf prices on those pages, and they change, so they stay on the comparison rather than on this hub. Where a page shows a review line, that figure is the UK listing, not a laboratory score. Peter F. is the editor for this category. These pages do not claim a cook-off in a test kitchen. Start with the job, then open one card.