Running a good smoking operation is not just about having a good smoker: there are all kinds of other accouterments that go with it, and none more ubiquitous than grill tongs. Could it really matter which ones you get?
Yes, and it's not just a matter of style or fashion.
I define three broad categories of grill tongs: flat-blade tongs, wire-blade tongs and reinforced-blade tongs: only reinforced-blade tongs should ever be used by the serious grilling enthusiast because they're the only ones strong enough to hold a heavy roast.
Flat-blade tongs (shown on the right, click for larger view) and wire-blade tongs (on the left) are commonly found in cheap — and not-so-cheap — BBQ toolkits, and though they are often elegant and stylish, their design gives them too much flexibility when trying to firmly grasp a heavy object. This is fatal to moving a heavy roast or a pork loin from plate to grill and back.
An easy test when evaluating grill tongs: holding it comfortably in your dominant hand, grasp your opposite forearm: how much can you squeeze the tongs without hurting your forearm? If there's lots of "give", you're going to be dropping a lot of meat, My sister refers to this as "ground beef" in honor of the dirt-encrusted roasts which result.
The third type, and the only one suitable for real grillers, is the reinforced-blade tongs, and my favorite are made by Oxo. I don't think they know how to make a lousy product.
Unlike the others, the metal forming the blade is curved around, giving it far more rigidity. Try the forearm test and you'll see the only "give" is in your forearm. These are truly good grips.
Of course, Oxo is not the only company that makes quality grillware, and a bit of web searching shows that Bobby Flay has grill tongs as well (sold at Kohl's), which appear to be the reinforced-blade kind. As a bonus, they have the same locking mechanism that the longer Oxo tongs have.
Cheap tongs are not useless: when grilling peppers or hot dogs or other small items, it doesn't really matter that much what kind of tongs you use, but once you graduate to the larger meats, you're really going to find that good gear makes for good eats.
Ah, yes, I seem to recall hearing about one of those "ground beef" incidents, in which Cousin Kelly saved the day (and meal) by quickly yelling "The Five-second Rule applies!"
Posted by: Grandma Friedl | 03/08/2010 at 05:06 PM
One concern to keep in mind with the curved-blade type is outlined in a friend's post titled "Tongs of Death": http://www.jonvandalen.com/lte/2010/02/01/tongs-of-death/
Posted by: Jeffy | 03/19/2010 at 08:36 AM