Product Review: Mr. Bar-B-Q Grill Items

The Ranting Chef does not get paid or receive any revenue from manufactures or retailers of products reviewed. I occasionally receive products that I am asked to use and see what I think. I take a look, try them out and tell you all about them.

As much as I try to deny it, it is the Holiday shopping season. If you have a Grillmaster, or even an apprentice that loves to cook outdoors, do I have a post for you. The great folks over at Mr. Bar-B-Q sent me a few items to review that they thought you might want to consider for your holiday shopping list.

Included for review was one of their Collegiate Grill Covers (Ohio State), a set of two Non-Stick Kabob Baskets and a Digital Meat Temperature Fork. Let’s take a look at each of these items.

In the 1996 romantic comedy, Renee Zellweger tells Tom Cruise, “You had me at hello.” Well Mr. Bar-B-Q, you had me at Ohio State. With 60 of the most popular colleges represented, you are more than likely to find one that your favorite griller would love.

Their heavy-duty grill cover states it fits most standard grills. A number of years ago I had upgraded from a standard size grill to a super-sized one and was afraid it wouldn’t fit.

Instead, it fit like a glove.

The logo stands out and for the few people in the area that might question my collegiate loyalty, they won’t anymore.

The fabric is designed both for strength and coated to help keep moisture away. In case of wind, there is a drawstring closure to keep the cover tight.

Next up, the kabob baskets.

You can’t tell from these pics (black on black) but the baskets are about an inch and a half wide and thick. Coated with a non-stick surface, the basket makes it easy for the food to come out after cooking.

I decided to test them out with a pineapple-chicken kabob. I cut my veggies and chicken into typical kabob size and opened a can of chunk pineapple. The baskets have a latch that holds the top on. Slide the latch off and the top opens on a hinge, exposing the basket for loading and unloading.

After filling, I closed the basket lid.

Here you can see the sliding lock that holds the top in place.

I turned on my center burner of my grill and put the baskets on. The handles are made of bamboo, so best to not have them over the heat (plus you wouldn’t want to grab a hot handle anyway).

The baskets hold everything in place but allows that wonderful kabob searing to happen.

One little pineapple tidbit escaped, but other than that, everything remained in place, even with me turning the baskets to cook on each side. I was able to easily baste the kabobs during grilling.

The third item was the digital fork.

I am murder on grilling thermometers so was glad to see how this temperature fork worked. The fork allows you to choose between beef, veal, lamb, pork, chicken or turkey. Depending on the meat, you can select rare, medium rare, medium or well done (you don’t want rare chicken).

It was a cold November Sunday that I decided to grill a nice flank steak. After 10 minutes on the grill, I broke out the fork. Here is the outside temp.

I would have guessed the beef would be done, but I was wrong. I closed the grill for some more cooking.

Still??? Not done yet. Here is a great example why you need to cook by temperature vs by feel. As the outside air temp was sapping heat from the grill, it did not cook as fast as it would have during the summer. Good thing I had the Digital Meat Temperature Fork.

Done. Based on my settings, the fork beeped indicating it was done.

MY TAKE: Like with previous products I’ve reviewed from Mr. Bar-B-Q, these products worked well. The Digital Meat Temperature Fork helps to ensure perfectly cooked meats, despite how they look on the outside. The Non-Stick Kabob Baskets are a great product. They are easy to load, non-stick, and most importantly, keep your kabobs from falling apart all over your grill. Lastly, the Collegiate Grill Cover not only protects a very expensive piece of cooking equipment from the elements, but allows you to show your collegiate pride. Again, Mr. Bar-B-Q, you had me at OSU!