Category — Outdoors

Portable grills are imprecise beasts: charcoal gets dumped in, and maybe or maybe not it will be enough fuel to feed a crowd. As the procession of burgers, steaks and chicken come off the grill and make their way into hungry hands, the charcoal burns down and grillers try to squeeze every last bit of heat out of the coals. Because nobody wants to get all grimy lifting up the greasy grill grate to add more charcoal.

Featuring an integrated mechanism that does the lifting for you, the Cuisinart GrateLifter Portable Charcoal Grill keeps the food party going. When engaged, the grill grate couples to the lid, allowing for both to rise in one easy motion. Just add more charcoal, and get those grilled goodies going again.

Summer is in high gear as is the rush to cool down. Last one into the pool may be a rotten egg, but the last one out of the pool most certainly is not. Especially when there is no call to ever leave it.

The Big Bobber Floating Beverage Cooler holds up to a twelve-pack and floats conveniently next to you in the pool. Need a cool down? Just reach over and crack open another beer or soda. Toss the empty to the side, and you’ll never have to leave the pool again. Unless of course they got that purple stuff in the water…

Grill baskets come in all shapes and sizes, designed for everything from fish to burgers. While some of these contraptions are not necessary or even particularly useful, others offer are actually quite convenient. Sometimes, they even enhance the grilling experience.

Designed as a quick and easy way to add depth of flavor to food on the grill, the Charcoal Companion Nonstick Herb Grilling Grid is a grill basket like no other. Measuring 18-inches across and 12-inches deep, the hinged mesh screens clasp shut, securely keeping fresh herbs in place as they infuse your meal with flavor.

A stick goes a long way at a campfire. You can use it to roast a marshmallow or even cook a hot dog. As delicious as these campfire classics may be, their everlasting popularity has got to be due in part to the lowly stick. (After all, every campfire has one.)
However, while great for hot dogs and s’mores, the stick isn’t very useful for many other cooking tasks—unless of course, it has a wire holder on the end of it.

Perfectly designed for Jiffy Pop, the Campfire Popcorn Popper Extension Handle offers an easy way to introduce a new campfire classic. Long enough to be safely held over the fire, the business end of the ‘stick’ is fashioned into a loop, providing a clever way to bring the movie-night treat into the great outdoors—with no need to root around the surrounding area for the perfect stick.

It’s an age-old question uttered at every ‘que: Who has the bottle opener? First uttered moments after the first beer was bottled, the question has always resulted in a momentary pause in action as everybody looks around for the elusive tool. Eventually, somebody will fess up and exclaim, “Oh, I have it”. Fortunately, many years of bottles being opened have resulted in numerous advances in bottle opener technology. The best openers, of course, are the ones that don’t go anywhere.

The HomeWetBar Port-o-Cooler Bottle Opener and Cap Catcher isn’t likely to wander off with any freshly opened bottles. Easily attaching directly to a cooler (or anything else, really) via double-sided tape or mounting screws, the bolted-down bottle opener isn’t going anywhere the beer isn’t. Every get-together has one, and now that guy will just have to find something else to wander off—just keep him away from the grill.

Grass is misleading. It looks like it should be all soft and fluffy, but in reality it’s sharp and pointy. And hardly as evenly-spaced as it looks. Along with sand (grrr…), grass has a tendency to just get in the way. However, cover it with a large blanket, and now you’re talking. Just add some warm weather and cool beverages and you got yourself an afternoon that can’t be beat. Until you try to set down your drink on bumpy grass or hot sand (grrr…).

For some of us, the Handy Holder Beverage Holders (Set of 2) by Picnic Plus makes perfect sense. Spiked into the ground, the hand-shaped 12-inch stainless-steel helper stabilizes your drink for you. As an added bonus, ice-cold beverages stay cooler longer, safely suspended up over the terrors of grass and sand.

Also available for wine.