Essential Tools For Grilling Prep

Whether you’re gathering the crew for a big backyard party or grilling up a special meal for two, the right tools can make it easier. So before you hit the farmer’s market or your favorite grocery store for ingredients, take a minute to make sure you’re set with the essentials you need to prepare a great meal. These tips can help.

Choose the right material

If you’re grilling meat or seafood, you may wonder if a plastic cutting board is the best choice. While they were popular for years, we now understand that plastic cutting boards are risky. They’re a significant source of microplastics,1 which have been linked to conditions such as cancer, respiratory disorders, and inflammatory bowel disease.2

Composite cutting boards, made of wood or paper fibers, are another option but, like plastic, they tend to be lightweight, which makes them likely to move around during use. That movement can be frustrating and unsafe. Composite cutting boards also dull knives, which makes the knives more likely to slip and cut you.3

Cutting boards made of hardwood are gentle on knives. They also have natural antibacterial properties, which makes them a safer choice, even when cooking with foods like meat and seafood. Just be sure to clean your board right away and follow other care and maintenance suggestions.

Skip the mess

If you’ve ever cut a watermelon or carved meat and had the juices run all over, you know that meal prep can be messy if you don’t have the right cutting surface. Avoid a sticky mess by choosing a board with juice grooves like this reversible maple edge-grain cutting board or this walnut end-grain chopping block. The groove is designed to catch liquids from spilling onto your countertop.

A board with a removable drip pan can also help tidy up grilling prep. The Newton Prep Master, named the “Best Grilling Cutting Board” by Men’s Journal, has a sloped juice groove on one side that allows juices to flow into a stainless steel catch pan. If you flip the board over, you can use the flat surface to prep fruits and vegetables for the grill and scoop them right into the catch pan.

If you prep in the kitchen and then carry your ingredients out to the grill and back again, consider a cutting board with recessed finger grips or one with metal handles. 

Don’t forget the utensils

No matter which hardwood cutting board you choose, you’re going to need sturdy grilling utensils. And if you’re grilling meat, a carving fork, a santoku knife, and meat shredders are essential for serving up your favorites. The Grill Master Starter gift pack includes all three, plus an 8" x 12" x 1-1/2" Boos Block maple cutting board with juice grove. It’s a great gift for a fellow grill master or for yourself.

1. Yadav H, Khan MRH, Quadir M, Rusch KA, Mondal PP, Orr M, Xu EG, Iskander SM. Cutting boards: An overlooked source of microplastics in human food? Environ Sci Technol. 2023 Jun 6;57(22):8225-8235.

2. Winiarska E, Jutel M, Zemelka-Wiacek M. The potential impact of nano- and microplastics on human health: Understanding human health risks. Environ Res. 2024 Jun 15;251(Pt 2):118535. 

3. University of Rochester Medicine. Be careful with kitchen knives. urmc.rochester.edu. Accessed July 1, 2026.