The Gear You Need For The Perfect Poolside Labor Day BBQ

The Gear You Need For The Perfect Poolside Labor Day BBQ
Consumer Tech The Gear You Need For The Perfect Poolside Labor Day BBQ Anthony Karcz Senior Contributor Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. I write about how to do more with your consumer gadgets. Following New! Follow this author to stay notified about their latest stories.
Got it! Sep 3, 2022, 10:52am EDT | New! Click on the conversation bubble to join the conversation Got it! Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin BBQ and Pool? Must be Labor Day getty I love Labor Day weekend. There are no parades, no forced family gatherings, no required activities. Plus it's still summer so it's warm enough for the pool but, if you're lucky, you might be able to get a hint of the coming fall in the morning chill.
In my mind, the only way to properly celebrate the end of summer is with an outdoor pool bash. Luckily, I've got some gear to throw the perfect Labor Day BBQ. Here's everything you need.
Traeger Timberline XL Traeger Timberline XL Anthony Karcz The insulated stainless steel construction of the Timberline XL pellet grill contains an absolutely gargantuan 1,320 sq. feet of cooking space, with racks built in to take advantage of the prodigious amount of space in the lid. You could roast a pig, a few chickens, a brisket, some burgers, and still have room left over.
My first cook on the Timberline XL was a few burgers for my family and it was hilarious overkill. The all-digital control center of the Timberline XL walks you through everything you need to do to get your grill online and cooking. Even better, you can pair it with the Traeger app on your phone and send recipes directly to the grill and get alerts from it while it cooks.
Now, if you're doing a long, multi-step cook like brisket, you don't have to worry about meticulously watching each step. The Timberline XL will keep an eye on the temperature, time, and even fuel level, letting you know when you need to add more hardwood pellets. MORE FOR YOU Google Issues Warning For 2 Billion Chrome Users Forget The MacBook Pro, Apple Has Bigger Plans Google Discounts Pixel 6, Nest & Pixel Buds In Limited-Time Sale Event Pro tip: don't be boring with your grill name.
Anthony Karcz Even if you don't use the app, cooking is a breeze. The Timberline XL comes with two wireless Meater thermometers, no more having to mess with wires! The heavy lid and insulated baffle between the lid and grill body means that temperatures are even more consistent and all that delicious smoky flavor stays where it's supposed to. Ignition is fast and the Timberline XL comes to temperature considerably faster than my old Ironwood 650.
The Timberline XL has an induction burner on one side of the grill and a cutting board above the pellet hopper, making this the perfect all-in-one outdoor kitchen. Add a few pop-n-lock accessories, like a front shelf, storage bin, and tool hooks, and you never need to leave the patio. Just go from pool to grill and back.
The Timberline line also comes with a built-in storage cabinet underneath. There you'll find the new and improved EZ-Clean pot (anyone who's used a Traeger previously knows the pain of accidentally knocking the grease bucket off its hook). All ash and grease ends up in the pot and post-cook cleanup is as simple as popping it out and replacing the liner.
Timberline also sells handy pellet containers that fit in the cabinet. These slot in right underneath the new pellet chute so that you can quickly change out what you're cooking with. It makes it so much easier to experiment with hardwood flavors.
Mac and cheese, cornbread muffins, and BBQ chicken all at the same time? No problem. Anthony Karcz All of this is to say, if you love cooking outdoors and you love smoking and grilling, you owe it to yourself to get the Timberline XL. You won't find anything better.
Check it out on the Traeger site . I'll have a much longer review of the Traeger Timberline XL on the site soon (you can see my preview article here ) but suffice to say it's going to be absolutely glowing. YETI Roadie 48 YETI Roadie 48 YETI Two pet peeves when it comes to pool parties: having to drag around a giant cooler and watching my guests try to chip their bottles or cans of choice out of melted and refrozen blocks of ice.
The YETI Roadie solves for both brilliantly. Built from the bones of the company's smaller Roadie 24, the Roadie 48 is, as the name implies, twice as big. But in addition to being bigger, the 48 adds a telescoping handle and big, chunky wheels so that it's easy to transport this behemoth of a cooler (it's 25 lbs.
when empty!). While the YETI website touts that you can fill it with 42 cans, it's also tall enough to accommodate upright bottles of wine or soda. It comes with a dry goods basket so that you can keep a few things out of the ice (though I prefer to use YETI Ice packs to avoid the mess altogether).
Speaking of, the armor-tough, crazy-thick walls of the Roadie 48 will keep ice frozen for days. The gasketed lid has a unique latching system that ensures it's closed tight and will keep extreme temps from leaving you with a cooler full of lukewarm beverages. Head over to the YETI site to learn more (or if the Roadie 48 isn't big enough, check out the Roadie 60!).
With its reliable insulation, solid construction, and convenient handle and wheels, this is the only cooler you need. WhistlePig SmokeStock Whiskey Is that a pterodactyl in this picture? Man, I need to clean my counters. Anthony Karcz Not really interested in a cold beer? Well how about a whiskey that, honest to god, is like sipping the best BBQ sauce ever? WhistlePig has teamed up with Traeger to create WhistlePig SmokeStock Whiskey.
It's aged in American Oak No. 3 char barrels and then smoked with Traeger’s all-natural Apple BBQ wood. This limited edition whiskey is smoked again during the proofing process to impart savory notes and campfire smoke boldness.
WhistlePig’s whiskey is already bold and spice-forward, the addition of Traeger smoke makes it even more of a sensory experience. The nose is extremely smoke forward, extending into the first sip. Then, as the smoke fades, you're left with the sweetness of the apple and the spice of whiskey itself.
Given that we've become accustomed to our best BBQ sauces melding all these flavors, the experience registers in your mind as drinking high-test BBQ sauce! I prefer to drink mine with an ice sphere, mellowing things out over time so that you get the best of the smoke and spice without it punching you in the palate every sip. Honestly, I wasn't sure how much I'd enjoy WhistlePig SmokeStock Whiskey. Other smoked whiskeys (like Wild Turkey's Longbranch Bourbon) can sometimes leave a bit of an artificial note.
But this WhistlePig/Traeger partnership is smooth and infinitely drinkable. The only problem I have is that it's a limited edition, my first bottle is already gone! This partnership will be continuing, though, with hardwood pellets made from the whiskey aging barrels. That's coming later this year.
For now, grab a bottle from the WhistlePig site . Aiper Seagull 1000 Aiper Seagull 1000 Aiper The one thing that kills a good pool party is a dirty pool. Sure, you can do a quick sweep of the bottom and hope that your pool filter sucks up some of the stuff before your guests arrive but there's a better solution.
The Aiper Seagull 1000 is a cordless robotic pool cleaner. Turn it on, submerge it, and let it go and it will trundle along the bottom of your in- or above-ground pool, sucking up debris and dirt with its dual motor system. Kind of like a Roomba, but for your pool.
It can go for 90 minutes on a charge, so it can tackle larger pools. When its battery runs low, it parks itself near the side of the pool where you can grab the floating handle to retrieve it (a feature I really like, previous models, you had to fish them out with a broom attachment). It's a bit mesmerizing and relaxing, watching the Seagull 1000 do its thing.
And when you pop the unit apart to clean the screen at the end of its cycle, you'll be impressed with how much the dual motors pick up. Some larger stuff might not get picked up, but after the first run, I was surprised to see how much grit and dirt was sitting on the bottom of my screened-in pool! The Seagull 1000 doesn't have the wall climbing abilities of some of the larger, more expensive pool robots on the market, but it also costs a lot less and still gets the job done. I'll gladly pay $500 less and just sweep down the sides of my pool before I run the cycle.
You can learn more on the Aiper website . Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn . Check out my website .
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