Grilling is the most elemental way to cook. There’s the burning wood, charcoal, or gas producing heat, and there’s your food sizzling in that heat. It’s a simple way to cook, but it can be daunting. How do you know when your meat is done? How do you get those great grill marks? As with most things, having the right tools makes the job much easier.

If our guide to portable grills got you started on the road to grilling mastery, consider this the follow-up tips-and-tricks edition. Professional chefs may make it look easy to poke a bit of meat and pronounce it medium rare, but for the rest of us, these tools help take the guess work out of grilling.

Updated April 2020: We’ve added some new smart tools, skewers, and scrubbers to help you grill smarter while sheltering at home