New charcoal grill, newbie griller

Just sent my son a small grill for his birthday, plus a chimney starter , a set of long handled tools, (spatula, fork, and tongs) ,a long handled basting brush,a grill cleaning brush, silicone mitts,an instant read thermometer, a grill basket,and the Williams Sonoma Essentials of Grilling book.

Perfect timing! I just put together a collection of Provisions products for grilling -- maybe browsing this will help?

https://food52.com/collections/575172-grilling-season

I especially love the wooden planks and wraps for fish.

A chimney, instant read thermometer, big spatula and a good set of tongs. After that, read up on the Weber website about 2 zone cooking and go from there. Start simple, then work your way up to the Bobby Flay stuff, haha. If you have time, amazingribs.com has some good info and that's how I started.

Check out Steven Raichlen's list of 10 essential grilling tools: https://food52.com/blog/10602-steven-raichlen-s-10-essential-grilling-tools

Lucky guy! Chimney Starter a must! I have Weber's Big Book of Grilling and love it! To add to the great suggestions: Flavored wood chips, apple or cheery, cedar planks, a long handled silicone brush for basting, a thermapen or meat thermometer, smoke box, Grill baskets for vegetables, jalapeño roaster, bear claw shredders, for chicken or pork, heavy duty double-prong skewers, an apron, long oven mitts and a great wood platter.

My advice for successful charcoal grilling:

-lump charcoal, not briquettes. You can get it just about anywhere from Walmart to Whole Foods to specialty BBQ stores.
-charcoal chimney ($10-$15)
-the Weber Big Book of Grilling (which is a great primer on grilling and how to grill everything properly).

Lump charcoal is the real deal and burns nice, hot, and more importantly very clean heat (no chemical smell). With the aid of the charcoal chimney, you will never need lighter fluid (which I think should be banned because it's just nasty stuff). Learn how to know when the charcoal is ready and how to create a 2-zone fire (the Weber book has these instructions).

Good luck! You're going to love that charcoal grill.

As Patti said, chimney starter is a must. A set of good long handled tools would be great. I have a set of weber tools that I love. They include tongs, grill cleaner and a spatula.

A chimney starter will help you get your coals started faster and burn more evenly. Then you spread them out and can add more if needed. I also love a grill basket for cooking veggies on the grill. You can toss and turn them without having them fall through grates. Beer can chicken holder. Metal skewers.