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See why.Basting Pots
We put four basting pots (which promise to make basting food on the grill easier) to the test.
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What You Need To Know
Basting food while grilling can be messy; a pot that holds the sauce promises to make it easier. We tried out four, all sold in sets with silicone basting brushes and priced from $11.15 to $21.95, by holding the pots while slathering barbecue sauce on chicken and olive oil on vegetables. Two pots were made of cast iron and two of stainless steel. The material proved critical: Cast iron can sit right on the grill grates, whereas stainless steel models are not heatproof. A pot that can rest on the grate is closer to the food and heats the sauce so that it can be served tableside, while a stainless steel pot is no better than a bowl if you can’t set it on the grates. One cast-iron pot had a sharp, short handle that was painful to hold. Our winner had a comfy handle, a stable shape that won’t tip, and handy pouring spouts. While its brush was slightly shorter than we liked, it slathered sauce evenly and cleaned up quickly. (Plus, our favorite longer grill basting brush, from Elizabeth Karmel’s Grill Friends, also fit the pot just fine.)
Everything We Tested
Recommended
- Pot: 3 stars out of 3.
- Brush: 2 stars out of 3.
This cast-iron pot has a comfortable handle and a sturdy design that works both on and off the grill. The brush has silicone bristles that cleaned up easily and held the sauce well. The only drawback was a slightly too short brush handle that put our hands too close to the flames. When we substituted our favorite basting brush, Elizabeth Karmel’s Grill Friends Super Silicone Angled Barbecue Brush, the pot worked like a charm.
Recommended with reservations
- Pot: 2 stars out of 3.
- Brush: 2 stars out of 3.
This cast-iron pot can rest right on the grill grates and came with a slightly longer-handled brush—helpful for keeping our hands away from the heat. But the pot’s awkward, short handle features two tall ridges (designed to cradle the brush) that dug into our hands as we held it while brushing sauce on food.
Not Recommended
- Pot: 1 stars out of 3.
- Brush: 2.5 stars out of 3.
We really liked this pot’s roomy, open bowl and long-handled brush, which kept our hands a safe distance from the flames. But we couldn’t put this steel pot directly on the grill grates—causing us to wonder why it’s even marketed as a grill tool—and it had no handle, making it awkward to pick up and baste with. Also, the brush hook, a tall metal pole attached to the back of the bowl, was hard to see and easy to knock over.
- Pot: 1 stars out of 3.
- Brush: 1 stars out of 3.
This tall, narrow steel pot had a lid with a brush built in—helpful for keeping flies and ashes out. Unfortunately, the brush is fixed to the lid, stopping it from reaching further into the pot, which left 1/3 cup of barbecue sauce out of reach at the bottom. The lid-brush combo also had a short, stubby handle the size of a thumb, which was difficult to hold, even for cooks with small hands.
Reviews you can trust
Reviews you can trust
The mission of America’s Test Kitchen Reviews is to find the best equipment and ingredients for the home cook through rigorous, hands-on testing. We stand behind our winners so much that we even put our seal of approval on them.
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