Now that football season is in full swing, it’s time to do some tailgating. I want to share with you some tailgating must haves and a few football tailgating ideas that I found to be useful. I hope by the time you finish reading this you’ll be ready to get off the couch, pack up the gear and head for the stadium. Go Team!!! I will also mention some tailgating food ideas a little later. But first let’s talk about the must haves.
Football Tailgating Ideas
Football Tailgating Must Haves
A Good Portable Charcoal Grill
The first must have is the portable charcoal grill. You can’t have a tailgate party without this the essential must have. Every great tailgating event starts with a great portable charcoal grill, and the perfect grill for the job is the Weber Jumbo Joe 18 inch portable charcoal grill. With an 18 inch diameter/ 240 square inch cooking surface this grill has plenty of room to grill just about anything and satisfy the crowd. You can see more Portable Charcoal Grills here.
Weber Jumbo Joe 18 inch portable charcoal grill
A Charcoal Chimney Starter
I recommend that you use a charcoal chimney starter when tailgating. Since this device is much easier to use than the traditional starter fluid and it gets the coals going much faster, you may find yourself using a chimney starter exclusively for all your cookouts. With the Weber Compact Rapid fire Chimney Starter $11.31all you need are a few sheets of wadded up newspaper and some charcoal and you’re ready to go. If you’ve never used a chimney starter before it just may change the way you look at starting your grill. So trash the fluid or maybe just leave it at home for now. You can see how to use the Chimney Starter here.
Weber Compact Rapid fire Chimney Starter $11.31
A Metal Ash Bucket
A metal ash bucket for those still glowing coals. Don’t leave your grill unattended with coals still burning. Make sure that your grill is properly extinguished before packing it up and heading into the game.
Steven Raichlen Best of Barbecue Galvanized Charcoal and Ash Can with Lid $20.99
Team BBQ Tool Set
You have to show your team pride and support with one of these team BBQ tool sets. Decorated with your favorite team colors and logo, you are sure to be the envy of every fan at the game when they see you using these tools to tend the grill. Don’t let your team down. Show your support with one of these NFL team BBQ tool sets.
See all NFL Team BBQ Tool Sets Here.
A Large Ice Chest
You will need a Coleman ice chest to keep your drinks and other perishables cold. Warm drinks are not very pleasant on a hot day. So Keep them ice cold in a good cooler. I suggest freezing bottled water this helps to keep other drinks cold and you can drink the bottled water as it thaws. Keep raw meat in a separate cooler by itself so that it doesn’t come in contact and contaminate anything else.
Coleman 100 Quart Xtreme 5 Wheeled Cooler
A Tailgating Cookbook
I know that you have already mastered the art of grilling hot dogs and hamburgers. But with a good tailgating cookbook you could get ideas for simple and easy to follow recipes to mix up the menu a little bit. You may even find a few new ideas to spice up those old favorites. So I would definitely recommend getting a tailgating cookbook. If for nothing else, you can use just for some inspiration. You never know what you might find hidden in the pages of one of these gems. There are many tailgating cookbooks and you may want to choose one that suits your taste. So here is a link to the many that are available.
Tailgating Food Ideas
Food For The Grill
You are going to need something to put on that Jumbo Joe grill. Whatever you decide to put on the grill. I suggest that you do all your prep work the nite before. So if you plant to make burgers you should form the patties and place wax paper between them to keep them from sticking together. If you are going to do kabobs place them on the skewers ahead of time, and do the same with any other things that need to be prepared. This will save you time and headaches so that you can spend more time enjoying the company of fellow fans instead of getting everything ready for the cookout.
So that is my short list of football tailgating ideas and a couple of tailgating food ideas. Have fun and
Happy Tailgating!!!
I hope your team wins (unless they’re playing my team of course).
