If you’re only using your grill for grilling, you’re doing it wrong. Even the most basic grill—whether electric, charcoal, or propane—can do far more than standard backyard barbecue fare. Just like a stove (or a campfire), grill grates conduct heat and can warm pots and pans, to level up your outdoor cooking game.
No need to dash back indoors when hosting outside, because anything you need to warm up, melt, or bake, you can do it right on the grill—from appetizers to desserts (hot fudge sundaes, anyone?).
All you need to up your grill’s function is a stainless-steel or cast-iron saucepan with a lid and oven mitts to safely handle the cookware. A trivet to set down your warm pot can be helpful too.
Bonus: Charcoal and wood-fired grills may add a light smoky note to warmed breads, desserts, and sauces.
Melt butter right on the grill
Melting butter on the grates goes so far, especially if you’re grilling lobster tails or seafood skewers. Reserve room on the grill for a small saucepan, add butter and any flavoring you want like fresh herbs, seasoned salt, or Old Bay. Stir until the butter has fully melted and keep it warm in the pot with the lid on until it’s time to drizzle it over freshly grilled fish and all that succulent shellfish.
Heat hot fudge for sundaes outdoors
It’s hard to find a scoop of ice cream that doesn’t benefit from a drizzle of hot fudge or caramel sauce on top. If your sauce is in a glass jar, you can do a double boiler approach on the grill: add the jar to a pot full of warming water and stir until the sauce reaches the perfect melty temp. (Alternatively, transfer the sauce to a small saucepan and heat it directly on the grill over low heat—just be sure to stir often to prevent scorching.)
Feeling ambitious? Make your favorite hot fudge sauce or caramel sauce completely outdoors, using your grill as a stovetop for the ultimate party trick.
You can also heat up fruit like strawberries or stone fruit on the grill for more warm treats to serve over ice cream.
Warm fruit pies and other baked goods on the grill
For a just-baked flavor for homemade or storebought pies, wrap them in foil and let them rest in a cooling but still-warm grill until ready to serve. There’s nothing quite like warm crust, melty fruit, and a scoop of ice cream or dollop of whipped cream on top. You can also use this method to warm up cookies or brownies to form the base of a sundae.
Warm bread for better burgers and snack boards
Amp up the cookout spread by warming breads before serving them. Wrap buns, focaccia, pita, sourdough loaves, dinner rolls in foil, rest on the upper rack of grill (over indirect heat) and allow to warm for toastier loaves.
