* The Smoker Mesh Topper Revolution: All Flavor, No Mess

Essentialware’s Non-stick BBQ Grill and Smoker Mesh Topper is ready for the heat. Bring it on.

Is smoker mesh easy to use?

It’s as easy as grilling directly on the grill top, with a few bonus features.

1. Less oil, less seasoning: experienced chefs and home cooks take care to prevent sticking of delicate foods, like fish. This often means preparing the grill grates with a light, thorough glaze of oil on the grates while the grill heats up, more on the fish, and a very experienced hand at knowing when it’s time to flip. Getting the timing, the temperature, or the seasoning wrong will end the same way every time: broken food and broken hearts.
2. Nonstick: you already know the benefits of PTFE cookware indoors. Food can cook at a broad range of temperatures for a variety of results, without threat of sticking. On the grill, you’re looking for a wholly different taste profile. You’re looking for deep char marks, even cooking, and a rich crust of caramelization.  Mesh will make that easier than ever before.
3. Easy transfer: The mesh basket’s reinforced sides are a simple solution to a messy problem: as you remove the food from the mat, all its contents stay contained. Moving to and from the grill doesn’t require scooping, sliding, or picking.

In short:

Intense flavor, no sticking, easy clean-up and transfer, and ready to use again and again. 

Will it maintain the flavor?

Grill sheets are great if you’re cooking fatty foods or using public grills, but the brilliance of the smoker mesh topper goes beyond the surface.

Solid PTFE mats own their place on the grill. They deliver meat from the searing disappointment of stuck food, hold the juices close for a juicier product. They also vastly reduce the mess and cleanup of cindered foodstuff on the grill grate. But with this comes one major drawback. Without the direct contact of the grill surface to the food, all the grill flavor is wasted on the underside of the PTFE. This is even more counter intuitive in a smoker, where that smokey flavor is the name of the game.

Smoker mesh, then, is something like the holy grail of barbecue, benefiting from all the smokey notes of direct-to-grill method and all the ease of PTFE.

Smoker mesh vs. solid grill mats vs. direct-to-grate

Circulation of the smoke completely around the food item is tantamount, yet solid grill mats fail this final test of true smoker compatibility. Does that slow smoked salmon get the sweet caramelized buttery flavor you aim for with the synthesis of smoke and sugar? Or is it a candied mess? We hope never the second. Without the direct contact of smoke to meat, the heat draws moisture to the surface and keeps the oils close. With mesh, the curing process is seamless, wicking away liquids to achieve that perfect dried product.

If you’ve opted for the direct-to-grate method, you’ve got another problem. Hours and hours and hours on a smoker yields divine flavors, complex and subtle nods to the slow curing process you’ve devoted to your smoker. But when it’s time to remove the ribs from the wire rack, you find a little fusion took place. That lovely crust on your ribs is lost and chars to the grate, to be painstakingly scrubbed off later. Smoker mesh shines here: lose none of the food, gain all of the flavor.

Is it easy to clean up?

Almost too easy.

1. Fill the sink basin with an inch or two of warm soapy water.
2. Use a soft sponge to remove all excess.

Yep, that’s it. PTFE’s nonstick surface will repel all residue, so just using a soapy sponge will ensure that your PTFE doesn’t feel filmy next time.