How to Throw a Great Big Game Party

Whether you’re a football fan or not, chances are you have plans for the Big Game on Sunday, February 12. All across the country, Americans will be settling in around the largest TV they can find with friends, family, food, and their favorite beverages. How do you know if you’ve thrown a successful Big Game party? When all of your attendees come up with creative excuses to call off work the next day after staying up a little too late watching the game and enjoying the festivities!

If this is your first year hosting a Big Game party or you’re simply looking to get creative with what you’re bringing to the party, you may be wondering: what food should I cook or grill? What grill should I buy? What cooking supplies do I need? What are the best football-themed recipes? Doitbest.com is here to help, with info on the latest grills, best cooking accessories, and some great recipes that are sure to score with your friends and family.

Grilling is a football party staple, and for good reason: it’s one of the best ways to cook food that everyone loves in large quantities and in a relatively short amount of time. Once you have the grill up and running, you can cook burgers, chicken, wings, or even pizza in no time. But what’s the best type of grill for a Big Game party? There are several types of grills to choose from:

• Gas & propane grills
• Charcoal grills
• Wood pellet grills
• Kamado grills

Gas and propane grills are the most popular type of grill for most American households. There are many different styles, sizes, and manufacturers, but they basically work the same way. Natural gas or propane-powered burners create high amounts of heat to cook all your juicy food sitting on its grates. Many grills also come with shelves, storage cabinets, side burners, and more to help create a complete grilling experience.

The biggest appeal of a gas or propane grill is its ability to get hot and cook a large amount of food quickly. Their versatility and ease of use are unmatched. While this makes gas grills extremely convenient and the most popular choice for many homeowners, you also lose some of that classic grilling flavor you get from the other three main grill options.

Charcoal grills are also extremely popular amongst American grillers. They’re easy to use and give your food the smoky, hot-off-the-grill flavor that everyone craves. The setup is simple: add charcoal to the bottom of the grill, light it, and allow air to flow through. Then, set your food on the grill and adjust the air intake to control the temperature. The ability to control the airflow makes for a very consistent cooking experience, making charcoal grills perfect for meat that takes longer to cook.

There’s a bit more prep time, and you will have to wait on your charcoal to light, plus the actual cooking process can take longer than gas grills. But the flavor, cooking consistency, and ease of use should put a charcoal grill near the top of your list. Best of all, they come in a variety of different styles, from the classic kettle-style grill to large, barrel-style charcoal grills.

Pellet grills are one of the fastest-growing styles (with Traeger leading the charge) in the entire grilling segment. Why? They’re a hybrid grill of sorts, and they're able to provide an almost endless variety of flavors. This is because the wood pellets, which are poured into the hopper and delivered to a burning pot by an auger, come in hundreds of different flavors. When the pellets are heated up and burned, the smoke they create enriches the food with their flavor.

It’s easy to keep your pellet grill in the desired temperature range, allowing you to smoke or cook meat like brisket or ribs for a long time without much monitoring. It takes a bit of time to get the hang of cooking with wood pellets and the grilling process itself can take longer than you’re used to. But the unmatched flavor and variety of flavor options makes a pellet grill hard to beat.

Kind of like a deluxe charcoal grill, kamado grills are increasing in popularity thanks to their ability to cook almost any type of food. Vegetables, meat, pizza, and even desserts can be cooked using a kamado grill. These grills are often egg-shaped and are made of a ceramic material, making them thicker and heavier than a traditional charcoal grill. Using hardwood lump charcoal, kamado grills are typically pre-heated for up to an hour before putting food on in order to get the grill to the desired temperature.

With fantastic flavor from the higher-grade charcoal and the ability to cook wings, pizza, cheesecake, and more, a kamado grill can cook just about any main course or dessert you want to serve at your big game party. The only drawback can be their price tag and the time required to start the cooking experience.

Crock-pots are one of the most versatile pieces of cooking equipment you can own. You can cook (literally) almost anything in a crock-pot and you can do it without too much effort on your own. Simply add the ingredients for whatever you're cooking - wings, dips, soup, cocktail weenies, etc. - and let the crock-pot heat up and work its magic. It's the ultimate set-and-forget cooking weapon and a favorite at football parties across the country.