A longtime Oakland Raiders fan, Guy Fieri’s tailgating feasts are legendary.

If you want to know how to pregame like a pro, there’s no one better to ask than Fieri (of Food Network’s Triple D Nation, Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives and Guy’s Grocery Games, to name just a few). He has plenty of tailgating chops.

“I was always the best guy you could invite,” he recalls. “I devised all these different techniques and twists to make tailgating an experience, because the last thing I wanted was to go see my team and only have a hot dog.” He’s cooked up everything from over-the-top sandwiches and meat loaf to pasta and huge pots of jambalaya for 300 people at a time. These days, even when he throws a football party at his home in the heart of Northern California’s wine country, he re-creates a tailgating experience.

“The key is preparation,” says Fieri. “You don’t want to be working the whole time while everyone’s gearing up for the game.”

Related: 13 of Guy Fieri’s Most Hilarious Quotes

In the Kitchen With Guy

Next Up: Triple D Nation, the spinoff of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives on Food Network (Fridays at 9 p.m. ET), in which he revisits some of the most memorable joints from the original show. He also recently opened his newest restaurant, Guy Fieri’s Jebel Ali Kitchen & Bar in Dubai.

Fieri and his wife, Lori, with their sons, Hunter and Ryder, in 2017 (Citizen Pictures/The Food Network)

His pet project: Hunt & Ryde Winery in Healdsburg, California, named for his sons, Hunter, 22, and Ryder, 12. “I wanted to have something to give my kids,” says Fieri. Launched in 2013, the boutique winery and vineyard produces well-rated organic pinot noir, Zinfandel and Bordeaux-grape blend wines available online. “We make wine that I like to drink!” he says.

It’s not all indulgence: “I eat sensibly throughout the week. I eat a lot of whole grains, and I’m a vegetable junkie,” says Fieri. “I drink a lot of fruit and vegetable juice every day.”

Feeding his community: Fieri’s “ranchelita” (as he calls it) boasts a large organic garden. Much of the harvest is donated to local missions and other charities.

Fieri also has a new interest in providing disaster relief. When wildfires raged through Sonoma County last fall, Fieri and his family had to evacuate. Their home was spared but he assembled a team, hooked up his large-scale trailer with a smoker and started cooking at a nearby fairgrounds. “My son Ryder and I were there in the serving line feeding people,” Fieri recalls. “We saw the head coach for Ryder’s sports, we saw people that worked at the bank, we saw people that were teachers, we saw all different types of folks. That’ll get you real clear.” Working with volunteers from Operation BBQ Relief, “in five days we fed something like 36,000 people.”

That experience inspired Fieri to commission a 48-foot-long trailer built as a complete kitchen on wheels that can be deployed anywhere in the continental U.S. “When there’s a disaster, I’ll have the ability to pull this trailer to any part of the country. It’s fully self-sufficient,” says Fieri. “I can call any one of my chef buddies and say, ‘You’re down in Houston, you’re down in Florida—can you get on this trailer?’ Even if we’re making pulled pork and rice and beans, it’s a feeding somebody when there’s nothing to eat.”

—Alison Ashton

Guy’s Top Gear

You don’t need fancy equipment for a great tailgating feast, says Fieri. Basic equipment will take you a long way:

A large kettle grill with a chimney starter (like the 26-inch Weber Original Kettle Premium Charcoal Grill , $349, and Weber 7447 Compact Rapidfire Chimney Starter , $14, amazon.com)

, $349, and , $14, amazon.com) Squeeze bottles (like Choice 12-oz Clear Squeeze Bottles , $2.79 for six, webstaurantstore.com) make it easy and neat to transport and serve sauces. Don’t forget to label them!

, $2.79 for six, webstaurantstore.com) make it easy and neat to transport and serve sauces. Don’t forget to label them! Disposable aluminum pans (like Hefty EZ All-Purpose Foil Pans , $4.39 for two, target.com) are lightweight and sturdy to reheat food on the grill.

, $4.39 for two, target.com) are lightweight and sturdy to reheat food on the grill. A roll of heavy-duty foil. In a pinch, Fieri has even fashioned pots out of several layers of foil.

A variety of knives, cutting boards, tongs, skewers and spatulas. You’ll want extras so you’ll have clean tools to handle cooked food as it comes off the grill.

Large trash bags and a collapsible trash can (like the 33-Gallon Texsport Collapsible Utility Bin, $11.50, homedepot.com), plus plenty of hand wipes, a spray bottle filled with table sanitizer (dilute 1 Tbsp bleach in 1gallon water) and paper towels for quick cleanup. Don’t forget zip-top plastic bags and containers for leftovers.

To create your ultimate tailgating spread, here’s three of Fieri’s favorite game-day recipes:

(Mark Boughton Photography/Styling by Teresa Blackburn)

Old-School Steak Sandwiches

(Mark Boughton Photography/Styling by Teresa Blackburn)

Grilled Tequila-Lime Fish Tacos With Cilantro-Lime Crema

(Mark Boughton Photography/Styling by Teresa Blackburn)

Bacon-Wrapped Chicken Thighs With Peri-Peri Sauce