How to barbecue at your picnic
An informal and popular
It's easy to learn how to barbecue as long as you follow a few simple rules. Sunshine makes us all feel more relaxed and firing up a barbecue is a great way to feed friends. |
With a few barbecue tips, entertaining becomes more laid back. So go on - throw an outside party with yummy barbecue recipes. and a pack of printable BBQ Party Games.
It’s much easier to get together with friends too, because everyone wants to be outside, chilling out in the warm weather (isn’t English a funny language?!) and catch up.
Having a barbecue party in the garden or taking a portable bbq along on a picnic, does tend to make the preparation a little easier because most of the cooking can be done while you’re lounging around outside.The back garden is a favourite spot for a barbecue and the equipment is easy to put together. You can build a brick barbecue with a few bricks and some unwanted oven grill racks although most of us these days go for the convenience of buying a ready-made one.
Personally I much prefer the primitive experience of grilling over embers and I urge you to consider learning how to barbecue this way. I appreciate that you can achieve some char-grilled smokiness with gas, but charcoal still seems to give a more intense, smoky and appetising aroma both to the food and the surrounding air.
| N.B. In Canada and the USA gas barbecues are used much more frequently than here in the UK. On my friend Mike's excellent Gas Grill Review site you can check them all out. |
How to barbecue:
Glowing embers have a wonderful effect on the flavour and texture of food - notice I said "embers" and not "flames"!
Light the barbecue a good 30 minutes before you intend to start cooking so that you grill over hot, glowing coals and not flames. If the odd flame does spring up, because of fat from the food or excess marinade, then a plastic spray bottle (one you use for spraying plants for example) will help extinguish it.
Use a firelighter or two among the charcoal or sprinkle lighting gel over it and allow it to soak in well before lighting.
Then wait for the flames to die down - it is the heat of the coals that really matters. They should be glowing and covered with grey ash. If you start to cook too soon or with the embers too hot (You should be able to hold your hand just above them for about 5 seconds) then your food will end up both burnt and raw at the same time!
Naturally, this is not safe grilling practice. Cooking meat at a lower temperature is better for your health.
Some friends gave us a good tip last year – line the bottom of the BBQ with a double sheet of aluminium foil before putting in the charcoal. This may speed up the lighting process and it also makes it much easier to clean out the contraption at the end of the meal!
Cooking utensils should be as long-handled as possible and have some thick oven gloves to hand as well. Keep a bucket of water handy in case of accidents and damp down the cinders when you've finished cooking.
The aroma of barbequed food, and the smoke wafting through the air, stimulates the taste buds. With a glass of wine or a long cool drink, the fat shiny sausages or hamburgers taste so much better when you eat alfresco and you will soon have learnt how to barbecue as if you've been doing it all your life!
The traditional grilled foods such as those sausages, homemade hamburgers and chicken drumsticks will always remain al fresco favourites. However, with a little additional effort many imaginative and unusual dishes can be created.
I will continue to add suggestions for picnic food and salads, sauces and healthy dips to accompany the main courses, so please add this site to your favourites, or RSS Feed (see how under nav bar). Thanks.
If you want to remove a barbecue stain then head over to
the best stain removal site.
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