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Top Tips for your BBQ this Summer

Posted on by Sally Akins

Ready for the summer at last? Here are my top tips for the perfect barbecue this summer

When the weather is sunny, I love to make the most of it and cook on my barbecue as much as possible. It tastes great, and I love not being stuck in the kitchen cooking dinner!

I’m quite a new convert to barbecue cooking, and have only really got into it in the last few years. But our BBQ has had plenty of use this summer, and here are my tips for getting the most out of your barbecue.

Top Tips for your BBQ

Choose the right meat

Choosing beef that has a good marbling of fat through it will mean that it’s basted from the inside as it cooks. This will help to keep the steak nice and juicy.

Chicken and pork work well on the BBQ, but it’s a good idea to marinade it first and make sure you baste the meat so it doesn’t dry out.

Of course, you don’t just have to stick to meat for a barbecue. Veggie kebabs work well, as does the classic corn on the cob. And you can even grill slices of juicy pineapple for pudding.

Choosing fuel

It’s important to pick the right charcoal for your grilling requirements. Lump charcoal lights quickly and burns for around an hour, while briquettes can keep a consistent temperature for up to three hours. This makes them good for grilling large joints of meat in a covered barbecue.

And the charcoal you choose can add extra flavour to your food, so give the quick light charcoal a miss if you don’t want your food to take on the flavour of lighter fuel. Look out for oak charcoal for sweet caramel tones.

And you can even get wood chips that you soak and add to the hot coals for extra flavour.

Light it early

If you want to avoid food that’s black on the outside and raw in the middle, it’s really vital to make sure that you light your coals well before the time you plan to cook.

The coals should be mainly ash-grey on the outside by the time you are ready to cook on them. I usually light my BBQ at least 30 minutes before I start cooking.

Arranging the coals

Once your coals have been burning for about 20 minutes, you can start to arrange them ready for cooking.

Generally you will spread the coals out evenly if you are planning to cook thin cuts like steaks, burgers and sausages. Cooking like this creates high temperatures and the right conditions for searing the meat.

You can also push all of the coals over to one side of your barbecue. This creates high temperatures on one side of the grill and cooler temperatures on the other side. It’s perfect for searing the meat on the outside but allowing a slower cook, which works well for thicker cuts.

The final method involves separating the coals into two piles at either end of the grill, with a drip tray under the grill and in between the two piles of coals. Obviously, you’re going to need specialist barbecue gloves and tools to do all of this. Then you put the meat on the grill in the space above the drip tray. This method is perfect for large joints of meat that need slower cooking over a low heat.

Take the meat out early

Make sure you take meat and fish out of the fridge at least 20 minutes before you plan to cook it. This give it time to get to room temperature, and reduces the risk of it being burnt on the outside and raw in the middle.

Obviously this is vital for chicken and pork produce to avoid food poisoning. But it’s also important for steaks as it gives you better control of how well done it is.

Oil your meat

If you’re not cooking meat that has fat marbled through it, then it’s important to lightly oil the meat before you cook it.  Either brush the meat with oil or use an oil-spray to make sure you don’t add too much.

You could even use a bunch of woody herbs like rosemary or thyme to brush the oil on, to give added flavour.

Marinading the meat before you cook it will also help to keep it from drying out on the grill. But be sure to shake off most of the marinade before you put it on the barbecue.

If oil or marinade drips down to the coals, your food will end up with a bitter, acrid flavour.

Test the temperature

This one is pretty important, especially if you are cooking a lot of food at different times.

It’s hard to judge how well cooked the meat is just by looking at it. So be sure to either use a temperature probe to check the internal temperature or cut into the meat to check if it’s cooked through.

If the meat is cooked on the outside but needs a little longer to cook through, push it to the outside of the grill so that it’s away from direct heat.

Rest the meat

We’re all used to resting the Sunday roast nowadays, but it’s just as important to rest your BBQ food as well. Resting the meat allows it to reabsorb its juices, making it more tender and delicious.

Either rest the meat on the top rack of your BBQ if you have one, or pop it on a plate and cover with foil for a few minutes. Bigger cuts will need longer than burgers and steaks.

Have a back up plan

The only reliable thing about the UK weather is how unreliable it is. So make sure that you have a back up plan for cooking your food in the oven or on the hob just in case it starts to rain.

So let me know, what do you add to your burger for the ultimate summer Barbeque?

Sally Akins

Hi, I'm Sally Akins and this is my travel and lifestyle blog. I love exploring new places, good food, high thread counts and the sea, and I write about them all here on the blog. I'm not travelling so much at the moment, but you'll often find me out and about in my beautiful home county of Shropshire.

278 thoughts on “Top Tips for your BBQ this Summer”

  68. John Coe says:

    Weather is great for a bbq and i’ve just moved house so need to do some house warming bbq’s this would be great!

    Reply
  78. Michelle Ferguson says:

    I’m quite boring and just like cheese on my burger but hubby would love all the extras for his burger

    Reply
  106. Kim M says:

    Just like the classic cheese, tomato sauce and gherkin – my other half likes cheese, bacon, lettuce, tomato and mayo – my mouth’s watering already x

    Reply
  175. Jemima Bradshaw says:

    Bacon, cheese, gherkins, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, coleslaw, sweet chilli sauce and mayo! Its a big one mmmmmmmmm

    Reply
  186. Kaleigh-Anne Gillespie says:

    I would definitely go big and have vintage cheddar, streaky bacon, caramelised onions, jalapenos and smoky chipotle mayo, yummy!

    Reply
  221. marie miles says:

    just fried onions on mine so nice and classic, pretty boring and run of the mill for most people but why over complicate something so tasty when simply does it often does the trick for my pallet anyway.

    Reply
  249. laura avery says:

    Mines boring but I love it burger sauce, onion reish is it (the onions like you get in a macdonalds?) and loads of cheese!

    Reply
  262. Laura Lee says:

    Unfortunatley I am a very plain Jane type of girl and for me it has to just be cheese and onion, no sauce and then I would take apart from the bread and just eat the meat – big meat lover here LOL. My fingers and toes are crossed

    Reply

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