I don't understand the appeal of the BBQ

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There, I've said it.

I understand that it's an excuse for day drinking and being outdoors with friends on a nice day. I get that bit. But why does the food have to be cooked over a fire? Someone has to stand over a fire on the hottest day of the year.

It's not even easy. Cleaning the grill is worse than any washing up, you can't have all the food ready at once and there's all the "bits" that have to go with it.

I'm sure BBQs weren't a thing when I was young in the 1970s, but maybe that was just my family. We'd have similar gatherings, but they'd be a picnic or picnic type food in the garden.

I still think that's much nicer and for any summer entertaining at our house, it will be an afternoon tea type spread in the garden. Just me? Do my friends (who always make appreciative noises) think I'm weird not to fire up the barbie for outdoor entertaining?

Much better (for up to about 8 people) is a teppenyaki grill. Everyone then cooks their own food and you can sit around the table. Much more civilized.

There are invariably toddlers running around near the fire making me feel constantly on edge.

Hate the smoke and the fact that if everyone had a bbq once a week the air would be constantly filled with charcoal (built up area so the air is bad enough already).

I do like the social aspect and the food itself as long as there is some shade from the sun.

Feel the same way about Christmas, what a faff 🙄

The descriptions of the food cooked on some of your BBQs sound very nice and I suspect I could be converted if you invited me round! But for me, the main thing I dislike about BBQs is the smell drifting into my garden and house - lighter fluid, then the unpleasant smell of greasy meat. What do those of you who cook those wonderful-sounding BBQs (not sarcasm!) do to mitigate the smell affecting your neighbours, or is that not something you worry about? Presumably part of it is that you aren’t cooking unpleasant greasy meat! < not envy

Who the fuck uses lighter fluid on a bbq.

We try and keep the bbq away from whoever is most likely to be affected by which way the wind is blowing. Our fuel is top quality, and smells rather delightfully of apple wood or oak, and lighter fuel don't go near it.

Some of the things we've done recently on the bbq, is paella, which is next level on the bbq, greek marinaded butterflied lamb, and cedar plank salmon, not to mention a korean bavette.

We don’t use lighter fluid or cook nasty greasy meat so it’s never a problem

I don't like eating outside, and don't eat much meat or fish (all ex used to cook on a BBQ) so am not a fan. When I was pregnant with my younger child, I had awful all day nausea, and the smell of a BBQ made me feel ill.

Hardly any pfaff, takes 20 minutes to get to temperature and, being a Weber, is easy to use and clean etc.

We have a Weber charcoal grill too that we use year round and it's not a lot of work. Charcoal also burns hotter than gas so it does a better job searing the meat, keeping it moist inside.

We don't cook greasy meat on ours and have no neighbors close enough to be bothered by it.

@chandyleer

The descriptions of the food cooked on some of your BBQs sound very nice and I suspect I could be converted if you invited me round! But for me, the main thing I dislike about BBQs is the smell drifting into my garden and house - lighter fluid, then the unpleasant smell of greasy meat. What do those of you who cook those wonderful-sounding BBQs (not sarcasm!) do to mitigate the smell affecting your neighbours, or is that not something you worry about? Presumably part of it is that you aren’t cooking unpleasant greasy meat!

There are two answers to this, I suppose:

1. I don’t use lighter fluid on the barbecue (why would you?? If you know/learn how to light one properly it’s completely unnecessary); because I know how to barbecue it doesn’t produce acrid smoke or smell of burning like disposable ones or ones do; and the horrible greasy burnt barbecue smell only arises if you’re burning food because you don’t have the temperature right because you don’t know how to barbecue properly.

1. When my neighbours start caring about how their DC shrieking in the garden and bouncing on the trampoline all afternoon affects me, I’ll start giving a stuff about whether they like what I do in my garden.

If you’re barbecuing properly, it should smell no more pungent than food cooking under a grill or in a pan with an overtone of smoke no more overpowering than you’d get from chimney smoke from a wood burner or log fire. Find a local Aussie, Kiwi or South African and get yourself invited round to theirs, they’ll show you how it’s done!