Are You Into BBQs?

[RabbitsRock]

We foolishly left ours out all winter so it’s very rusty. I suggested getting a new one but DH isn’t bothered as he thinks they’re a faff. Must admit, we probably only used it 2 or 3 times last summer & we don’t entertain. I like barbecued food though. Anyone a keen BBQer?

No, I used to think they were a necessity but they really are just a faff. Easier to just take some food outside, unless someone else really wants to do it!

Yes, just had a bbq - important though if you buy a replacement, grills that fit in your dishwasher.

I just don't get them tbh. Whenever I've been to a BBQ I've always thought that the food is never as tasty. Id rather cook inside and eat outside when the weather is warm.

You either love them or hate them. I think they're shite, dirty rusty things left out in all weathers. The wind gets to the gas, everything ready at different times, condiments boiling in the sun, just an overall stupid idea.

Big faff

We’ve barbecued every weekend for about 6 weeks now. We have a proper barbecue, not a gas grill which I can’t see the point of.

Sometimes we’ll have a crowd, sometimes just 4. I might purchase the food, but I have never gone anywhere near the actual barbecue. I don’t ever cook so I’d probably poison everyone.

I absolutely love cooking on charcoal but we moved house this spring and haven't got around to even starting the garden. Not had a single bbq this year. But next year I will definitely have one, even though it's just 3 adults at home now. I do full roasts on mine and will have a canopy for poor weather etc. and you absurdly can not beat pizza from a wood fired oven.

DH loves to BBQ and is very good at it. He does the usual meats but also 'roasted' veg etc. I love it because it means I rarely cook in the summer!

There probably isn’t much point replacing it if the only barbecuing you do is an occasional summer dinner / garden party - just buy the disposable tray ones when you need them. We use our barbecue all year round, several times a week, because it’s essentially an outdoor kitchen with grill, smoker and flamer. It isn’t difficult to light or unreliable to cook on because we buy really good quality lump wood and store it properly to keep it dry: so many people buy crap petrol station charcoal, leave it in a flimsy outdoor shed or damp garage and then wonder why it won’t catch fire or smoulders or doesn’t get a hot enough flame going to sear!

Dh loves them, but I really don't. He just cooks an obscene amount of burgers and sausages and with the greatest will in the world I can't manage more than one of each.

My friends DP cooks all sorts on a BBQ, to the point she wishes he just did burgers and sausages.

I'm not sure if I'd enjoy them more if DH branched out on what he cooked or not.

We've had some fun BBQs but don't really have the friendship group, or family group around us any more to do this.

I love a real bbq but they're a faff. I bought an outdoor grill a few years back and it brilliant. We use it whenever the weather is good.

I do like BBQ food but also think it's a bit of a patriarchal con (slightly tongue in cheek). I buy and marinate all the meat. Make the potato salad, green salad, other salads and breads. Gather all the plates, cutlery, condiments. Lay the outside table. Chill all the beers and wine. Make sure there's plenty of ice and mixers. Run around like a loon.

DH dons a funny apron and stands at the BBQ with best mate with a beer laughing.

He thinks BBQs are 'easy', I'm not so sure....

DH loves doing a BBQ not just the meat cooking but making sure we have all the other stuff and does all the clean up too. So by default I also love one as it requires minimal input from me other than requesting another burger 😁

Never had one. I'm vegetarian and have no desire to fiddle around with fragile bean burgers while dodging wasps.

I am bbq enthusiast so it’s all year round simple burgers to xmas dinner here. Loads of people ask me which bbq to buy my go to recommendation used to be a Webber 50cm kettle but over the years have seen of your just not that into it then gas is the answer.

They are pricey but a Webber Q is a superb little gas bbq and the food is always tasty as it keeps the flavour smoke in. The purists will always say charcoal is better but I’d rather now see people enjoying cooking outside than not.

What is your favourite bbq food?

It probably depends on what the weather is like where you live. We are pretty much guaranteed sun and temperatures in the high 20s to mid 30 ' s all summer. As a result, we cook outside most nights from June to late September ( we are also set up to cook outside in the winter. We have a coal BBQ, gas BBQ, smoker, small 2 ring burner & a pizza oven. If you only use it a couple of times of year, I would probably just get a small propane one.

They are massively polluting.

Absolutely love BBQs. We have a few groups of friends who love close by too so we're round each others houses most weekends for a BBQ or a cheeky midweek one.

Everything takes better on a bbq

@Cellotapedispenser

The amount of men that look at me funny when I say I only cook on charcoal is crazy. They seem to feel intimidated. I don't do just burgers but if I doing mate my own burgers. I love veg and cauliflower steaks stuffed in olive oil and a good curry powder mix are lovely. I doa beautiful shoulder of lamb too and you can't beat baked spuds done properly. I remember my DH when we first got together and bless him he was so excited and stood there trying to light a bbq and then again when we went camping trying to light a fire. I had to bite my tongue for a while as he was so gung ho but eventually step and in fix it . And I've tried and tried to show him how to do it, how to read the flames and feed the heat etc but it goes right over his head. He says it's because I'm a redhead it comes natural to me 😂. Maybe it is. Cooking with fire just comes naturally to me.

We have a Weber gas grill. It’s 12 years old now and still going strong. We rarely actually eat outside but I use the grill a lot in the summer for all sorts - kebabs, burgers, fish chicken. Even through the winter occasionally ( and I’m in North East Scotland!)

@WitchyBits

Me and my DW have competed in BBQ comps together and against each other.Always makes me smile at the assumption it’s just for men.

Your cauliflower steaks sound good. Lamb steaks with my signature rub are the wife’s favourite. Boring I love a good burger with all the trimmings. 👍

Introduced everyone at work to bbq baked Camembert and warm crusty bread. Simple but always a favourite

Nope. We have a firepit which we use for toasting marshmallows but otherwise, I’d really rather cook inside. With all the doors at the back of the house, it’s practically an outside kitchen anyway. I’m really not into BBQs.

I can live wothout them. DH bought a Kamado Joe one last year but it is so slow to heat up l would rather not bother

We love ours.

We had a charcoal one, that got fairly well used, and had a lid. But it rusted away after about 7 years.

We did a lot of talking and agreed (me quite reluctantly) to get a gas replacement. OMG - game changer! So easy to turn on after work midweek. We've bbq'd in snow before (our road does a "snowed in bbq" raiding everyone's fridges and having a social gathering on the green if it's white enough 😁). We've used it to cook when the power went out a couple of times. It's in use 2-4 times a week in summer, at least, and at least a couple of times a month in winter.

Bbq'ing is not just about sausages and steak - we do veggies, tin foil trays of prawns and other wet stuff, garlic potatoes in tin foil trays, skewers, all kinds of meat, tin foil packets of vegetables, corn on the cob (still in leaves), salmon, halloumi, ...all sorts. I stick a tray of sliced onions on the top shelf while it heats up for on top of steaks. I roast tomatoes with garlic, or french beans with garlic, on the top shelf.

We generally are not huge on deserts but I have seen lovely recipes for those who are into that. I know on Scout camp, we've done damper bread on sticks and chocolate cake mix cooked in orange skins on campfire, which would work on the bbq very well. And I have baked apples (core stuffed with raisins, brown sugar and cinnamon), pineapples, and bananas with chocolate under the skin in the past on the bbq.

We've also cooked whole joints of lamb, full chickens and large steaks to carve on the grill. And we have a pizza stone which works really well (we sometimes use the stone in the kitchen oven in winter if we really can't face outdoor cooking ).