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?

Oh god I HATE them. Polluting and antisocial with the noise and smoke (honestly, give me neighbours who have all night raves or screaming children in a hot tub any day over a BBQ, such is the strength of my feeling). I’m vegetarian and find it gross how some men (and it is always men) turn up with a huge hunk of flesh that looks like they hacked a cow to pieces that morning. I do not wish to eat blackened, sad, shrivelled peppers on a kebab or a warm watery salad. Cooking over charcoal done by an actual chef in a restaurant? Fine, very nice. Shirtless Dave in his garden poking at a smouldering pile of charcoal while insisting the pink-looking chicken is “probably fine”, no.

We love them. We have a gas one which we cook on most nights in summer (saves a lot of washing up of pans!) and an egg ceramic smoker which also doubles as a charcoal bbq which we use at weekends when we have more time.

yes we have a gas BBQ and use it all the time, usually for chicken, halloumi and fish.

Love bbqs. We use ours pretty much year round as it ask has a smoker. Don't think it's a faff at all but tend to do joints of meat rather than burgers sausages etc

I quite like them. It's nice cooking outside as the house doesn't get warm and you get to be in the sun. I can't bear the competition between gas/proper bbqs and the ceremonial faff about it.

You could get an outdoor electric grill

Agree it's either love or hate.

We love bbq. We don't find them faff. We share all parts of it. We also don't do just some sausages and burgers with some side salad but lots of variety. Sometimes chicken shashliki mid week dinner. We got gas one for ease and I got little smoke box in too.

I also roast Christmas goose in it.

We’ve been using the bbq most nights over the last couple of weeks. Love sitting in the garden eating dinner. We do a lot of veggie dishes as well as salmon, chicken, prawns etc.

Unless I'm stranded on a desert island I will do my cooking in my kitchen.

I really wish my neighbours would too

Yes, especially now the kids are teens and enjoy a steak or two!
We've been using a round charcoal type one for years but this year we're treating ourselves to an all singing gas BBQ. Just need to figure out where to overwinter it as we have a lot of a relative's sorted stuff here.

Yes. We have them year round. Indoors in the winter.

My husband is an enthusiastic BBC cleaner.

I found gas didn’t give the same flavour as charcoal

I really like them but we don't often get the weather for them.

I just use disposables because abuse it's only a few times a year.

I don't get the point of gas bbqs. The food needs the smoke and the charring for bbq flavour.

As a guest, love them.

As a host, nope. Too much prep, too much cleaning, end up using the oven for a load of stuff anyway as I'm scared I'll give someone food poisoning.

We only have a terrace at present so not an option.

My parents loved a BBQ and most of my childhood summer dinners were done on the barbie. My brother uses his BBQ all year round.

Inlaws have a massive garden, entertain often and we eat in the garden but they've never so much as mentioned a BBQ. If I had their space I'd definitely have one.

Have been to some amazing BBQ's over the years though. In my 20's they seemed to be the in thing and everyone seemed to be in competition with the previous BBQ'ers😂

We like a bbq from time to time. Built a nice setup with built in bbq and shelves etc. Trouble is we tend to not use it because of all the prep with lighting etc. Plan is to get one of those electric ninja type grills for next year and be a lot more spontaneous with it.

No, we never use them. Our airfryer does a better job. Seems like an awfully difficult way to cook meat. Takes ages to get to temp, risk of undercooked or burned food. Tons of smoke, rain starts mid cook. After all that, a pain to clean.

Gas can char well and you can buy tiny smoke boxes for wood chips you put in. It's great with it.
We have small portable charcoal one for when going away as well

I hate them. Smelly. I have no interest in watching someone cook in a smoky haze. I find the meat is always burnt on the outside and raw, or nearly raw, in the middle, even chicken - yuk. I hate trying to eat anywhere that there isn't a table, proper plates and cutlery, and trying to balance food and drink, keep flies away, not sit in direct sun, find somewhere half comfortable to sit, etc.

Every single time I've expressed my preference for not having a bbq (when asked!), I've been assured that the cook is absolutely brilliant and the food will be perfectly cooked, only to be presented, yet again, with food that is burnt on the outside and more-or-less raw in the middle.

We've got a gas BBQ. It's used 2 to 3 times a week march through to october - even though we are in the north west and don't always have much of a summer.

We do a big BBQ most Sundays in the summer rather than a sunday roast - so 6 to 8 people. Salads, chicken skewers, halloumi etc.

With just DH and I will often cook lamb chops, salmon, other fish, veg etc outside just on a weeknight for us.

Kippers are very good on the BBQ.

Get out of my brain.

Yes to all of this.

Never been to a barbecue I've enjoyed!

This is unnecessary. We have thermometers in the lids of our BBQs and use temperature probes to make sure meat is cooked inside.

We have them very regularly and there are no Burgers or sausages involved, burnt or otherwise.
DH has a gas BBQ with lava rocks and we cook on it around once a week from April/May to September, although we did have one on Boxing Day once.
We cook all sorts on it such as Tandoori lamb, Spatchcocked chicken, whole sea bass, garlic mushrooms, sweet potato wedges, baked brie for example
DH also has a smoker and he often slow smokes duck or chicken and then sears it on The BBQ.
Sometimes I feel like I can't be bothered but its kind of a hobby for DH and he enjoys it so much that I don't mind

I love BBQ food, just can't be arsed with the faff. DH insisted on an all bells and whistles BBQ about 10 years ago and we have probably used it about a dozen times. It sits under it's torn cover, looking pathetic, in a corner of the garden.

Yes! Its a whole day event here though, we smoke a big bbq beef and a rack of ribs, burgers, sausages & kebabs. Lots of lovely sides, sit out in the garden chatting. Leftovers for lunch for a couple of days i love it!

I hate BBQs. Any I have been to the food is dry, burnt, no taste etc we've been to so, so many over the years. Everyone seems to buy bulk cheap cut meats so that adds to the awfulness by having to chew through grizzle .

I hate when the neighbours have them, they all seem to use very smoky BBQs with food that smells like dead bodies.

One of my friends did invest in a big gas BBQ and the food was better and tasted better but took forever to cook, ended up shoving half in the oven to finish it off.

One of my sils has them all the time, they are truly awful, it's basically frozen burgers, sausages and a handful of hotdogs then hard burnt buns, massive tubs of cheap no tasting coleslaw and that's it. We always offer to bring food, we did one time and she was so offended, it was just marinated chicken kebabs and 2 homemade salads for everyone.

The best BBQ we went to was a restaurant in the US, they smoked all their meats and the list of foods was massive, everything was perfect, melt in the mouth and very tasty, the ribs fell off the bone, huge tender pieces of many meats all sliced thinly and piled high, steaks, fish, veg etc we had been telling the owner about BBQs at home and he was shocked, he said most people have their own smokers and proper BBQs and ovens etc I know a restaurant is different and they have the time and people to carry out everything in preparation but it's the only one I actually enjoyed.

Some of you really need to go to better bbqs. Yeah when it's bad, it's bad. We are very international gtoup and so far only had couple of bad days which happens to anyone.