I have seriously overstretched with a barbecue and I am panicking.

[Theresip]

I decided to have a barbecue next weekend because I’ve got my garden looking the way I want it and I do enjoy hosting. I’ve been inviting people for the last couple of weeks or so. I thought I’d invited around 10 people but I haven’t. I’ve invited almost 20. I’ve only just counted them up and now I am seriously panicking.

I’m not a particularly good cook, never mind on a barbecue. How on earth can I do 20 burgers and sausages and time it so people aren’t sitting starving? It’s a charcoal barbecue so putting more charcoal on after one batch would mean some people waiting another 40 minutes whilst the coals cook and I cook again?? What can I do?

And also, my garden isn’t tiny, but it’s not particularly big. I have a garden sofa and stools that could fit around six people near the kitchen door, and then on the upper decking I’ve got a high dining table that would seat another six. I do have additional small stools but they’re too little for the high table and it would be very squashed round the other table because it’s right in front of the kitchen where everyone will be getting their drinks.

Any advice gratefully received. I have never hosted for this number.

Exactly.

Ah, op, I've only read your replies and I am trying to work out whether I went back in time during my afternoon nap.

People are insane.

It’s hilarious that people have got themselves so worked up about a thread about… a bbq. So much so that they’re creating sock accounts and being deleted all over the place!
The OP just wanted a bit of advice about a bbq 🙈

I don’t know what’s causing the anger. That a man is not overseeing the affair or that people are spending a Saturday with their friends and not their own partner. Very odd.

It has been quite the thread! I think my favourite part was when I was asked why I hadn’t had a coffee with my guests first at a neutral venue, as if I’m inviting them here for some sort of orgy.

Nit me, casually awaiting my invite for coffee and an orgy. What larks.

If I may offer some practical assistance - we recently did a 'dog topping bar' where i provided lots of toppings for hot dogs for people to build their own. Onions, crispy onions, crispy kale, sweetcorn salsa, cheese, all the sauces. Really easy to do in advance and makes it a bit of fun seeing what people do.

Sounds like a good idea, thank you.

🙄

Hi OP, this thread got quite weird but I have two hopefully helpful thoughts for you -

don’t try doing potatoes in the coals, it’s a massive faff and they create cold spots in the fire and cook unevenly and are a mess to unwrap and then you have charred bits of foil everywhere.

For the second batch of coals, a contraption like this gets them ready to cook on really quickly, and if you often barbecue with coal is worth having. Sparks fly around when you tip the hot coals into the barbecue and sometimes little bits fall out so you need to be absolutely sure there is nothing flammable nearby. https://www.amazon.co.uk/George-Foreman-Quick-Fire-Lightweight-GFCMS14/dp/B0BWF78HSD/

Thank you!

No problem! I realised after posting the link that that chimney starter is smaller than a normal one, but as a general idea they work really well. I have a folding square one that I take camping and it only needs a few twists of newspaper underneath to light the coals.

A get together with loads of work friends sounds really fun. I would prepare as much of the food as you possibly can the day before so you’re not frazzled and rushing by the time people arrive, and don’t worry about where everyone will sit, they will manage with whatever space you have and everyone will eat at slightly different times anyway.

Some of the detours taken and obsessions revealed in this thread are wild. The OP asks straightforwardly for tips on hosting, food etc, and so many people start talking about men and cross examine the OP on a partner!
This is a strange place sometimes 😵‍💫

Sorry op, I have no helpful advice as I break into a sweat having to cook for me and DD.

However, I am shocked at this thread, feel like I’ve just stepped in to the “where’s the man, we can’t do it without A MAN” 1950’s era! It’s ok to do things apart from our DP’s. It’s very healthy infact.

Yep. I have been quite blown away at how many people have said that a man is bound to take over the barbecue so don’t worry.

It is mad how you - having apparently little to no bbqing experience, and worrying about dashing from the kitchen to the bbq, and asking how on earth will you do it - are so dismissive of the experience of others who have held or attended many, many bbqs. In my case, hundreds - and I mean that literally.

It is great to see you taking the (terrible) "cooking" advice of others who clearly have only attended one or two, or perhaps held a bbq in their imagination.

I have reported this.

The OP has taken plenty of advice from what I can see, regarding ideas of what food to serve to make her life easier etc.
The only advice she has chosen not to take is to get one of her male guests to do the BBQ-ing for her, which has upset some posters for some reason.

That doesn’t mean that OP should give up the idea of BBQing and get a man to do it though 😂.

Yes, we bbq very often. We share who does the actual bbq-ing, it wouldn’t be fun or fair for one of us to be standing at the bbq the whole time while the other eats/drinks/socialises. Irrelevant to the situation in the OP though, as her partner won’t be there to share the cooking with.
When I was single and hosted a BBQ, I didn’t the BBQing because I was the host. Wouldn’t have occurred to me to ask a guest to do the cooking, and I would have been a bit pissed off if a man tried to take over the cooking!
Why do you think women can’t cook meat on a BBQ?