to think barbecues just aren't worth the effort?

[GulesMeansRed]

First barbecue of the year today.

Retrieve barbecue from back of shed, give it a good scrub because although it was put away clean (or DH sys it was) and covered, it's sticky and mucky after 9 months. Search for charcoal. Search for firelighter thingies. Get the thing going. Stand around while it gets to the right stage for cooking. Start cooking the stuff. Constant debate about whether it's done or not. Multiple trips back into the house to get salad, salad dressing, cheese slices, another beer, tomato ketchup, another plate, another spoon, forks. Then all the clearing away and disposing of the charcoal.

Total faff.

We love a BBQ! We got a gas one after many years of protesting from me and it’s been great. We keep it out all year with a cover on, so it’s just to switch on.

My husband is in charge of the meat (which he checks with a thermometer and it’s always evenly cooked). I usually make a potato salad on the morning, then basic salad. As for the sauces etc, I put them all together on one tray and take them all out together. I always get the meat from the butchers and freeze in batches so it’s easy to get out.

We just stuck ours on for tea this evening. Some burgers for DS, then some chicken for us which we did with a ‘massive’😉 salad and bread. I’m very particular about meat and love the chicken cooked on the BBQ.

A Saffer using charcoal...?

South Africans use wood mostly. And not just any wood. We get certain woods for braaiing with...

It's quite painful to see how perfectly they need to be stacked, don't even suggest a bit of newspaper to get it going.

It's a serious business...

(I am single and I don't enertain at home too much, so I get that piss taken out of me all the time as I dare to have a gas one. But of course if the need arises, the decent wood and braai bakke come out for the real deal).

We’ve had a bbq today! Was lovely! Not much more harder than cooking inside, dh does the bbq bit I do the side salad bit and help with the prep. The kids muck in as well they don’t just sit and eat.

Salmon, chicken, big potato salad and a big salad with loads of lovely bits

Perfect end to the half term

We live in Switzerland and there are grill places all over the place, in the woods, by the lakes and rivers and even in the middle of nowhere wood is usually provided. You do get quite good after a bit of practice at getting a fire going and cooking well.

we picnic once or twice a weekend throughout the summer. At home we have a gas grill which we use during the week. Good food is a must though. Today we had veal rib marinated in a mustard sauce. It was delicious.

Yanbu. Can't stand BBQ's. Rubbish for veggies and attracts wasps.

I’ve never had a bbq of a paper plate! Not at home anyway. Never had crap sausages or burgers either. We just eat our usual (good quality) meat, but cooked on the bbq. Sides are whatever side we would usually have with that meat. We eat off our normal plates, using normal cutlery. I get that bbq’s are a bit shit if for some reason you decide to eat worse quality food than you normally would, using crap crockery and cutlery, but I’ve never done that.

I love vegetables grilled on the bbq!

Generally only get wasps later in the year, like August.

Unfortunately you get veggies all year round 😉

We love BBQ-in and do it most days when the weather is good. But we have got it nailed down to a slick process now so it doesn't feel like a chore. Gotta have a gas BBQ though, no charcoal malarkey round here.

Purchased charcoal barbecue today, felt very excited, read this, now feeling regretful 😂😂

I love barbecues. But they are absolutely men's work!

We had our first gas bbq today and it’s a game changer for sure!!

Bought an electric one three years ago, like a big outside George Foreman. Best buy ever we love it!

Eek..see if you can return it and get a Gas one instead?

I like them when its at a friends house. One of my friends does them very well and she is fastididious about it being properly cooked through. I can't be arsed with the set up and clean of the whole thing and would rather just used the oven.

Every year dh wants a bbq and every year he causes some kind of smoke based drama with every house within 200 yards having to close their windows and move their laundry inside. He's a terrible cook and doesn't even eat meat! (He's great at everything else so the not cooking is fine) So I have no idea why he decides to do this every year. We don't even have many friends so it's not for a big family get together, he just decides he really needs to cremate some quorn over open coals around june each year. Yanbu!

@TheChosenTwo Sounds lovely. Do you have any go to recipes?

Can’t bear them…grown men who don’t know how to even turn the oven on in the kitchen acting the Big Man cooking dead animals in the garden bah!

Yabu, you make it sound very complicated but I think you are just unorganised. ALL side dishes and salads can be done the day before. Same goes with all the meat- marinated the night before. I usually make chicken and veg skewers and meat marinated the day before. My staple salads/sides are potato salad, a green salad, pasta salad, veg bake. All this takes is just an hour of prep. Stand at your fridge door with a tray and load all sauces on? Same with plates and cutlery? That's just two trips outdoors? I find a bbq the easiest to do and the leftovers can make a whole other meal.

I'm with you

I think maybe you are doing it all wrong. We Had bbq tonight. Marinated Costco chicken and veg kebabs that I made a month ago then froze. Was delicious. Dh loves bbq'ing and is actually very good at it. He cooks well, and bbq's even better, throughout the year. His brother, all his friends, both Ds1's football team and ds2's football team complimented him that he's the best bbq'er they know. It's a skill. To be really good at it. Most people aren't. I have been to many bbqs's over the years, most aren't that great at it. I'm organised, I do all the pitta's, potatoes, salads, sides. It easy.

Yeah I’d probably feel the same if my DH was a dick head like that. Mine does all the cooking all year round though, so it doesn’t bother me if he does it on the bbq instead. And we eat dead animals cooked by all sorts of methods in our house so that aspect isn’t an issue!

Yes to this. People who think throwing on some sausages, a few burgers and calling that a bbq!

That's the theory at my house, but he just stands there drinking a beer and turning the sausages over. Whilst I run around doing baked potatoes, salad, et cetera et cetera. Far much more work than just cooking dinner

Have a lovely, massive garden and I’ve not done one BBQ in it in my lifetime. Neither has my husband. Can’t be arsed.