Just how risk averse have we become - BBQ instructions for a pack of chicken thighs

[ScottishScouser]

Just bought a pack of BBQ CHICKEN THIGHS (Chinese) from Tesco. I looked at the instructions purely to see if air fryer instructions were now on them since a lot of stuff has it.

under the BBQ instructions it said - cook as per the oven instructions and only then put on tje BBQ. Do they think the Americans, South Africans or Australians do that! When I lived in the Midwest I can assure you they did not, my South African neighbours cook them from scratch on the BBQ, and I’ve just asked my kiwi colleague of the antipodes do!

so why on earth do we have to pre cook our chicken for the barbecue. A good thermometer tells you if it’s cooked!

I used to work in a call centre for a supermarket & you would not believe the things people didn't know. So this doesn't surprise me. Someone asked me if they had to take the plastic off their pizza before they cooked it. It's to avoid people becoming unwell & then claiming the instructions were unclear I'd imagine.

I think it’s just Tesco covering themselves, so if someone dies of food poisoning they can say ‘we did tell you to cook them in the oven first…’

Brits are notoriously bad at BBQ-ing as we don’t get as much opportunity to do it as South Africans/Australians!

No, nobody does that (that I know of). The supermarket doesn’t know what bbq you have, what temperature it is, what fuel you are using, whether you have a meat thermometer - so therefore can’t advise. Of course it has to cover its own back by saying to cook as per the instructions it can advise on. Luckily most people realise this and bbq according to their preference.

Probably because some idiots will undercook them on the BBQ. They will give themselves and their guests food poisoning. They will then sue Tesco and do a sad face interview with the media.

Ppl are just stupid, I tend not to read instructions on raw meat as if you follow them, you tend to get very overcooked meat. I much prefer to use a thermometer to decide when it is cooked.

You don't have to pre-cook your chicken. You can eat it raw if you want to.
It's guidance not a law.
You do your thing and if you get sick it's all on you.

I was only reading the instructions cos I was curious about the air fryer!

did not realise idiot instructions were a thing

Barbecue chicken is frequently charred on the outside but raw in the middle because, well, People as a general category can be a bit dim - they'll leave it out for ages, then get fed up with waiting for the charcoal to go grey, have flames licking the skin and coating so it burns without ever having a chance to get up to temperature, then leave it laying around again to get the sausages and burgers suitably cremated...

The groups you mention aren't as likely to make those fundamental mistakes. But the British Public are, hence the advice to cook it properly and then get a bit of smoke and crispiness on the outside.

The South Africans I knew cooked it in the oven first.

Surely death by chicken weeds the idiots out of the gene pool (joke! Before anyone reports me for being idiot-ist)

I’ve been assured Antipodeans cook from raw - the gamble is part of the fun

It’s not a gamble though cos they know what they’re doing 😂 also it’s REALLY easy to properly cook meat on a BBQ, I honestly don’t know how some people get it wrong!

I know that and you know that but from the replies above it would seem a lot of people do not

I had a tube of haemorrhoid ointment once with instructions that read, "Do not take orally". This risk of someone eating a tube of ointment meant to be applied to their bum was considered significant enough that they had to warn people off it.

With that in mind, I'm surprised the chicken didn't come with instructions not to eat it raw or insert it into your ears.

People do tend to undercook bbq chicken. But also how often is it bbq wearher for us to practise??!

A friend of mine spent 5 days in hospital the first time his father in law bar b qued chicken.
It's to stop all the ambulance chasing legal action, some "lawyers" think that if you submit a claim companies like Tescos will pay out rather than go to court. I bet they have a standard letter "your customer is stupid, we told them to cook the chicken"

The purpose of supermarket cooking instructions is NOT to inform customers of how to cook their food in the best way. It is to ensure that food is overcooked almost to the point of being inedible, thereby reducing the possibility of the company being sued because their customers are idiots who are incapable of sticking a probe thermometer into a piece of chicken.

I've literally just cooked a bag of these from raw on the bbq. I didn't read the instructions but hopefully I'll not kill us. No one sick yet.

It’s raining horizontally out there but I still fancied bbq chicken! Can you tell I lived in the Midwest where they bbq in the snow?

I’ll report back if we die as I’ve done the same!

As long as idiots exist there will be a need for idiot instructions. Sadly the absolute idiots won't be able to read.

I admit I always cook everything except burgers in the oven before it goes near a BBQ, in fact i haven't actually had a bbq for quite a few years so I simply serve straight from my far more superior cooking appliance, my range cooker. Burgers fried in a pan

Am I the only one that has always pre cooked my chicken in the oven before finishing off on the bbq? 🙈 I just like to know it’s cooked properly first and also don’t want it too ‘chargrilled’!

Thing is people in the UK generally don't bbq a lot so underestimate the time required and serve the chicken before 1. Its cooked and 2. It's cooked at a high enough temperature in the middle.

I think pre cooking really is a thing, I've been to catered BBQs when I was at an outdoor activity centre and it was all cooked already and they were just giving it a warm and a flavour on the BBQ.
To be honest if I was risk assessing a large catered event like that, I would suggest the same. Also it speeds things up.