Antipodeans, what kind of Baaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrhhhhhhhhhhhhhhbie do you have?

[suzywong]

Mr Wong bought us a beefmaster today

it's huge

who would have thought that I was, at Morrisey's express insistance, a pasty vegetarian for 15 years in England and now ,,, how things have changed

so what kind do you ahve and what are your top tips for bbquing with aplomb and finesse this summer and not looking like a nonce with a pair of tongs?

We too went for a BBQs Galore job - similar to your Beefmaster but only two burners (on a wee balcony you see).

We'll be doing a Boxing Day beef fillet roast which is fab. Marinate the fillet in a gladbag with olive oil, salt, pepper and thyme leaves, then leave in the fridge for a couple of hours. Roast on barbie for 20 minutes for medium rare (obviously depending on the size of the fillet).

Corn cobs cooked on the hot plate with a splash of beer.

Actually, I find that I can't get near the BBQ as it's a "man-thing" you see. Fine by me!

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm festive greetings!

Wild Country brand from Ray's Outdoors. Massive.

Now that the summer has arrived - look at those predictions for Melbourne! - we'll be having squid. The way to get it tender is to marinade the sliced squid in mashed kiwi fruit. No more rubber rings. We're also trialling halloumi from Aldi as the label says it's made in Cyprus so with any luck will be unlike the vile stuff which passes for halloumi here. For the uninitiated, it should stay in the slices you cut, not crumble, and squeak when you bite into it.

Kangaroo steaks are also good - but they should NOT squeak because that means they're not dead yet.

we got ours from bunnings - big 4 burner with grill or plate - no cover like you have.

Do a whole fish with stuffing - as you have a lid.

we do marinated steaks, kebabs of varying descriptions, seafood - prawn skewers, marinated fish, all sorts.

dear dad has a wood bbq, with a thick steel plate, none of this gas noncing about that the aussies do. (he's a brit living in NZ). Ah, I miss his bbq's.

A VERY good tip from an aussie friend, is put the steak on and don't mess with it. Get the plate hot, you'll need to adjust for the weather for when it is hot enough. Put on the steak, 3mins, turnover, 3mins. Do not under any circumstances, fiddle with it, get nervous, and continually turn it. DH is a brit, follows this rule, and makes a perfect steak every time.

here might help

oooh yours looks rather like ours although dh has it in his brain he needs to upgrade to one with a rotisserie because so and so has one and we could do the duck on it at Christmas - blokes!

I agree the key is to not fiddle - throw it on, be brave, turn it once and bobs your uncle. Last weekend we had 55 over - did the usual sausages, homemade burgers and leg of lamb. This weekend had 30 a slightly more upmarket mussels, squid, haloumi and pork kebabs dh thought he'd go a bit greek!

But the absolute best thing about them is rarely will a bloke let you get near one. All I do is make the salads and pour the drinks. So civilized. Even better when you do the ?bring a plate? thing, all you need to do then is pour the drinks and I?m soooooo good at that!