Why are we so bad at BBQ'S in this country?

[unicorn]

I know we don't get much practice... lack of sunny weather etc... but....

There is no any excuse to dish out tasteless meat burgers, and grain (sorry) veggiburgers, with no salad, no onions, no relish, and charge 2 pound a head.

Ozzie friends at today's function were disgusted at todays attempt.

So, why are we so bad? and, how, (suzywong et al) can we do it like you lot?!

DH is a very good cook inside or out

My dad says when he was young......

they used to eat in the house and cr*p in the yard

Now you eat in the yard and cr*p in the house

But who cares

lol mumsrcool, hed be dead chuffed!

HM,you should get together with my dh! After 16 years together,it has dawned on me that he despises bbqs. Such a shame therefore that phoning me from Istanbul en route for home tonight,I've informed him that we are having a bbq for 20 people next week!

I love bbqs-legacy of growing up in PNG surrounded by Aussies.
Yes,nonoen in this country has a clue.We went to a hilarious one last year where the hapless dh was hurling bits of weirdly coloured meat onto foot high flames and his wife was tutting,pulling them off and blasting them under the (electric) grill until they curled like old shoes. WTF??

Bakedpotato, you have to tell us more about the drunkle,the wedding and the sausage smoker,or I will harass you forever more,wherever you surface!

Unicorn - I totally agree that we don't get a lot of opportunity to perfect our BBQs in the UK, but also agree that there's no excuse for serving up crap food to your guests just 'cos you're doing it outside rather than in. Even with larger functions, you can get reasonably priced "premium" sausages for example (Tesco nearly always have offers on their Finest range) and make up the lack of other meat with bread, salads, baked potatoes etc.

I've never understood how people manage to burn the outside of meat but leave it raw. Ok .... I know how they do it, but don't they understand the basic principles of cooking ? I've sometimes part cooked meat that has to be cooked through - like pork chops and chicken pieces - indoors, then finished it off on the BBQ for the authentic flavour. Otherwise I tend to go by the principle that smaller pieces of meat will cook through best - e.g.homemade chicken tikka skewers, chicken satay, lamb kebabs. Barbequed bacon also cooks through really quickly and bacon rolls usually go down well - especially with kids. I also make my own burgers - they're dead simple and cheap and you know there's no crap in them. Marinaded tuna and salmon steaks cook well, plus sardines & king prawns.

It's not the cooking I find difficult here, it's the problem of getting your food organised when you don't have the certainty of good weather. When the sun does come out and you decide to BBQ spontaneously, you can be sure that everyone else has the same idea and the supermarket shelves will be bereft of BBQ stuff !

we had excellent barbecues at the PTA at our old school. It was blowing a gale and there was a bit of rain but that was worse for the salads than the meat. Perhaps that's why people don't do salad - some of it blows away in the gales Second year we'd learnt better and didn't have as much without mayonnaise.

I', a barbecue virgin who was looking for advice on how to do one at home .....

Enid, you and I were about 2 roads apart in Olympia.

Sorry, wrong thread!