Complete Noob at BBQ's

[MadMullah]

i have never ever been to a BBQ. ever.

so this summer my niece is getting married and a week or so before I wanna host an awesome BBQ.

not wanting to sound stupid but i realise i do.

what would PH advise? considering its my first time i dont want to splash out on a mega bbq but i'd like it decent sized, charcoal

secondly - is it just a case of marinating the meat and once done popping them on the grill with the coals nice and hot?

[zac510]

That's pretty much it and if you're old fashioned get the missus to make salads . If it's just men coming then just eat meat.

Worst thing you can do is overcook/burn the meat too so remember to stand by and make sure it's cooked properly. Or enlist a reliable friend to cook for you. You'll still get the accolades for hosting and buying food/beer.

Good luck

[Melman Giraffe]

MadMullah said:

i have never ever been to a BBQ. ever.

so this summer my niece is getting married and a week or so before I wanna host an awesome BBQ.

not wanting to sound stupid but i realise i do.

what would PH advise? considering its my first time i dont want to splash out on a mega bbq but i'd like it decent sized, charcoal

secondly - is it just a case of marinating the meat and once done popping them on the grill with the coals nice and hot?

Not so simple i'm afraid. How long have you got!!

[prand]

If you are planning this now with zip all experience, I would seriously consider getting a BBQ caterer in instead, or perhaps letting a more experienced friend or relative stay in charge of the cooking and you just look after the drinks. You could get away if they play along and let your guests think you are doing at least some of the cooking?!

Otherwise you're leaving yourself open to this being at best a complete disappointment for you and your neice with lots of burned sausages, at worst leaving you or your guests in hospital.

[Team 17]

prand said:

If you are planning this now with zip all experience, I would seriously consider getting a BBQ caterer in instead, or perhaps letting a more experienced friend or relative stay in charge of the cooking and you just look after the drinks. You could get away if they play along and let your guests think you are doing at least some of the cooking?!

Otherwise you're leaving yourself open to this being at best a complete disappointment for you and your neice with lots of burned sausages, at worst leaving you or your guests in hospital.

Do you also have someone to wipe your bum for toilet duties? Do they also cut up your fish fingers into nice little chunks so that you don't impale yourself on your cutlery?

Seriously though, it's not that hard, maybe practice first on one of those disposable types before you do it for real.

[davidspooner]

prand said:

If you are planning this now with zip all experience, I would seriously consider getting a BBQ caterer in instead, or perhaps letting a more experienced friend or relative stay in charge of the cooking and you just look after the drinks. You could get away if they play along and let your guests think you are doing at least some of the cooking?!

Otherwise you're leaving yourself open to this being at best a complete disappointment for you and your neice with lots of burned sausages, at worst leaving you or your guests in hospital.

It's not that hard! Classic charcoal error is to use too little. I use lashings of the stuff - you can move it around and get the heat you need. If you really want to make life easier, cook stuff in the oven for a while first, it's cheating but avoids food being undercooked.

[blueg33]

MadMullah said:

i have never ever been to a BBQ. ever.

so this summer my niece is getting married and a week or so before I wanna host an awesome BBQ.

not wanting to sound stupid but i realise i do.

what would PH advise? considering its my first time i dont want to splash out on a mega bbq but i'd like it decent sized, charcoal

secondly - is it just a case of marinating the meat and once done popping them on the grill with the coals nice and hot?

BBq's can easily be hit and miss. If you are hosting an awesome BBQ and have no experience, i would get a specialist caterer in. Its so very easy to make a BBQ totally crap! Plus it needs imagination with the menu to make it memorable/awesome

[MadMullah]

a few points i would like to add. i'm a bloke. a stereotypical asian bloke. i do not cook. at all. so the women would actually be cooking even if i promise i'll do the cooking. my sisters would actually take over for the risk of an epic fail no matter how much i'd love to do it.

i buy the food, i buy the bbq i buy the coal. i promise to make it all and then sit on my xbox. maybe i'll light the coals too. everyone loves a bit of arson once a while.

its nothing too bad if it all goes wrong. but i just think it'll be something different to what we normally do. especially if the weather is nice

[Shaw Tarse]

When you light the BBQ you need lots of petrol


If you're a BBQ virgin & want to cook for lots of people I'd " get a man in"

[Cotty]

MadMullah said:

a few points i would like to add. i'm a bloke. a stereotypical asian bloke. i do not cook. at all. so the women would actually be cooking even if i promise i'll do the cooking. my sisters would actually take over for the risk of an epic fail no matter how much i'd love to do it.

Do they have any experience of cooking on a BBQ? Very easy to mess things up when you have searing heat, a lot of people end up with charred exterior and raw insides, not good if you are cooking chicken.

I went to a BBQ where everyone brings along some meat and sides and everyone shares. I had some great chicken thighs that I had lovingly marinaded overnight only for the host who was doing the cooking to microwave them first

[davepoth]

MadMullah said:

a few points i would like to add. i'm a bloke. a stereotypical asian bloke. i do not cook. at all. so the women would actually be cooking even if i promise i'll do the cooking. my sisters would actually take over for the risk of an epic fail no matter how much i'd love to do it.

i buy the food, i buy the bbq i buy the coal. i promise to make it all and then sit on my xbox. maybe i'll light the coals too. everyone loves a bit of arson once a while.

its nothing too bad if it all goes wrong. but i just think it'll be something different to what we normally do. especially if the weather is nice

The trick is to get some practice in. The skill with a BBQ is knowing when things are cooked just right. The problem is that often the unskilled cooker will cook over flames, which burns the outside, but leaves the inside raw. That can be dangerous.

Get in a bit of practice, go to Asda and buy cheap burgers, sausages, etc, and borrow a large dog off someone. Cook the stuff as best you can - the first goes will be terrible, so make sure they're cooked through (i.e. black and crisp) and throw them to the aforementioned dog. It will appreciate it. You should be able to get something more or less edible for humans by the end of the evening.

[Simpo Two]

And the carbon will stop the dog farting, and the owners get their dog fed. A win-win situation for all

[clarkmagpie]

Get Emsman round, what could possibly go wrong...

[Cotty]

davepoth said:

The trick is to get some practice in. The skill with a BBQ is knowing when things are cooked just right. The problem is that often the unskilled cooker will cook over flames, which burns the outside, but leaves the inside raw. That can be dangerous. .

Thats why the indirect method with a BBQ with a lid is better, you are basically creating an oven to cook the food.

[escargot]

Cotty said:

davepoth said:

The trick is to get some practice in. The skill with a BBQ is knowing when things are cooked just right. The problem is that often the unskilled cooker will cook over flames, which burns the outside, but leaves the inside raw. That can be dangerous. .

Thats why the indirect method with a BBQ with a lid is better, you are basically creating an oven to cook the food.

What he said. You can cook a big piece of meat over the coals first to get the outside crisped up then transfer it to the other side and let it cook through nice and slowly without drying out or burning. I use this method all the time for chicken, lamb, pork etc etc.

Check this thread out for inspiration: http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

Don't be put off by the folk who worry you about killing your guests. It really isn't that difficult, if you're just simply cooking over charcoal, keep turning the food regularly and don't take your eye off it for a moment and it's very easy.

[calibrax]

Take meat out of fridge about 90 minutes before you plan to cook it, so it can come to room temperature. And never use frozen food. This way you should avoid one of the primary causes of undercooked meat.

[MadMullah]

so you light the coal but what your cooking it off is the heat rather than flaming coals?

i would get a few mates around to taste the practice sessions - food poisoning is the least i can do for them.

we cook roast chicken often but in the oven though

[WestYorkie]

I'll bet the women will be fine doing the cooking. As you say they em most if not all anyway.
How about getting some Shah masala mixes and marinading some chicken cubes and having them with vegetables on skewers? Also some Koftas and Shamis etc.

Then buy some cheap sausages for YOU to cremate to get that authentic English bbq

[escargot]

MadMullah said:

so you light the coal but what your cooking it off is the heat rather than flaming coals?

i would get a few mates around to taste the practice sessions - food poisoning is the least i can do for them.

we cook roast chicken often but in the oven though

Yeah, you wait until the flames have gone and the coals are white before you cook on them.

[Cotty]

MadMullah said:

so you light the coal but what your cooking it off is the heat rather than flaming coals?

Depends what you are cooking. Some things take direct heat, others are better just with the heat.

I think and this is my personal observation, a lot of people cooks sausages and burgers on a BBQ which are the worst things to cook. Depending on quality, both will have a high fat content which will make the fat come out and hit the hot the coals and flair up. I find bigger cuts of meat work better.