As the weather continues to heat up, there’s no better time to get out on the grill and get serious about summer. To help Brits get the best out of their summer grilling, Junior Masterchef judge and Sunday Times bestseller, Big Has, has shared his top tips for barbecuing – whether you’re an absolute novice or an expert griller. So fire up the grill, grab your ingredients, and get ready to cook up a fantastic summer spread using his tips below.
1. Grill master – manning the grill
When lighting a BBQ, I always use the cone method. Using about a double handful of coal, I stack the charcoal in a cone shape leaving a hole in the top to drop in the fire lighter. Light the piece of fire lighter and drop it in the middle. The reason for the cone shape is to make sure the charcoal is getting enough oxygen to stay alight and continue to burn.
2. Good news: no cleaning necessary
Washing your grills isn’t actually a thing in the BBQ world. The best way to clean a grill is to stick them on once you spread your coal and let them come up to heat, then using a metal brush, or a lemon on a BBQ fork, scrape away anything left over from the last cook. The heat kills off any bacteria, and not washing the grills with water will mean they stay seasoned and are less likely to rust.
3. Marination station
Marinades are a great way to add more flavour to a meal, but make sure you have enough time to do so. Most marinades will need a minimum of 3 hours to add any flavour, but for best results always marinate overnight.
4. Sizzle specifics
The world of BBQ is full of gadgets and gizmos, but a must-have is a meat thermometer – this will make sure that your steaks stay medium rare and that your chicken is beautifully cooked. When it comes to measuring the heat of a BBQ without a thermometer, my dad taught me to hold my hand 6 inches above the grill and count how long I could keep my hand there:
1 second – great for charring aubergines, blistering peppers and chillis
2 seconds – grilling fish for crispy skin & blistering shells of prawns.
3 seconds – grilling meat on sticks, boneless steaks or sausages
4 seconds – grilling anything on the bone, thighs, drums or steaks
5 seconds – a good cool zone for all ingredients to slowly tick away, not resting but slowly cooking under a less intense heat
5. Rest & relaxation
The most important thing about cooking anything over an open fire is giving the meat enough time to rest – with the heat being so fierce over fire, the meat retracts and tenses up.
Resting your meat for at least half of the cooking time means the meat has time to loosen up and let out loads of delicious juices – great for dipping bits of bread into or pouring over the top of the cooked meat.
6. Grilling for the family
Choose proteins accordingly – if you want a casual BBQ, put things on sticks; if you want people to stay around for longer, go for bone-in slow-cooked meats. Also, vegetarians and vegans deserve the same amount of respect – make sure there is something beautiful for the veggies and vegans to eat too.
Another useful tip for keeping costs down is focusing on one protein and making sure you’ve got loads of delicious little inexpensive salads, sides and breads. Acid, vibrancy and something to mop up any juices.