With summer in full swing, one of the main activities that you might be keen on partaking in is, of course, having a BBQ in your garden. If you have the space for this and you want to invite friends and family over for a summer gathering, it’s a great thing to do. But you are probably going to be keen to make sure that you are hosting it right, and that means being aware of a few particular things.
In this post, we are going to discuss what the secret truly is to hosting the perfect summer BBQ in your own garden. You’ll probably find that the following is all worth looking into, and as long as you follow these ideas you will likely have some very satisfied guests.
Clean The BBQ
First of all, make sure that you are getting the BBQ itself to a good condition before you start using it for cooking. If you fail to clean it, you will only likely end up with food that tastes somehow unclean, and it’s something that you are going to want to avoid at any rate. Cleaning it is a simple enough thing, but it’s something that you need to focus on if you are going to get it right and host the perfect BBQ.
Your guests will be able to tell if you have not cleaned the BBQ, so make sure you do so, and do it early enough that you have plenty of time to do it right. Most of the time, this will just be a case of scrubbing the BBQ down, which is probably going to be easy enough as long as you have the right equipment. Then you can be certain that you are going to be serving safe food to your guests.
Stock Up On Fuel
Depending on the kind of BBQ you have, there are different possible kinds of fuel that you might need to stock up on. Whatever kind you need, it’s important that you are getting it early so that you have it in time for the BBQ event itself. There is nothing more frustrating than going to start the BBQ only to discover you don’t have the requisite fuel to get it going.
There are a few likely options that you might need to face. If you have a charcoal BBQ, then you obviously need to make sure that you have plenty of charcoal, and you might need more than you think. It’s best to have too much rather than not enough, of course, so you may as well stock up anyway.
If you are using a gas or propane BBQ, it can be hard to tell how much you have left in your gas bottle. For that reason, it’s wise to keep an eye on how long a bottle tends to last you, and then buy some more before it is too late. The best way to do that is to go to the likes of Tri Gas & Oil and buy some propane gas as soon as possible.
Work Out Your Guest List
At this time, you will also need to work out who you are actually going to invite to your BBQ, and you might need to think carefully about this, especially if there are any political motives involved that you need to be careful about. You might have friends who don’t talk to each other, for instance, and in general you are going to want to avoid that kind of stress and drama, as it is not conducive to having a good time together.
Draw up your guest list with these things in mind and then get to work inviting people. You will want to do this early, so as to avoid disappointment, and so that you can make sure you are going to get enough people to come. The earlier the better, but as long as you give people a few weeks’ notice, that should be more than enough. Of course, for a more significant event you might want to give it even longer, such as when you are hosting for someone’s birthday for example. Just make sure that you don’t leave anyone out who might want to come.
Prep Your Food The Day Before
At the very least, you will want to start prepping your food the day before, even if you finish doing so on the morning of the event. The more time you give yourself in this sense, the more likely it is that you will be able to feel truly prepared before the guests come, so that is something that you are going to really want to think about. As long as you prepare your food early, you are going to feel so much more ready for the BBQ event on the whole.
Remember that most food can be prepared early the day before and then put into the fridge overnight, so you might as well prepare as much as possible this way. The less running around you have to do on the day, the better a host you will seem to be, and the more fun people will have, so it’s really important that you are thinking about this. Then it’s just a case of actually cooking the food on the day itself, and that is probably going to be easier if you have prepped it all this well.
Learn To Cook BBQ Food Perfectly
Of course, the food is really important, so you are going to need to make sure that you are cooking it as perfectly as you possibly can. There are many things that you might want to bear in mind here, but the important thing to realize is that it is always possible to learn a method for perfectly cooking anything. Whether it’s steaks, burgers or halloumi cheese, make sure you are practicing it before the big day. That way, you will likely produce a much better lot of food for your guests, who will likely really appreciate the effort.