Barbecue Tips

Barbecue Tips:

Cooking on the grill will enhance the flavour and give your meat those restaurant style grill marks. However, extra fatty meat can result in flare-ups as the fat drips down. Small or slender items (like thin sausages) can slip through the gaps so are better cooked on the hotplate.

Never pierce or cut through meat or sausages to check that it is cooked. This allows the juices to escape, toughening and drying the meat. The most reliable way to test if your meat is cooked is to use a cooking thermometer.

Take your meat out of the fridge for a few minutes before cooking to bring it to room temperature (never exceed 20 minutes and be extra careful if it is a warmer day). This will result in even cooking. NEVER leave chicken out of the fridge as it can quickly spoil.

If your barbecue has a lid, always cook with it down to hold in the heat. Be aware that a lidded barbecue is often hotter than an open grill so your meat may cook a little quicker.

To clean your BBQ quickly after cooking, turn the burners to high, close the lid (if applicable) and let the food residue burn-off for about 10 minutes. Use a wire brush to scrub the grates. The burnt-off food should simply flake away.

Best Barbecue Cuts:

Whether you’re cooking beef or lamb, some cuts are better on the barbecue than others. Meat with a marbled surface cooks best as the extra fat keeps the meat juicy and tender. Here are our favourite cuts for the barbecue:

Best beef cuts: • Rump steak – full flavoured and lean, works well with rubs and marinades.
• Eye Fillet – the most lean and tender cut, can be dry if overcooked
• Porterhouse / Sirloin Steak – flavoursome, with a fine yet firm texture.
• T-bone – porterhouse on one side of the bone and tender fillet on the other, perfect!
• Scotch fillet / Rib Fillet – juicy tender and full of flavour.
• Blade – lean and flavoursome steak that is good value.

Best lamb cuts: • Chump / Forequarter Chops – work great with a marinade
• Fillet / Tenderloin – very lean, wonderful grilled then sliced over a salad
• Loin chop – great all-rounder
• Backstrap – good for cutting cubes for skewers, lamb and halloumi works well
• Frenched cutlet – very lean and tasy
• Ribs – great slow cooked with a juicy marinade. TIP- use a foil tray to keep bbq clean

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