COOKING WITH... ?

For most Australians, the standard way of cooking is with an LPG gas bottle attached to their choice of unit, although Russell says that nothing beats the taste of food cooked on either wood or coals. “I only cook on charcoal or straight wood, but what you choose will come down to preference and confidence,” he says. “Some people may be limited by the fact that they live in a strata building and are only allowed to have an electric barbecue.”

An electric model is good for people who live in areas that don’t permit gas; it reduces the smell and smoke because the hot plate cooks with an electric element instead of fire. If you live on a rural property and don’t have access to a natural gas line, you’ll need to choose an LPG-bottle gas appliance. Portable barbecues usually run on gas, but some newer portable barbecues now also run on small Butane bottles so you won’t need to lug a big gas bottle around.

The other options — woodfired ovens and charcoal cooking — are very immersive, says Russell. “They get people involved. You’ve got the smells in the air, the aroma of charcoal and the experience of live-fire cooking; it really does bring people together. The biggest trend we’ve seen is the resurgence of wood-fired cooking. A lot of that comes from American TV shows. It’s about smoking food at low temperatures over long periods of time — that’s definitely been a huge pick-up for us.

“People are stepping away from just buying the $10 pack of sausages and throwing them on the barbie,” Russell adds. “They are becoming more confident in cooking outside. They’re trying new things and using different styles of cooking.”