The perfect BBQ...

The Queen’s butcher has revealed their top tips for serving up a BBQ fit for royalty. Butchers Donald Russell, a royal warrant holder and supplier to the monarch’s household, are collaborating with Youtuber Christian Stevenson, also known as DJ BBQ, on creating the perfect outdoor feast.

Top grilling tips from royal butcher Donald Russell Preheat your grill

Always start with a clean BBQ and preheat for 10-20 minutes for electric BBQS or approximately 45 minutes for traditional coals.

Only put coals on half the grill

The ‘half and half’ method is a good way to set up your BBQ, with more of the coals on one side than the other. This allows you to have a hot side and a cooler side.

Use seasoned woods to grill

To create deep, intense and flavoursome grilled food, use seasoned fruit woods when grilling or smoking. You can also make fresh charcoal to add more flavour to your food by cooking the wood down and then grilling over the coals. The best woods to use are wild cherry, birch, orange, beech and sweet chestnut. Avoid elderflower or pine wood as they let off an acrid smoke, but most importantly use what’s local – there’s no need to import seasoned woods.

Set up a safe zone

Set your grill up for goof-proof cooking, leaving a ‘safe zone’ on the grill. The easiest way to set up your grill is the half-and-half technique, by putting charcoal on one side and no charcoal on the other.

By doing this, you can get a good charred colour on your food over the direct heat, but if the heat and flames are too intense, you can move your food to the more indirect side. This is also a great way to ensure that your meat is cooked all the way through. Putting the lid on your cooker turns your outdoor grill into an outdoor oven. Great for cooking chicken.

Get your meat out early

Allow your meat to come to room temperature by removing it from its packaging 20 minutes before cooking. You can marinate your meat while it comes to room temperature, but don’t salt the meat until the last minute as this draws out its juices.

Before grilling steaks, make sure you take the meat out of the fridge for at least half an hour beforehand so it can get to room temperature. Steaks are a muscle and need to relax to be nicely tender and juicy – so make sure you don’t shock a cold steak with hot heat. However, make sure you leave burgers and sausages in the fridge until used, so they retain structure!

Use the 60/40 method

When cooking your meat, cook it on its first side for 60 per cent of the cooking time, and the second side for the remaining 40 per cent.

Oil your meat

Brush meat with oil before gently placing onto the BBQ using tongs rather than a fork to turn the meat, so you don’t pierce the meat.

Make your own marinades

Make your own rubs and marinades.

The classic rub contains five main ingredients: sea salt, cracked pepper, onion granules, garlic granules, and brown sugar. Or get adventurous and add dry herbs to the rub, such as oregano, coriander, cumin, chilli powder, or paprika. Always add BBQ sauce near the end of the cook, because it contains sugar and when sugar hits the heat it can burn easily.

Keep distance between meat and coals

Pay attention throughout cooking and move the meat further away from the coals if it’s cooking too fast. We’d recommend raising the rack to around 30cm above the coals.

Try the press test

Use the press test to check how cooked the meat is. If you press the part of your palm underneath your thumb, it will feel soft to touch, the same as how rare meat feels.

If you bring together your middle finger and thumb, and touch the same part of your palm, it will be slightly springy - this is medium rare.

Do the same with your ring finger, this is medium and the same action with your little finger will demonstrate what well-done meat feels like.

Keep the lid on

Cover the BBQ with a lid as much as possible during cooking, especially when cooking larger cuts as this helps them cook more evenly, lock in the BBQ flavour and prevents flare-ups.

Don’t serve immediately

Rest your meat for 20 minutes in a warm place covered in foil before serving.

Know the perfect cook times

The perfect cooking times are:

„ 4-6 minutes total: burgers, steaks (cooked rare), mini steaks, medium sized lamb fillets and pork fillets

„ 6-8 minutes total: mini steak burgers, steaks (cooked medium), mini steaks (cooked well done)

„ 10-20 minutes total: steak burgers & kebabs, steaks (cooked well done), smaller roasts (less than 1kg), sausages

„ 30-60 minutes total: larger roasts (1kg+).

Use an onion not a harsh chemical to clean

Don’t use chemicals to clean your grill – elbow grease and a little acid work best. Get a wire brush and fire up some coals underneath your grill to make it easier to clean before rubbing half an onion or lemon onto the grill and working the brush to clean it.

“Your diet is a bank account. Good food choices are good investments” - Bethenny Frankel -