Your A-Z of BBQ

The latest trends and tips, the must-have kit and the tastiest recipes for a smoking, sizzling (and socially-distanced) summer. By Genevieve Taylor

A

…IS FOR APPLE

Apple wood is one of my favourite fuels; I use it to add a hint of smoke to my barbecued food. Charcoal is an inert carbon product and produces very little smoke (or it shouldn’t if it’s good quality, see CHARCOAL, right), so if you want to add a sweet hit of smoke flavour you need to use wood. I prefer fist-sized chunks of wood rather than tiny wood chips as they burn slower and more gently, releasing smoke over a long period of time. Smoking wood needs to be added at the start of cooking, as the longer the food cooks the less permeable it is. Smokewoodshack. com offers a wide range of smoking woods, including apple. Cherry and silver birch also highly recommended.

B

…IS FOR BEYOND BURGERS

This summer, as we all spend more time at home, is the perfect opportunity to experiment with a whole world of flavours. Argentina, Mexico, India, Africa, Cambodia and Vietnam (to name but a few) all have very strong traditions of cooking with live fire. But that’s not to say burgers cannot be exciting. Christian Stevenson, aka DJ BBQ, says “with burgers, it’s all about the crust, building on layers of flavour to make a party in your mouth. Try glazing on some American yellow mustard once you sear the patty, and letting it cook in to form a delicious umami crust”. DJ BBQ loves his burgers so much he wrote a whole book on them (The Burger Book, Quadrille, £12.99).

C

…IS FOR CHARCOAL Charcoal is your most important ingredient: the flavour of your food and the success of your cooking begins and ends with the fuel you choose. I am passionate about promoting sustainable British charcoal: it’s a little more expensive, but it’s unrivalled for burn and flavour, and the process of making good charcoal has many environmental and economic benefits. Search for “sustainable British charcoal” online. It will improve your barbecue skills no end.

My favourite charcoal makers are:

h Whittle and Flame; whittleandflame.co.uk hBirchwood Forestry; birchwoodforestry.co.uk

h Stag British Charcoal; stagbritishcharcoal.co.uk

D

…IS FOR DISPOSABLE PLATES

Source good-quality and environmentally responsible disposable plates and drinkware to make your clear-up easy and give your socially distanced guests peace of mind. Try party delights.co.uk for a good selection of palm leaf-shaped plates or biodegradable-plastic-glasses.co.uk for glasses.

E

…IS FOR EVERYTHING CAN BE BARBECUED, EVEN EGGS

Just think of your barbecue – whether you use charcoal, gas, or even wood – as simply your heat source. You can cook anything and everything on a barbecue. I use my barbecue to cook lots of different vegetable side dishes and salads, flatbreads and naan breads, bacon and eggs for brunch and even the occasional pudding. Yes, I know, I know, you have a perfectly good kitchen inside, so why on earth would you? Three reasons spring to mind in an instant:

1. If you’ve got your barbecue fired up and running well, you may as well cook your whole meal on it rather than

g Genevieve Taylor runs a weekly Instagram Live Q&A about all things barbecue via @GenevieveEats