The most delicious BBQ chicken ever

Thanks to a gadget that bastes it in beer as it cooks — just one of the bizarre (and brilliant) new ways to make your barbecue sizzle

THE first bank holiday in May heralds the start of barbecue season, and while the forecast for this week isn’t great, it’s set to cheer up at the weekend.

So now’s the time to dust your barbecue down, stock up your fridge with beers and wine, and work out what you’ll throw on the grill first when the sun does decide to stick around.

Even if you only like to use your local butcher, it’s worth taking a look at the supermarkets’ barbecue ranges this summer: they are astonishingly good.

This year’s hot barbecue trend is slow-cooked meat, according to M&S product developer Sandra Ziles, and specifically pork.

Most stores are offering at least one version of slow- cooked pork, often with a marinade, which you can pop in the microwave before pulling apart with forks and serving in buns with apple sauce.

Chicken with ginger is another big trend: M&S and Tesco both have versions of this and it makes for a perfect light bite if you serve it with a big salad or two.

For the veggies, there’s more than ever before, ranging from the super healthy (Iceland’s Garlic & Herb Prawn Kebabs) to the rather less so (Asda’s Mac N Cheese Donut Burgers).

Meanwhile, there are loads of delicious accompaniments, from chilli- spiked buns to blue cheese slices and fried onions you don’t have to fry — worth spending an extra few pounds on to make your barbecue extra special.

Here are the hottest products out there:

MEAT FEASTS

Four Cheese & Pickle Burger

£5 for 454g, M&S WITH chunky pickle and tangy cheese, these are the best supermarket burgers I’ve tried this year. Quite delicious.

Specially Selected British Lamb Quarter Pounders

£1.79 for two, Aldi LAMB burgers are a summer highlight and these, made from British lamb, are superb.

Ginger, Lime & Chilli Chicken Steaks

£4 for 300g or 2 for £7, Tesco FRESH-FLAVOURED and zingy, for barbecue or oven — 20 minutes, but says to cook in oven for 20 then put on barbecue for five more. Flavoured with ginger puree, coriander, garlic puree, sugar and red chilli.

Four Mac N Cheese Donut Burgers

£2.28 for 400g, Asda DOUGHNUT-shaped frozen ‘burgers’ made of macaroni cheese... whatever next? Bake them on a baking tray (in the oven or on the barbecue) and then, at Asda’s suggestion, serve with salad in a bun. I went up a dress size just looking at them, but my children loved them.

Goat’s Cheese & Sun-Dried Tomato Beef Burgers

£3.49 for 2 quarter pounders, Ocado HANDMADE with Aberdeen Angus beef, these big burgers are really juicy and well-flavoured.

The Grill 2 Chipotle Chilli Bean Burgers

£3.50 for 240g, M&S CHUNKY and hearty with a hefty dose of chilli, these seriously good burgers will please veggies as much as the meat-eaters. Recommended.

Low and Slow Whiskey Smoked Bourbon Pulled Pork

£4 for 400g or 2 for £7, The Co-op (selected stores only) PULLED pork on the barbecue is one of the hottest summer trends and this 100 per cent British pork shoulder has been slow-cooked for six hours over whiskey oak barrel chips.

Debbie & Andrew’s Caramelised Red Onion Pork Sausages

£2.98 for 400g, Asda IF you’re gluten, wheat or dairy free, sausages can be a minefield, but these sausages by the Great Taste Awardwinning Debbie & Andrew are free from all of them, and delicous to boot. Made with British pork, pan-fried red onions and muscovado sugar to bring out the onions’ sweetness, they’re also spiked with balsamic vinegar.

ESSENTIALEXTRAS

Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey Barbecue Glaze

£1.99 for 275g, Tesco I NFUSED wi t h t he fl a v o ur s of t he JD Te nn e s s e e Honey Liqueur, this adds a sticky, smokey and sweet flavour to chicken wings, sausages and burgers.

BBQ & Grill Mesquite Grinder

RRP £3.99, Tesco WOOD from the mesquite tree, native to the south-western U.S., is said to be one of the best f or smoking or grilling meat. Grind this mill over whatever you’re barbecuing to add taste without calories

Castello Burger Blue

RRP 2 for five slices, Asda

TO ADD more interest to your burg-er pack up a packet of this. The deliciously tangy cheese is cut at just the right thinness to ensure it melts perfectly when put on top of a burger — i don’t think i’ll be able to have a burger without it now.

Chipotle Chilli & sweetcorn Rolls

2 pack, £3.50, M&S THESE have a lovely light texture and subtle chilli kick to them.

ate Burger Onions

£1 for 1 20g, M&S LOVE the fried onions you get with burgers at restaurants? Give these a try. i was sceptical — they come in a little plastic pot and require a minute in the microwave, but they do make your home-made (or at least homecooked) burger taste extra-special.

DRINK UP

Lychee & Strawberry Sparkling Summer Crush

49p for 1l, Aldi PreTTY, rose-coloured fruity fizz for the non- drinkers — good value, too.

Pimm’s Strawberry with a Hint of Mint

RRP £15 for 70cl or £21 for 1l, most major retailers PiMM’s is the classic summer drink, but this is a new flavour — big on the strawberries and rather good. stock up on the fresh mint and lemonade.

Oliver Cromwell Gin & Tonic Can

99p for 250ml, Aldi ALDi’s Oliver Cromwell London Dry Gin won a silver at the isC awards, so this ready-made G&T in a can is excellent value for money.

Finest* Picpoul de Pinet

£14.99 for 1.5l, Tesco if YOU’re eating outside, bottles of wine can fall over. Boxed wine is the answer, but stop any snobbish thoughts i mmediately: this refreshing dry Picpoul is delicious and just the thing if you’re barbecuing prawns.

Bellante NV

£10, M&S PiNK fizz is fun, and perfect for a celebration, but this also tastes lovely with antipasti or even fruit salad. GADGETS TO MAKE IT EASY

BBQ ‘Frying Pan’

£13.99, Lakeland. This e namel pan has little holes for the juices to drip out — perfect if you’d like to fry veg or smaller i t ems t hat might f all t hrough the grill.

BBQ Branding Iron

£11.95, GenieGadgets.com This is fun — it lets you stamp guests’ names (or a slogan) on their burgers.

OXO Good Grips Corn Holders

£7.20 for a set of 4, John Lewis WiTh a set or two of these mini forks to jab into each end once the corn on the cobs are cooked, even a child can tuck in without burning their fingers.

Zippo Flexible Neck Utility Lighter

RRP £14.50, Timpsons/Zippo.co.uk PerfeCT for those hard-to-reach places such as the BBQ grill and lanterns, as well as candles inside and outside. in black matte or chrome.

Best of BBQ Stainless Beer Can Chicken Roaster with Drip Pan

£35, Amazon fOr barbecue maestros who have everything, this is more than a novelty item. fill the can with the liquid of your choice — beer or white wine is nice — then sit the chicken over it and put it on the barbecue. The liquid will ensure that the meat is moist and tender, and adds a l ovely flavour.