We all look forward to barbecue season – it’s a chance to get family and friends together in the summer sunshine and enjoy delicious food together. Regardless of all the stereotypes around British summer (not to mention the necessity for umbrellas and back-up plans), we normally get plenty of chances to fire up our barbecues and catch a few rays with a sausage or two. There was a time when barbecue meant a fairly limited array of offerings – burgers, sausages, chicken, maybe a potato salad – but these days we’re more au fait with what our barbecues can do.
The truth is, though we tend to use them as outdoor grills, most barbecues are far more capable than that. As long as your barbecue has a lid, you can use it to smoke, roast, bake and steam all sorts of things – not just meat but also vegetables, fruit – even nuts if you want to. These techniques aren’t especially difficult; they’re more a case of knowing how to set up your barbecue than anything else. It’s important to grasp the idea of direct and indirect heat – the former means cooking your food directly over your coals, whilst the latter means placing something in between (usually a ceramic heat deflector) which protects the food from the harsh direct heat and allows you to create a consistent temperature around the whole barbecue (a bit like an oven). Take a look at our barbecuing guides below to get to grips with these different methods of barbecuing, then read on for a deeper dive.