The one thing that puts people off BBQ’ing so much is the thought “How do I clean and prepare my BBQ properly” and the reality is that this need not be hard work.

Let me take you though our own process here at iLoveMyBBQ.com.

At the end of every BBQ season we clean our Kettle Barbecue out, wrap and place the baskets that we use into the shed and then cover up the BBQ for the winter.

Come the spring when we are getting ready for our first BBQ (as we are having one tomorrow), I simply fire it up the day before, bang the grills together to get rid of any debris, and then once hot, unwrap all the cooking baskets and place them on the hot grill.

The temperature that the Barbecue reaches means that all the germs and dirt will largely be burnt off and hey presto you are ready to go.

We have never sat there and scrubbed our BBQ clean after using it, we simply bang the cooking baskets together to get rid of any dirt and then place them onto a really hot grill to get rid of any germs. This method has served us well for over 10 years and touch wood, not one instance of a dodgy tummy so far (famous last words!).

Happy Grilling People…

Why not share your own BBQ cleaning hints and tips comments below…

We have had some cracking BBQ recipe and BBQ tips and tricks sent in over the none BBQ season so I thought it would be a great idea to share them with everyone…

Thanks to everyone who sent in their suggestions:

S Whittington suggested this for a great BBQ Burger Recipe:
When making homemade burgers after you have added all the ingredients before making them into patties mix it all up with lots of tomato Sauce to hold them together,the taste is awesome!

Toniq suggested this for a great BBQ Pork Chops Recipe:
Be adventureous! Don’t forget to experiment! We often do Pork chops cubed with aubergine, courgette, pepper chuks, onions on soaked skewers, we alternate between, honey, mustard with cheese marinade to sweet chilli marinade!!! We accompany with some stuffed chiili pork rice peppers which are finished off on the barbie!

Natalie suggested the following Sweet potato BBQ Recipe idea:
Put some sweet potatoes wrapped in foil in the coals while you are cooking your meat - they go really well with ribs, steak and gammon and only take about 20 to 30 minutes.

Mr Crump suggested the following BBQ Cooking Tip for a great BBQ smell:
If you tie a bunch of herbs such as rosemary, sage, mint, on the outside of your BBQ as it warms up it gives off a lovely aroma.

Joolsy suggested a great Pork BBQ Recipe Tip:
Rub your pork with some garlic infused oil beforehand [ed - short and too the point!]

Bella had this brilliant Pork and Apple Stuffing Kebabs BBQ Recipe
The best way to have pork is to make pork and apple stuffing kebabs, just marinate the pork in 1/2pint of cider with 2tablespoons of honey for at least a hour {over night is better for flavour}make stuffing as per the pkt and leave to cool.
When ready for the bbq slice 4 apples and 4onions both cut into quarters {cut out core} and then roll stuffing in to balls, then arrange on a skewer {if using wooden ones the soak in water a hour before hand to stop it burning}.
Arrange pork apple stuffing and onion on the skewer{you can also add mushrooms or peppers} and then bbq for 15/20 mins turning often.
Theses are yummy yummy

Sarah suggested this nice sounding BBQ Pork Recipe idea:
I love marinating pork overnight in apple juice before bbq-ing - makes it sooo tender!

Ami had this tip for cooking BBQ Ribs
Never ever boil ribs first. Everyone always tells you that and effectively you’re making a broth, taking out all the flavour from the ribs!!
What you really want to do is sort of roast the meat. BBQ is a low heat method of roasting, and by dry roasting will concentrate the great flavors of the meat. Grill them slowly and lowly!

Kelly had this veggie BBQ Recipe idea:
I marinate Quorn with lemon, tandoori paste and yogurt and the BBQ and bbq a roti or Chapati, I do the same for my husband with chicken, it’s really tasty and much healthier than a takeaway.

We have had hundreds and hundreds of tips like these so please keep them coming and we will do another batch of BBQ recipe tips, tricks, recipes and BBQ advice shortly.

What are your thoughts? Why not post a comment below?

Well, what a year it has been, not only in terms of awareness of this blog and its phenomenal and unexpected growth but also personally for Cairo and I.

2009 was a massive year for us personally that included getting married in early 09 (about time!) and also having our first child, Mini-Barr towards the end of the year - hopefully this explains why iLoveMyBBQ.com went so quiet towards the end of the year!

In terms of this site 2009 was huge. During the peak BBQ months we struggled to cope with the amount of traffic, questions from BBQ fans and companies getting in touch to ask us to review their products. The site featured in several national newspapers and magazines (website of the day in The Times being a notable highlight) and we were asked to give our opinion on various new BBQ gadgets by a few TV and news shows! Wow…

The two things that really made us both really sit up and take notice were; one, the fact we were asked about potentially selling the site on two seperate occasions and two, when we ran a competition towards the end of the last BBQ season we had hundreds and hundreds of entries - more than we could have ever imagined!  This tells us we must be doing something right.

So, here we are in early 2010 (very early!) and we are planning new ideas and recipes and BBQ related gadget stories for the site. As ever, if you have any ideas or suggestions, please let us know.

Thanks for everyone’s support in 2009 and we look forward to an action packed 2010 of BBQ’ing.

Andy & Jilly (AKA Cairo)

Ok BBQ Fans, time to put away the Brolly, dust off the BBQ and get ready to start your grills as the lying weather people reckon this weekend could be a hot one.

What a horrid few weeks it has been, weather wise, we have had no BBQ’s at all and it has been killing me.

As an extra incentive to get your BBQ’s going the lovely people at the worlds best makers of BBQ equipment and sauces, Weber, have been in touch to give us a competition for you guys.

To celebrate the launch of Weber’s new range of BBQ sauces we’re giving away a BBQ-Tastic prize! Weber is offering one lucky reader the perfect BBQ kit, which includes a Weber Smokey Joe Gold BBQ, an essential BBQ tools kit as well as the entire range of Weber’s NEW BBQ sauces.

Here is what you need to do to Enter:

To be in for the chance of winning this superb Weber BBQ prize, just email your funniest BBQ related picture to hello@iLoveMyBBQ.com - closing date will be midnight on Monday 20th August 2009. You can enter as often as you like, but they have to be your pics and we reserve the right to use your pictures on the blog. This aint like Blue Peter and we won’t accept posted photo’s, and we won’t send them back if you do post any (probably cos the dog will eat them before we actually get to see them).

The Weber sauces are a great range for BBQ fans and with three NEW Weber BBQ Sauces in the range - there’s something for everyone, whatever your taste! Firstly, Weber ORIGINAL BBQ Sauce – an authentic BBQ sauce with a light, zesty flavour, it works perfectly as a marinade. Secondly, Weber HOT ‘N’ SPICY BBQ Sauce – not for the faint hearted, this hot sauce has depth to its flavour and is guaranteed to spice up any BBQ dish! And last but not least, the new Weber BBQ Relish – a hearty tomato based relish, the perfect accompaniment to a homemade burger! So after spending hours cooking on the fire, there’ll be no risk of spoiling your culinary genius with inferior condiments!

Weber BBQ sauces are available from Waitrose, Tesco and Asda supermarkets.

A quick note from the writers/owners of iLoveMyBBQ.com to thank the team at Weber for providing the prizes!

For full T&C’s email hello@iLoveMyBBQ.com

We were lucky enough to be sent a selection of Encona BBQ Sauces recently and also a few BBQ recipe ideas that we could try out and the first we went for was the BBQ Encona Hot and Fruit Chicken Kebab Skewer Recipe.

Ingredients needed for this BBQ Recipe Idea that serves 4:

For the Kebab -

6 chicken thighs, meat cut into 2.5cm pieces

2 red peppers cut into chunks

1 large sweet potato, peeled and boiled for 5 minutes cooled and cut into 2.5cm pieces

8 wooden skewers, soaked in water for 10 mins

5 tbsp Encona West Indian Papaya Hot Pepper Sauce

1 tbsp honey

1 tbsp coriander, chopped

For the fruity salsa -

Encona Sauces

1 mango, cut into small pieces

1 papaya, cut into small pieces

1/2 tbsp Encona West Indian Papaya Hot Pepper Sauce

1 tsp chopped fresh coriander

1/4 cucumber, peeled and finely chopped (not the core)

Step by Step Guide to Making the BBQ Encona Hot and Fruity Chicken Skewers

Step One - pre-heat the BBQ

Step Two - thread the chicken onto the wooden skewers alternatively with the sweet potato and the red peppers and place the kebabs on a tray or plate

Step Three - Mix the Encona West Indian Papaya Hot Pepper Sauce with the honey and coriander and brush all over the kebabs

Step Four - Cook on the barbecue for around 15 minutes, turning every so often and brushing with any remaining marinade

Step Five - Mix all the salsa ingredients into a small bowl and then serve with the kebabs

Encona has a range of 11 sauces including, West Indian Original Pepper Sauce, Indian Swet Mango Chilli Sauce, West Indian Smooth Papaya How Pepper Sauce, Thai Sweet Chilli Sauce, Louisiana Cajun Hot Sauce, Barbados Creole Pepper Sauce, Jamaican Jerk BBQ Sauce, Thai Chilli and Giner Sauce, Thai Chilli and Garlic Sauce, Texan Chilli BBQ Sauce and American Chilli Kethcup (loads!).

Encona Sauces are available from all good supermarkets and prices start at 99p and go up to £1.89, depending on the sauce you choose.

Have you tried Encona sauces, if so, why not post your thoughts below in the comments box?

If you are sick of watching loved ones fumbling about with their BBQ Corn on The Cob we have found the perfect recipe for you! We got an email out of the blue from a company called Design To Please telling us about their new product called Corn Picks.

Basically to save you getting greasy fingers and having to try and jam a fork in one end with Corn Picks you just push them into the end of the BBQ Corn on the Cob and hey presto you are away and ready to go.

It had all of us at iLoveMyBBQ.com wishing that we had invented it first. A simple, but genius device.

The Corn Picks are available from Design to Please for just £9.95.

After what seems like years of planning and a lot of research and reading up on the subject last night we finally made our first pizza on a BBQ. What we really love about this recipe and style of making a pizza is that all the family can get involved. Kids can have fun with the dough, and then even choose and slap on their own toppings.

Before we start, this is the basics of what you will need if you are to be successful: A kettle BBQ, a pizza stone, a pizza peel (not essential), Heat Beads, available from John Lewis and a couple of hours prep time!

Before you begin making the dough and topping, turn the oven on to a high heat and place the pizza stone inside to get it heated up.

For the pizza dough you will need (to make 3 large ones)

400g strong white bread flour

10g fast action dried yeast

400ml warm water

tsp salt

tsp sugar

For the tomato topping (that you smear over the top of the pizza) you will need:

1 can of chopped tomatoes

1 large onion finely chopped

3 cloves garlic finely chopped

1 good sprig of thyme

How to make the Dough

Placing Pizza on a BBQ

Mix your yeast with 100ml of the warm water and sugar, cover with cling film and leave for 15 mins

Mix your flour and salt in a bowl

Once the yeast has risen, whisk and then mix in with the flour and salt and remaining water

THE MESSY BIT - mix it all together with your hands or with a blender wthat has a dough mixer

The mixing is a nightmare and very messy and sticks to your hands loads. Keep going though, mix for 15 mins and if it is still sticky add more flour

Shape your dough into a ball, place back in the mixing bowl and cover with a damp tea towel for 1-2hrs (1 is fine if time is tight) GO AND FIRE UP YOUR BBQ NOW SO IT IS READY TO COOK ON IN AN HOUR.

The dough will rise after you have left it so knead it back down again, shape into 3 balls and set to one side - now make your topping

How to make the topping:

Fry the onions and garlic over a medium heat for 5 mins

Add the chopped toms and thyme and any other herbs you fancy

Bring to boil and leave to simmer for 10 mins - add water if it goes too dry

Choices of Toppings

We used a simple topping on our pizza, some already cooked chunks of chicken breast, pineapple, very thinly sliced cheese and some rocket and spinach leaves.

How to Prepare Your BBQ for Cooking a Pizza

Cooking Pizza on a BBQ

As we said from the outset, you will need a Kettle BBQ and ideally lots of charcoal and Heat Beads. The Heat Beads are a good idea so you can get the temperature high enough. As an example of how much charcoal is needed, we used four of the small easy-light charcoal bags on our Pizza BBQ and once they were lit and burning nicely, added around 20 heat beads.

It will probably take around 1 hour to get the BBQ up to temperature. Once the coals are glowing white the BBQ is at its hottest and this is where you need to move the coals around the edge of BBQ and place the grill shelf on as normal. When you have moved the coals to the edges of the BBQ and put your grill shelf on as normal, then transfer your pizza stone from your hot oven over to the grill shelf on the BBQ.

If you light the BBQ when you BBQ pizza dough is rising (see above) then by the time it is ready the pizza will have risen nicely and be ready to go.

How to put everything together

Step One - Make sure your BBQ is at its hottest, your coals are around the edge of the BBQ and your pizza stone is set in the middle of the grill shelf.

Step Two - Take one of your three dough balls and flatten with your hands or a rolling pin until you have a very thin pizza circle (make sure it is not bigger than your pizza peel or whatver you are using to transfer the BBQ pizza onto the grill. The thinner the better

Step Three - Smear some olive oil on the top of the pizza and then scoop some of your tomato topping, or tomato puree if you have not made the topping onto the pizza. Remember, less is best when it comes to the tomato topping or puree topping. The more you put on, the soggier it gets!  I always go for a light smattering so you can still see the pizza base clearly through it

Step Four - Add your normal toppings, as i said, we used some pineapple, thin slices of beef tomato, chunks of pre-cooked roast chicken and the some wafer thin slices of cheese and a few rocket and baby spinach leaves

Step Five - Dust your  your pizza peel or whatever you are using to transfer the pizza to the BBQ with flour - Do not be tempted to use oil! It won’t work as well

Step Six - Transfer onto the hot pizza stone in your kettle BBQ and then close the lid and cook for approx 3 mins

Step Seven - Leave to cook for at least 3 mins before lifting up the base a tiny bit to make sure it is not burning - if it is burning, remove from the pizza stone for a few minute and leave the lid open. If the base looks cooked and the cheese is slightly melted and the leaves wilted, it is ready!

Have you tried cooking a pizza on your BBQ - if so why not share your experiences below in the Comments Box? Better still, why not send us your pictures to Andy@Petoba.com

Those lovely people at Dalepak don’t realise how much they have helped the iLoveMyBBQ.com team, and also you lucky readers. For some time now we have been trying to draw up a list of the public places where you can have a BBQ. One of the most frequent questions we get is “where and in which public places, beaches and parks in the UK can we hold a BBQ”.

The amount of hassle and ringing around that this has caused has been endless as it seems no one at the various local councils who we spoke to really knew if BBQ’s were allowed or not. Then, like a knight in Shining (frozen meat coloured) armour, Dalepak ride in to rescue us.

As part of their campaign to raise awareness in something called Barbe-nicking, (yes I thought it was about someone wanting to steal my BBQ as well, but stick with it as they are helping us out), which is apparently the rise in people having Barbecue style picnics, they have found a list of places from across the UK where you can hold a BBQ in public.

The Top 10 Barbie-Nicking destinations are:

1. Black Rock Sands Beach, Near Porthmadog, North Wales

Perfect for a beach BBQ and picnic. Disposable BBQ are allowed on the beach but remember to use the bins to provided to dispose of all your rubbish and make sure BBQ’s are properly extinguished.

2. Studland Beach and Nature Reserve, Swanage, Dorset

A haven for those who love sandy beaches and rare wildlife… Barbecue areas are located at Knoll Beach, Middle Beach and South Beach. Disposable/portable BBQ’s are welcome and bricks are provided to raise them off the ground.

3. Tyne Green Country Park, Hexham, Northumberland

A pictureesque wooded surrounding where portable and disposable BBQ’s are welcome

4. Wickstead Park, Kettering, Northamptonshire

An English Grade II listed park where disposable and portable BBQ’s can used responsibly in the top field.

5. Beecraigs Country Park, West Lothian, Scotland

A one thousand acre park where you can get involved in loads of fun activities where you can book BBQ sites by calling 01506 844 516.

6. Newbold Comyn, Royal Leamington Spa, Warwickshire

300 acre park with ots own free BBQ’s, all you need is your charcoal!

7. Eastville Park, Eastville, Bristol

A famous Victorian park where portable BBQ’s are allowed as long as they are raised off the ground and put out with a bucket of water.

8. Queen Elizabeth Country Park, Waterlooville, Hampshire

Hampshire’s biggest country park with 20 miles of trails. Eleven family BBQ’s and four party BBQ’s for up to 40 people are available to hire by calling 023 9259 5040. Note, portable BBQ’s are not allowed.

9. Lepe Country Park, Exbury, Southampton

Set in the glorious New Forest, whislt portable BBQ’s are not allowed there are BBQ site available to hire that can cater for up to 60. Call 023 8089 9108 to book a BBQ.

10. Your own garden!

Why not open it up to the public!

Dalepak, we salute you… you have done a great service to BBQ addicted fans everywhere!  Spokesperson from Dalepak, Anne Claypole commented, “not surprisingly, the barbe-nic is an activity born out of the credit crunch, as we are all looking for low cost activities to enjoy over the summer holidays. All that’s needed is a picnic rug, a portable BBQ or BBQ pit available in some local parks, some easy to prepare food, and of course, family and friends”.

She continued, “This year we have seen a high demand for our credit-bursting burgers and sausages which cost a pound a pack and that are perfect for a barbe-nic as one of the locatios in our top ten around the British Isles or even in your back garden”.

You know what, we blooming well agree with Anne Claypole… and given that everyone should have some emergency BBQ fodder in their freezer just in case a last minute BBQ takes place we suggest you go and stock up with Dalepak products. The least you can do given everything Dalepak has done for us!

If you are looking for a portable gas BBQ, we have reviewed our favourite portable gas BBQ’s here. If you are after a portable charcoal BBQ we have reviewed our favourite portable charcoal BBQ’s here.

Have you had a BBQ in a public place? Why not post your comments on this below or send public BBQ’ing pics to Andy@petoba.com

One of the most surreal emails I have ever read came through yesterday. Apparently the quality Pork Standards people have set up a site called LovePork (not as kinky as it sounds) where Phil Tuffnell gives us his Tuffers Top Tips on how to cook the perfect piece of pork.

Before we get onto Tuffers Top Tips, LovePork is also searching for the country’s best BBQ-ers to share their barbecue trade secrets for the chance to win a luxury portable BBQ set consisting of a funky bucket BBQ, BBQ King Chef’s hat, apron and glove. There will be one winner each week from the start of the ashes (8 July), right through to the end in August.

The best tips will feature on LovePork.co.uk

Moving on to Tuffers Top Tips - here goes…

- Don’t rush - all BBQ’s need preheating, whatever the type. It helps the meat to cook more evenly and will prevent the burning you get from cooking over high flames. Rule of Thumb: Gas 10mins, Charcoal 30 mins, Disposable 15 mins

- Nice n Slick - Oil the grid lightly to stop the meat sticking

- Stay on the ball - once the meats on the grill let someone else sort the beers

- Keep it cool - Don’t leave raw meat warming in the sun at the side of the barbie! Stick it in a cool bag with ice packs until you are redy for it

- Keep it cleam - have  a bowl of soapy water on hand to wash your hands and utensils after handling raw meat

- Check it out - prod sausages and burgers (with seperate prodders mind) before serving them up - up they are cooked the juices will run clear

- Be a pro! If you want to impress your mates and make sure your meat’s cooked to perfection, get yourself a meat thermometer! For medium you are looking for around 70deg in the middle

- And finally… Use your head! Keep raw and cooked meat seperate you numpty!

So there you have it… Tuffers Top Tips for BBQ’ing.

What do you think about Tuffers top tips? Why not post a comment below…

At first I thought The Grillslinger was a novelty BBQ Tool but on closer inspection I realised that actually, it is fricking awesome!

If you are like me and you are constantly leaving your BBQ Tongs on the hook on your Kettle BBQ you have also experienced the pain that comes with trying to pick them up after the handle has been resting on the 1m degrees BBQ.

The Grillslinger, in my mind at least, gets rid of this hassle by allowing your key BBQ tools to always be by your side and in a proper, Batman-Utility-Belt-Esque, tool belt.

The other reason I love the Grillslinger is that it means your weapons of mass grilling are always about your person, meaning that no well-intentioned BBQ guest can grab the tongs and meddle with your barbecue. Valuable for this reason alone.

The Grillslinger is available from GadgetShop for just £49.99. The perfect man-present for any committed BBQ magician!

Have you tried the Grillslinger? Why not tell us about your own BBQ Tools Ideas below…