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…

With money being tight we thought it would be a great idea to have a look around and find the best quality but cheapest BBQ Equipment and Tools.

These are the essential BBQ tools that I think you would need as a minimum to get started on your BBQ.

You are probably best to stick with a charcoal BBQ to start with. Gas ones can be expensive to buy and you also then need to find the right gas for them which can work out more expensive than charcoal.

Depending on how many people you are catering for you could do worse than getting this Quebec Round Charcoal Barbecue from B&Q that costs just £14.98. If you know you will be catering for more than 6 people then it is worth paying a little more and getting this Thunder Bay Trolley Barbecue that costs £23.26. I have used a similar sized one to this in the past and easily catered for 10 people on it so it is well worth considering if you think you will need to feed loads of hungry mouths.

You are also going to need some equipment, not necessarily to cook with, but to move the coals about with at least. This B&Q Core 3 Piece Barbecue Tool Set Natural costs an amazingly low £3.79 and it will probably last you forever.

You are going to also need some charcoal and B&Q also work out the cheapest for this with 6 bags of ready to light coal (no need for fire lighters) for just £6.98!

That is everything you need for under £30.00! Start your griddles please!

To make a BBQ go with a real swing you need a bit of music. Historically I have always took my laptop down to the garden and just let it blast out, but since I have got a new one I have been less inclined to do this in fear of damaging it.

Instead I have been hunting around for some speakers for my iPod player and I came across these Pure-Fi Anywhere 2 compact speakers for iPod/iPhone that cost just £99.00.

You can read all the tech specs on the link above, but suffice to say, they look very impressive and could well be my next purchase!