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, how was your winter? We had a manic one, what with the new addition to the family but hey, the new BBQ 2010 Season is nearly upon us and I am sure you are just as excited as we are.

This year we are planning to really take the site to new heights, largely because of the unprecedented success of last year. During the peak BBQ months of July, Aug and Sept we got over 1 million people coming to the site looking for the latest BBQ Tips, BBQ Tools, BBQ Recipes and basically, some BBQ fun.

We have spent much of the close season finding new and exciting BBQ recipes and BBQ gadgets and even found some really funky new meat providers who do a wide range of exotic meats…. but more of that to come.

This year we want to hear more about what you are getting up to with your BBQ’s, what BBQ recipes are your favourites and what BBQ tools are your favourites.

There are a few ways you can get in touch, hello@iLoveMyBBQ.com or http://twitter.com/ilovemybbq (@iLoveMyBBQ)

So come on, let us know what you want to see and how we can make the site (that has become the UK’s largest Independent BBQ site - meaning we can say what we want and are not tied to promoting any company!) even better.

Now this may a bit basic for some of you more experience BBQ grillers but I found a really funky basic cookery course that I wanted to give a little plug to.

One of the things that has really helped me get to grips with some of the more tricky BBQ recipes is the fact that I did a basica catering course and trained for several months under a really awesome grill chef.

When thinking about how this site can help people I thought it would be a good idea to try and find some funky basic cooking courses, not necessarily about BBQ’ing, but some of the general things you should know about food prep and recipes etc.

My favourite, and the UK’s best gift experience site, IntoTheBlue.co.uk has a load of cooking courses worth trying out but the Cooking for Fun Course in Suffolk looks a real bargain and a great laugh.

Here is the write up from the site:

These Cooking for Fun courses take place in a renowned cookery school in Hadleigh, near the Essex border of Suffolk and you’ll be learning from the owner and chef, Mark David.

Mark David has exceptionally wide experience, including hotel and outside catering and corporate events. He spent three years as an Egon Ronay inspector and a further year as restaurant manager at Robert Carrier’s acclaimed Hintlesham Hall hotel. He now runs his own cookery school and is a regular author and broadcaster on all matters culinary. His light-hearted, unpretentious approach has earned the description of being a cross between Tommy Cooper and Geoff Capes - but of course with much greater cooking skills than both those two characters combined!

At just £149.00 it represents a reallygood day.

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)

One of the best things about the BBQ season is that it kind of runs parallel to the Welsh Lamb Season, i.e. April through to October. We at iLoveMyBBQ.com are big fans of Welsh Lamb and would recommend that you go for this over any other kind of Lamb.

The lovely folks over at Welsh Lamb have been kind enough to send us a Step By Step Recipe Guide to Welsh Lamb Koftas, again, a big hit with the iLoveMyBBQ.com team. There is no better way to show off your BBQ skills than with this eastern themed dish of Wlesh Lamb Koftas. It is an easy but impressive dish that goes perfectly with a cool glass of beer and some warm pita bread and dip.

What you will need for 4 Large Welsh Lamb Koftas Recipe:

500g minced Welsh Lamb

1 large red chilli, finely chopped

2 large handfuls fresh mint and fresh coriander roughly chopped

1 small red onion finely chopped

Freshly milled sea salt and black pepper

1 egg

4 Skewers

Step by Step Guide to making Welsh Lamb Koftas BBQ Recipe

Welsh Lamb

Step One - Compabine all the ingredients in the bowl and season well

Step Two - Divide into 4 balls and squeeze each ball into a skewer to form a sausage shape

Step Three - Cover and rest in the fridge for 30 mins

Step Four - Fire up the BBQ and get it ready

Step Five - Cook for about 15 mins, turning every few minutes

Step Six - Tuck In!!!!

Have you tried the Welsh Lamb Kofta BBQ Recipe… if so, why not post a comment below or send your pics to 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?

A good friend of ours gave us a brilliant BBQ Recipe Idea for Piri Piri Chicken Marinade. Having given it a good testing a few weeks ago we thought it was about time we shared.

BBQ Piri Piri Marinade is a brilliant Recipe idea and is not as hot as many people think. It has a sweet and fruity taste to it which we absolutely adored.

Ingredients Needed for the BBQ Piri Piri Chicken Marinade to serve 4:

4 tbsp Water

5 cloves Garlic (chopped)

5 Red Chillies (chopped, seeds left in)

1.5 tbsp vegetable oil

2 tbsp soft brown sugar

2 tbsp tomato puree

3 tbsp tomato sauce

2 tbsp fresh or dried Oregano

1 tbsp white wine vinegar

3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

How to Make the BBQ Piri Piri Chicken Marinade

Step One - Put a saucepan on a medium heat and add the oil

Step Two - Lightly fry the chillies and garlic for a couple of minutes

Step Three - Add and mix in all the other ingredients

Step Four - Leave to cool (25-40 mins)

Step Five - Pour the BBQ Piri Piri Chicken Marinade into a sealable bag or container, and chuck in your chicken breasts and leave to marinate for at least one hour, or preferably overnight.

Step Six - Cook the chicken breasts as you would normally on your BBQ.

Have you tried the BBQ Piri Piri Chicken Marinade recipe, why not tell us your thoughts below. You can even send pictures in of your own Piri Piri Recipe to Andy@Petoba.com

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

It takes a lot to nudge Pimms and Lemonade from our favourite BBQ Drink spot but we think we may have found an even better tasting rival. Step forward Southern Comfort, Lemonade and Lime!

Available for just £5 for 4 cans I will admit that after initial scepticism (I am a SoCo and Coke Man after all) I could have (sensibly) drank this for ever!

We had ours at nearly ice cold temperature and my one regret was that we only bought 4 for testing purposes!

The reason it nudges Pimms off the top spot for my favourite summer drink of 2009 is because it is not only refreshing, but is also not so sickly sweet that you find yourself pulling those funny faces.

Here is the write up from the lovely people Southern Comfort…

“With 35ml Southern Comfort, the sparkle of lemonade and a zing of lime, Southern Comfort, Lemonade & Lime gives you a taste of New Orleans, anytime and anywhere, and is perfect accompaniment to alfresco fun. Whether a summer BBQ with friends, lunch in the park, a festival or a house party, Southern Comfort, Lemonade & Lime adds a touch of New Orleans, crammed into a streamlined can”

Southern Comfort, Lemonade and lime is available from the likes of Threshers, Sainsbury’s and Tesco at the introductory price of £5 for 4 until 18th August. Oh yeah, and if you just want one can, it will only set you back £1.59.

Have you tried the new Southern Comfort, Lemonade and Lime? If so, why not tell us what you thought in the comments section below?

Another really simple BBQ Recipe idea, this time using Seabass. As with most fish recipes that we go for you will need a couple of fish baskets to cook them in on the BBQ.

Baskets are really cheap nowadays and great BBQ Idea. You can get them from the likes of B&Q at really low prices. Don’t be tricked into getting the fish shaped baskets because you can cook fish in any shaped one really and if you get a square one such as this Chrome Plated BBQ basket from B&Q for just £4.48 you can cook burgers, steaks and chicken breasts with them.

Anyway, for your Stuffed Seabass BBQ Recipe Idea you will need the following (for 2):

2x Seabass, gutted and cleaned out

2 Oranges - finely sliced

2 Lime - finely sliced

2 Lemon finely sliced

How to make:

Step One - Place a layer of your oranges on the bottom of the basket

Step Two - Place your Seabass on top and stuff it with the lime and lemon

Step Three - Place a layer of orange on the top of your seabass and then close your basket

Step Four - Depending on the size, cook on a medium temperature BBQ for around 20 mins, turning every 5 mins or so.

Hey presto… fantastic BBQ Seabass Recipe!

Did you try this recipe, why not tell us what you thought or send your pictures to Andy@petoba.com.