Barbecue – Picnic
Combining a barbecue with a trip to the great outdoors is a wonderful idea, but it takes quite a bit more planning that cooking for friends or family at home. Here are some tips to help you make the event a success.
Buy good portable barbecues, and something to stand them on – you can’t rely on finding a stable, fire-retardant platform when you get to the place you’ve chosen.
- Make sure your cooler will keep foods at 40°F – bacteria breed above this temperature. Keep drinks in a separate cooler as it will get opened all the time and that means the temperature will fluctuate which can cause problems with raw foods.
- Plan ahead and take only what will be eaten so you won't have to worry about leftovers.
- Make sure all sauces and condiments are transferred to plastic containers, that way you don’t have to worry about broken glass if something is dropped.
Two days before
- Make the barbecue sauces and marinades and store in the fridge
The day before
- Cook potato salads, sweet dishes and pies
- Make up coleslaw and pasta salads
The night before
- Put meats into the marinade
On the morning
- Drain the marinade from the meat and blot it dry
- Pack cooked and raw food separately
- Check you have all the things you need
- Grill
- Charcoal and lighting medium, matches, lighter
- Tongs for turning and a brush for basting
- Table cloth, plates, napkins
- Jug of plain water (hand washing, drinking, etc)
- Coolers with plenty of ice
- Plastic rubbish bag
- Large, heavy-duty, zip-type freezer bags
- Sun lotion
- Heavy-duty tinfoil
- Something to sit on
- Insect repellent and First Aid Kit
Barbecue picnic photograph by Fitaloon, used under a creative commons attribution licence.