Following on from ,’ not sitting outside’.

Another one here who thinks that BBQs never live up to expectations.

And what an invitation to gluttony!!!

Never, ever, when I cook sausages, for example, do I sit down at my table and think - well, yes, these look lovely, but what's really missing off the plate is some kebabs, burgers and chicken wings. I'd never eat those kind of quantities as a normal meal. But whenever there's a BBQ, everyone seems to pile everything on their plates.

For me, it's loads of preparation for little result. I always cook stuff in the oven first, and just sear it on the BBQ (fear of food poisoning), so it seems double the effort, to me.

I'd never turn down an invitation to go to someone else's BBQ though (hypocrite )

I'm not a big fan of barbecues - IME there's a lot of waiting around and the results are variable - but if the cook really knows what he's doing they can be very good. I've been to some good ones and I've been to some bad ones.
They aren't my first choice of outdoor food though - that would probably be a simple picnic.

Tweedl24, I could have written your post word for word, we used to love having a bbq, even when the children had left home they would soon appear if we had one! No more now that DH has died

I don't quite trust barbecued food.... but have eaten it just to be sociable and it hasn't killed me yet. But it's such unhealthy food generally. I'd rather have a salad.

A BBQ is a good excuse for men to do the cooking.
Gerispringer - as DH says - 'we'll have a barbecue, give you a break from cooking'

So there he is, beer in hand, turning the (good quality) sausages, steak, chops etc and I spend time in the kitchen making salads, new potatoes, perhaps a vegetable rice dish, etc oh, and any chicken is done in the oven just to make sure - it's such a break!

it is a gas barbecue, probably cheating but charcoal ones tend to give very variable results

Same here Jalima it’s hard work isn’t it?
We host a lot of barbecues over the Summer, mainly because we know it will all be cooked properly, be ready on time and be of good quality.DH likes a charcoal BBQ and cooks really well on it, and I do all the rest.
We have been to too many barbecues where the host takes all day to cook any food and then prods it doubtfully saying
‘I hope it’s alright’ when you know it probably isn’t and you have had too many drinks already on an empty tum!

We used to have a charcoal bbq but DH bought a gas one a couple of years ago; however, DS is the master at barbecues, as is DSIL.

I quite enjoy a barbecue now and again. Mind you, in this country, it can only be now and again anyway, can't it!? ?

I'm not too keen on barbecues either - the German way is to provide huge amounts of meat, and everyone brings a salad - most people make a pasta salad, and sometimes the different tastes are not always compatible. We were invited to one recently and the whole thing caught fire!

However, we had a barbecue yesterday with DGS, his parents and the other set of grandparents. It was a wonderful day and the food was just right - but much too much, of course! It was all cooked perfectly. Most things I strung on skewers, mainly vegetables.

Parboiled some small new potatoes in their skin and put them on skewers, did several vegetable kebabs (mushrooms, inch-long bits of corn on the cob, thickish slices of courgette and bits of red peppers - very colourful). A few more similar kebabs with bits of chicken on, some sausages and some pork scallops (meat had been marinading over night).

DiL helped with the kebabs as I was a little behind time when they arrived.

But I had managed to get organised and had everything ready on the dining room table - the guests took it outside - and the drinks in cooler bags near the table, ready to pour. I had even made 2 cakes for later in the afternoon!

But I couldn't organise the weather - we were sooooo lucky! And DGS (nearly 4) loved being the centre of attention and was adorable all day!

Hate them, hate them, hate them!
Who wants sausages and chicken drumsticks burnt on the outside and raw in the middle?
The occasional bit of steak is passable but by the time you get it all the salads are starting to wilt in the sun and you've spent the last hour spilling your wine trying to keep the flies off them!
My ex loved a barbecue, to the point where he was known to barbecue outside in the pouring rain under an umbrella and then bring the food inside to eat at the kitchen table!
They're a pointless waste of a good summer's day if you ask me.

Chicken satay, steak with Tabasco sauce and parsley or watercress butter, spicy prawns with citrus salsa, home-made burgers, chicken nibbles in honey and soy and hoisin sauces and sausages with bacon and prunes (the last two for the kids) are just some of the things I cook on my barbecue, all served with a selection of salads, baked potatoes and home-made garlic bread. Nothing is ever burnt and nothing is ever raw anywhere where it is meant to be cooked – I do like my lamb chops (with sherry and mint marinade) slightly rare.

I can and often do vegetarian parcels, brochettes and other dishes.

As far as I am concerned, a gas barbecue is simply a kitchen cooking outdoors. A charcoal barbecue, properly managed, makes the occasion and the flavour – especially if you have home-grown herbs, such as rosemary or lavender (both fabulous with lamb) to throw on the coals.

I too am vegetarian but love BBQs and have one a couple of times a week if the weather is good, lots of lovely things you can cook, and you are outside not stuck indoors cookin. Sometimes just my husband and I, sometimes family, sometime invite friends, very relaxed and sociable, meat eating friends don't seem to mind eating vegetarian food, win, win, win

It is such a pleasure to discover I am not the only person, who is less than enamoured by barbecues. If I am going to eat grilled food with a salad, which is essentially what a barbecue is, I would rather cook it properly on the cooker inside.

Contrary to stereotypes, DH does not enjoy barbecue cooking. He gets hot, flustered and harried trying to keep an eye on everything.

If we want to eat outside, we just wander out to the garden table with whatever meal we would have had anyway.

You do seem a miserable lot and I feel sorry so many of you have had such bad experiences, it is only outdoor cooking, esp with a gas BBQ,, we are lucky enough to be able to cook away from neighbours and eat accompanied by the sound of birdsong looking at the burgeoning garden, bliss. I also don't understand all this men cooking the BBQ nonsense, fine if they like it and are good cooks but I usually cook ours but we share getting salads etc ready. Once you have had a bad experience it seems most of you aren't willing to try again, go on, surprise yourselves and enjoy this wonderful summer!

My mouth's watering absent

but I have planned plain fish and veg or salad this evening (got to lose a few pounds!!)

Luzdoh I love your story!!!! Thanks for your eloquent tale. I hate BBQs with a vengeance. I once suffered from terrible food poisoning at a BBQ. It was the start of my journey towards a “less meat” diet. Some of the “vegetarian” offerings are dire. With the very small number of suitable weather days here, I can’t imagine anyone gaining the experience to become a good BBQ cook! How can you plan one with our unpredictable climate?

My son is a great cook and an expert with a BBQ, so I have enjoyed a few at their place, but we never do one at home. I have no interest. If the weather is really nice, we might take a plate of food to eat outside, but it is all cooked in the kitchen. Actually neither DH or I can tolerate the sun, though I do love sunshine as long as I am in the shade.