The Professional Chef |

Some people just love eating and some people just love cooking; but when it comes to cooking and eating outside most people say, hey, I love it; but having the right outdoor cooking equipment is essential

So lets get to it.  Summer will soon be upon us and the outdoor season beckons. Its now the ideal time to think about those barbecues you’ll be having. Whether those meals will be on the patio or in the outback its now the time to ensure that you’ve got all your outdoor cooking equipment to hand and that you’ve got a good idea about how best to go about things.

Outdoor cooking comes in many guises. You and your family may prefer to use wood or charcoal because of those wonderful flavours that come from the charcoal and the smoke; or, you may prefer the cleanliness, control and  convenience of cooking with propane gas.  Whatever you prefer the market is now awash with great outdoor cooking equipment to make your cooking experience enjoyable and the results fabulous.

Now when it comes to choosing your outdoor cooking equipment a little thought is necessary as you can easily miss a trick or two and fall short when the time comes to perform!  So, here are 20 great tips to help you make the right decisions when planning this season’s outdoor cooking:

Firstly you must decide will it be gas or charcoal; don’t fudge this one as its important; if you want ease and convenience go for gas grills; if you don’t mind a little extra trouble & time and your family loves the flavours that are picked up from the smoke then go for charcoal; If you go for charcoal always start the fire naturally, never use lighter fuels; let me say that again, never use lighter fuels! Why? Because no matter how long it is before you bring your food to the grill you’ll pick up those chemical smells…Yuk!; Ask yourself, are you making an investment for the future of just for the coming summer season; because thats how long cheap ’stuff’ is going to last!  I recommend making an investment in the future, therefore go for quality; as you know in your heart, you pay for what you get! Don’t go cheap if you can afford better; for example: stainless steel looks better and lasts longer than aluminium and cleans up much better and easier; although it has to be said heat distributes more evenly and quickly with aluminium so the arguments are not always so clear cut; portable pick up and go grills are going to be great for tailgating and inpromtu stops but they’ll be a disappointment on the patio when cooking for a group of  friends & family; There are many styles & sizes of outdoor grills, picking the right one to meet your needs and of course your budget is important, but remember that quality counts; you don’t want to be regretting your purchase half way through the summer! Go for the best you can; we recommend Bayou Classic as their product quality and the value for money is exceptional; take a look at the outdoor cooking equipment store as the prices are great there

Think about where you’re going to be doing your cooking and buy your kit appropriately. Ask yourself, will we be cooking on the patio, or will you be tailgating or then again will we be going outback; this makes a big difference to your choice of kit; indeed you may decide that you need quite separate cooking equipment for the patio as opposed to when you’re getting out and about. Gas grills are heavier and bulkier than charcoal, on the patio that’s a bonus in the outback its a chore; gas barbeque grills cook quicker than the charcoal grills; some people hate gas grills by comparison because they love the flavors that wood bestows; gas grills are more expensive than charcoal ones etc. etc. Decide what style of cooking best suits you because the kit you’ll need will change with your preferred style of cooking. If you’re into Jambalaya cooking then you should buy Jambalaya pots, if your going to be frying whole turkeys then a turkey fryer kit will be ideal; do you prefer cast iron stove ware for cooking, Dutch ovens are great for simple outdoor cooking or do you prefer open grills;? The questions go on and on and only you know what the family are going to prefer. Its not as hard to think things through as you might think,  I suggest that you go to a store that sells the full range of equipment and ask yourself what’s going to work best for us? When cooking with propane check the level of gaz in the cylinder and whenever possible have a second one in reserve. There’s nothing worse with friends and family hovering, the meal is half ready and the gaz goes out!!! If you’ve a replacement, no problem, but if  you’ve not, just how bad can things get? Don’t forget basic safety advice when cooking outdoors; remember salmonella is just as happy and active outdoors as it is inside. So what to do? Keep those fresh meat  plates and your cooking utensils away from any plates and cooking utensils that you’ll be using for eating off. Yes i know its obvious but this is important and its easily forgotten especially by the kids if they take a hand; Will you betaking your cooking kit out in the outback or to the beach where there are safety regulations preventing the use of certain cooking methods; how annoying is it to arrive and then find your kit isn’t appropriate. And don’t think you’ll be okay they’ll never know. have you seen the recent damage that’s been caused by fires that get out of control; think safety first. Its important to remember that usually you find restrictions at picnic areas and on beaches & camping zones; When you find a great recipe that cooks well outside share it with family; especially the simple tips that made it work out so well. Many people are apprehensive about cooking out doors and even when they do they make simple errors that you could help them avoid making. Simple tips need passing on; Never pierce food on a BBQ or the juices will run out and it will dry out very quickly: most people who say they don’t like BBQs do so because they hate dried out tasteless food that so often arises from a smoldering BBQ Never cook meat too long as again it dries out Always make sure that meat is fully defrosted before starting cooking on your grill, not only is this dangerous to your health but the food will burn on the outside before you’ve cooked it in the inside! Try to cook slower rather than faster when cooking outdoors, except with you steaks of course, they need searing and a minimum of time is preferred for however well you like them cooked; [yes I know this goes against what conventional wisdom says and your desire to tuck ij but the rewards of slower cooked foods great exceed the extra time it takes; believe me Always let your meat rest after cooking without cutting it up. This allows the juices to settle and the full flavour to come out, it also means all the juices don’t run away across the serving plate; 7-10 minutes is all you need to wait and whilst the time is short the difference in flavour can be huge; try it. Try marinating your meats before barbecuing, and remember, the longer the better, overnight if you can. If you do the flavors of your cooking will be greatly enhanced and your friends will marvel; If you use a grill with a lid, keep it closed as much as possible. This improves the consistency of cooking due to the retention of the heat which otherwise is lost each time you open the grill; stop worrying and go and have a chat; Try some of the many free recipes you’ll find online; there are so many and some are really good. Don’t get hooked on complication though; keeping things simple and experiment are the keys. But equally don’t get into the ideas of those that say quick and easy is best go for things that cook quickly! NO. Marinades are simple and add tremendous flavour, cook slower than quickly and you’ll retain more flavours; Try out Dutch cooking; its easy and straightforward and the flavors are great; look for Dutch cooking recipes on the web; Keep your outdoor cooking fun; share the joy of the cooking with friends & family. Try to get the kids involved; if you do you’ll develop in them a lifetime passion for cooking, which is often hard to do in the kitchen. Better still you’ll have a laugh and if you involve your friends you’ll start appreciate them in totally different ways than before; its like a new way of bonding. You’ll start to see them in a totally different light…… interesting! … Oh, just one quick point, but take care the opposite can work out too.

Check out the latest outdoor cooking kit at the outdoor cooking equipment store; you’ll find a wide range of outdoor cooking equipment meeting all levels of budget and there’s a long list of really tasty, simply to cook recipes, ideal for the grill, for the stove, for the boiling pot, for the fryer or for the Dutch oven; its your choice.

Happy outdoor cooking and good luck getting your outdoor cooking equipment into shape.

A BBQ is one of the most delicious methods of cooking, and is widely loved by people around the world. It is also one of the traditional methods of cooking, which has reached to us through our ancestors, when they lived in jungles and hunted animals for food. It is interesting to note that despite being such a primitive method of cooking, the barbeque has become still more popular today. This is because of the great taste and fun attached to cooking meat and other foods on barbeque.

Amongst various BBQ fuels, barbeque charcoal is the most loved and popular fuel for BBQs. In the past, charcoal was made by setting fire to wood piles and then covering it with dirt and allowing it to rumble. It is also made by heating wood in the absence of oxygen. Presently, BBQ fuel is processed charcoal briquettes. Charcoal briquettes are small molded pieces of fuel made with wood and clay. As a matter of fact, many people who are particular about the original method and taste of barbeques do not like to use artificial charcoal.

The best thing about barbecue charcoal is that it cooks low and slow. The meat you cook using BBQ charcoal is very tender. The taste you get from using barbeque charcoal is an absolute delight for your taste buds. The idea is to let the meat cook well, and carefully watch the temperature.

Cooking with charcoal is cheap, and it is also easy to make use of portable barbecues that you can take along with you while traveling.

Those who are fussy with regard to taste prefer charcoal over gas. Barbecuing with charcoal adds special flavour to your food. It is the best way to cook burgers, steak, or chicken. You need to be careful when you light the coals. There are many ways to set the fire, however the traditional method is with a charcoal chimney starter. This is a conventional method to get consistent heat from the coals. Beside this, another method to light the charcoal for BBQ is it to soak it with aliphatic petroleum solvent or pretreated briquettes.

Another way to cook with charcoal is to use an electric iron to heat the coals. You can also find electrical charcoal lighting devices along with containers that pile it on a piece of crumpled newspaper and make use of the paper to make the coals glow. You may adopt any method you like, as the main idea is to enjoy the smoky taste given out by hot coals.

Cooking with charcoal has certain drawbacks as well. Charcoal produces hydrocarbons and soot speck, which contaminates the air and intensifies heart and lung issues. Moreover, when the fat from the meat falls into it, polycyclic hydrocarbons and heterocyclic amines are made. These are compounds which can cause cancer.

To avoid these threats, you should choose charcoal certified by the Rainforest Alliance’s SmartWood program, as they are 100 % oak hardwood. They also do not contain coal, oil, limestone, starch, sawdust or petroleum products.

Barbecue Smoker Recipe Man asked:


I went into my local garden centre recently to find that the whole place have been completely re-vamped and a massive area dedicated to barbecues and smokers. What did this tell me?……..Two things:-

1.Barbecue grills and outdoor smokers continue to become more popular recreational equipment.

2.There’s money to be made!

Let’s face it; the smartest “in your face” displays have got to be for the products that carry the biggest margins, right? Having spoken to the manager I think maybe it’s the accessories where a killing can be made but whatever the case, you can quite easily spend a serious amount of cash on a new barbecue grill and that will be completely wasted money if you buy the wrong thing.

Consider the situation twenty odd years ago before modern manufacturing techniques, globalization and low cost country sourcing, the situation was even worse for someone with no income and lots of leisure time (you guessed it, I was a student!). CD’s had just appeared on the music shelves (a big drain on cash compared to vinyl), I don’t think the word download was in our vocabulary and certainly the thought of getting free barbecue recipes off the internet could be nothing more than a dream.

I was doing what students do best – having one long party! But the opportunity to have a barbecue party was nil because we simply couldn’t afford to buy a barbecue, and to a confirmed outdoor cooking enthusiast. It was at this point that I decided to build my homemade brick barbecue out of 16 second hand bricks and two cake cooling trays.

Not only is this a great low cost introduction to charcoal barbecue grills it’s also a wonderfully portable system too. Simply lay 8 bricks on the ground in two rows of four to make a square. On two sides place 2 bricks (on their sides) and place another 2 bricks on top so that in cross section you’ve now got a U shape. Throw the charcoal on the brick base a span two cake cooling grids across the top and there you have it.

The cake cooling trays are really cheap in the supermarket and (as a true student has to) the bricks were acquired one night from a local housing development. So with the barbecue complete, how did I get hold of some good free BBQ recipes?

Well that’s where it all started to fall apart and a process of enthusiastic trial and error began. I’m pleased to say that those early formative years have paid off handsomely; all my friends still love my outdoor cooking and so much so that BBQ smoker recipes.com was born to document mine and my friends’ tasty creations.

If you do give the low cost barbecue a try, notice how the bricks heat up and create an “all round” heat. Not only is it cheap, it’s actually very effective too! I now have a ceramic barbecue at home and yes, it did cost more than $1, and this takes the heat retention to the ultimate. If you get hooked on outdoor cooking after trying my low cost grill then maybe it’s time to start saving?