BBQ help!

Salthillprom

I am hosting a BBQ for quite a lot of people this weekend.
I’m a terrible cook (not exaggerating) but I would love to have some food partially cooked in the oven and ready to slap onto the BBQ fifteen mins before it’s due to be served. Easy food to cook...the simpler the better.
What kinds of food could I do this with? Potatoes and then wrap them in foil and put them on BBQ?
What meats is it possible to semi pre-cook?
Last thing I want are a heap of guests with food poisoning!
Thank you

Johnnyhpipe

Burgers are always an easy one. Also, you can’t poison anyone with veggie kebabs - or potatoes as you suggest! You could pre-cook chicken thighs and just have it on the bbq for show if you really want to cheat!

Chorizo & halloumi skewers are class and are safe to eat at any temp.

Also get yourself a digital thermometer to check internal temps - no one will go home poisoned that way. Most butchers/markets seem to sell them now.

appledrop

Chicken wings, nice ribs etc can all be put into the oven. Then just pop on barbecue literally at last minute for flavour. No risk then of food poisoning. Burgers, sausages you can do just on barbucue. You could have garlic bread, hot dog rolls, salads etc all prepared beforehand and this will balance out the meat. Best of luck with it.

Salthillprom

Thank you both

Gloomtastic!

Using the excuse that ‘you’re busy in the kitchen’, you could delegate the cooking to one of your guests. There’s always one bloke who doesn’t mind cooking

the beer revolu

Gloomtastic! wrote: »

Using the excuse that ‘you’re busy in the kitchen’, you could delegate the cooking to one of your guests. There’s always one bloke who doesn’t mind cooking

There's usually one bloke who doesn't ever cook in a kitchen but who, for some inexplicable reason, is a self declared expert when it comes to manning a grill/BBQ.
No. Stay away from the food, please, you drunk macho ape!

Glass fused light

Unless everyone will have a seat and tablet place invest in plates. If its a one off event be cheeky and ask the guests to bring one each. Otherwise if its the start of a repeat social event invest in a trip to the euro shop and pick up plastic or metal plates and glasses plus metal knives forkes and spoons and a plastic storage box for the attic.

Serving spoons, have a spoon per dish. And a few spare if possible.

buy wooden skewers and toothpick, soak overnight.
Buy two+ containers of the popular sauces (or wash out and keep a empty bottle and decant in with a funnel) so that the food serving line is quicker.

Use a bunch of kids stickers to differentiate the adult glasses, and for childern a white lable sticker and a pen to write their name on it.

If there are a lot of children plan to feed them first, smaller sausages, 1/2 and reform adult size burgers, and smaller buns, 1/2 veg skewers and cut off the pointed end. Its easier to add more than have loads of half eaten food. Teens can out eat most adults so plan for that.

Timing: read the cooking instructions for heat and cooking time.
It's really a 2 or more person team effort to man the BBQ and the oven.
If you are cooking for a lot of people the biggest issue will be oven space to have pre-cooked the bits and to hold heat after you start cooking so everyone starts eating around the same time.  depending on the BBQ size getting a few disposable ones may help as you only want to BBQ flavour the oven cooked meats. and they are heat later on in the evening.

I would aim to have the chicken and ribs etc properly cooked in the oven and already have turn the oven off and cooling to store the first of the BBQ food as its coming off. So look at the volume you can cook and the times eg say it will take 30 min to bring that BBQ up to heat, 6 to 15 min to do the first BBQ run and 10 min to heat the oven 20 min to do the chicken/ribs in the oven. How many runs will you need to cook enough to get most eating at the same time.

So 30 min heating + 15min cooking=45 first BBQ available therefor 
If 45min give you an empty oven = 1O min hold + 10 min heating + 20min cooking chicken.
however the food in the oven will continue cooking as the heat will only slowly  drop so you need to play around with the timing a bit

If you don't have a lot of help have an internal (sign posted at eye level on the cupboard) and external raw meat table and cooked table.

2 or more thongs. You don't want to be adding raw meat and then picking up a cooked bit with the same thongs.

Proper oven mittens !!! Don't want all that nice food to be dropped by someone who did not realise that the mitten has a bald spot.

Watch the serving dished for heat if they are being used to store the food pre-serving. When you start cooking put your hot serving dishes in a basin of boiling water and top up to keep the water warm. Pull out and dry as needed and wrap food in tinfoil ASAP and pop into the cooling oven or over a pot with boiling water. 

Pulled pork, google and make in advance in slow cooker or buy and store in fridge but bring back to room tempature before serving.

Buy a big 4L bottle of water, Cut up (so they will squeeze in the opening)  and freeze an orange and lemon. Remove enough water to add in a orange mixer and crushed ice shake well. Leave outside but put out of the reach of the smaller children top up with water ice and mixer as needed.

Early morning or night before:
Clean the salad, clean and cut any veg into usable sizes if not coating in mayo, lightly mist with water, and store in an airtight bag with as much of the air pushed out as possible. And pop in fridge. This way you can make up food in batches and if you are mixing meat and veg for etc you are handling the bag only.

Part cooking: boil, drain well and cool before bagging and pop in fridge.

If you are doing a rice based mix use a sticky rice as the base or slightly over cook until sticky as its easier to serve and eat on the go. drain well and cool before pop in fridge. Have a peek around the supermarket to see what can be added to the mix but sometimes it's cheaper to buy an mix.

If possible cook and store your "salad" foods in individual containers so that you can keep the longer lasting bits and use the next day.

Burgers 500g Ground lean beef mince, a large egg. Finely minced onion. 30g bread crumbs. About 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Optional 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce  & Dijon mustard . 1 minced clove of garlic, mixed selection of  herbs. Form into burgers and if stacking use grease proof paper (for strength and easy transfer to a carry out plate) to split layers. cover and pop in fridge. Or buy pre-pack /frozen.  When cooking make sure minced meat is not uncooked/raw in the middle (ever), searing sliced red meat will kill most of the food poison bugs so it's ok to serve this rare but don't because you have a mix of raw and cooked and you don't need the hassle.

Cut into usable sections and marinade chicken/pork/fish/prawns pieces, skewer to bite size  if required/possible cover and pop in fridge.

Skewer cocktail sausages on cocktail sticks cover and pop in fridge on baking tray. Optional to cook early and serve cold.

Line bigger baking trays in tinfoil and fold up the foil to form walls to split different flavour/food from mixing or if some have quicker cooking times and leave to one side.  If you are going to stack baking trays in the oven you will need to adjust cooking times.

Hard boil eggs shell and quarter, serve on own or mix in a salad. 
( add eggs to boiling water. For soft hen eggs cook for 8-9 min and up to 13-14 min for v. hard. For soft Quail cook for 3-4 min) remove and place in cold water, shell. And pop in fridge.

Toss the diced apples with the lemon juice, Add the diced celery, walnuts, raisin. Pour mayo mixture over salad and toss to coat. And pop in the fridge in a covered serving dish.

Toss the grated apples with the lemon juice, Add the grated carrot, raisin. Pour mayo mixture over salad and toss to coat. And pop in the fridge in a covered serving dish.

Add the grated carrot & cabbage and a small red onion. Pour mayo mixture and toss to coat. And pop in the fridge in a covered serving dish.

Boil potatoes and leave to cool, add chopped spring onion or red onion. Pour mayo mixture and toss to coat season with salt and fresh ground pepper. And pop in the fridge in a covered serving dish.

Remove and drain off pickled foods from the storage jars. Skewer onion, cheese cube, and beet root on a cocktail stick. And pop in the fridge in a covered serving dish.

morning to afternoon: 
For a Veggie kabba skewer bell peppers, red onion, courgett, aubergine  button mushrooms, small tomatoes, half cooked sweet potato, brush on a mixture of olive oil, pulped garlic, salt and pepper, cover and set aside. Add small strips of chicken or pork or prawns, cover and set aside. But its hard to cook the meat at the same rate so add separately cooked bits after when the veg is done, or use chunky veg and small meat pieces on cocktail sticks instead of a large skewer to make bite size meat kebabs. Can be grilled inside or oven cooked and finished on the BBQ.

corn on the cob, (defrost overnight) cut the barrel in half or thirds, prepare squares of tinfoil for a wrap, boil and once cooked insert at least 2 toothpicks in the soft centre lollipop style, roll a little butter on them and wrap in tinfoil, stack back in hot pot with tight lid and a tiny amout of water to make steam add back to heat now and then. Option to remove wrap and sear on BBQ. Unwrap and stick 1 toothpick in otherside to lift and eat.

Take the cut onions separate into rings, lightly mist with water, and store in an airtight bag. To use Pop the middles out, add the best outer rings to a salad.  slow cook the rest heat the pan add butter once melted add the onion and cook for as long and slow as possible, pop in metal container at back of BBQ and serve hot 

Get a tray (clean lined veg box from lidl or aldi) create a stack the top of the burger bun top facing upward and with a slice of beef tomato, onion rings thin sliced pepper lettuce leaf etc, (to  pop the cooked burger on top, pick up and add the bottom bun to the top, flip and hand off). Cover and set aside.

Fire up the BBQ ( if its in ireland pull on the waterproofs for the shower/bucket of rain ) and good luck.

Salthillprom

Thank you so much! That’s amazingly helpful ��

Gloomtastic!

^^
Fantastic post Fused Gas Light, thanks again!

rubadub

Johnnyhpipe wrote: »

Also, you can’t poison anyone with veggie kebabs - or potatoes as you suggest!

oh yes you can

the beer revolu wrote: »

There's usually one bloke who doesn't ever cook in a kitchen but who, for some inexplicable reason, is a self declared expert when it comes to manning a grill/BBQ.
No. Stay away from the food, please, you drunk macho ape!

This is the guy who can manage to do it. Flipping the burger for the 100th time (flip no more than once you sinners), squeezing every last drop of juice and fat out of said burger "wow look at the flames!". The bone dry, overcooked burger will be cross contaminated with raw chicken, as will the veggie kebabs. The real pros will even mix raw chicken into the bowls of peanuts.

OP- if you have an airfryer they are excellent for precooking, turn it down to 80-100C and cook away.