How to Host A Great Summer Barbecue | 2022

Everybody loves a good ‘ol fashioned barbecue, but there’s a difference between a good barbecue and a great barbecue. How do you host a great summer barbecue? Aside from some fantastic barbecue recipes, a little cooking knowledge, and a long list of friends, you need to know how much food to prepare, safe cooking temperatures, and a few other things. We will teach you how to host a great summer barbecue throughout this article. We’ll even give you some BBQ tips and recipes to try out for your friends and family.

Whether you’re firing up the grill on a weekend or having friends and family over on a holiday, barbecuing is a favorite American tradition. But how much food do you need to serve? What should you ask your guests to bring? Are there tricks for making cleanup a little easier?

Preparation Goes A long Way

Accomplishing a few entertaining tasks ahead of time can make your bbq run seamlessly. Spend the week before your big event deciding the guest list and menu. Next gather all the grilling tools you’ll need, including your grill tongs, a basting brush, cutting boards for meat, seafood and vegetables, and any wood chips or chunks you’ll want to use. We prefer charcoal and wood but if you’re using propane, make sure to check your tanks and be sure to grab an extra tank just in case. If you plan to use charcoal or wood, make sure you have enough of each and plenty of lighter fluid. If you decide to use charcoal, we recommend using natural wood lump charcoal and wood chunks of either oak, hickory, or alder woods.

Choose The Food

In an effort to save time, make your side dishes in advance, whether you’re making dips, potato or macaroni salad, or desserts. You can easily cut the veggies you’ll be grilling a day ahead of time and makes your sauces or for the meat the morning of your barbecue. Try to knock out any side items like this as soon as possible. Keep in minds, you may not have time to do this the day of, depending on the meats you’ll be cooking. For example, if you’re smoking a brisket, you’ll need to start the brisket early the morning of your barbecue. Which won’t leave you a lot of time to prep everything else.

How Much To Serve?

Deciding how much food to serve can also be tricky. It’s easy to buy too little or too much food. There are some general rules of thumb. For snacks or appetizers, 2 to 3 small servings per person, For example, 2 to 3 chicken wings each. Also, don’t worry about putting everything out at the same time. This will make sure you’re covered for anyone who shows up earlier or later. When it comes to meat, you’ll want about 12 to 18 ounces of meat or seafood per person. What about sides? Two servings per person is just the right amount. You may want to consider providing extra of the most popular side items. Last but not least, dessert. Dessert is easy, one serving per person is the general rule of thumb. If you’d rather not bother, you can ask guests to bring a dessert dish, potluck style.

Cooking Time Guidelines

Timing is important, the items that take the longest are the ones that need a marinade. If you’re cooking a steak or chicken, for example, marinade them in the fridge the night before, or for at least four hours before grilling. Actual cook times will vary depending on what you’re grilling and the thickness of the meat. Whether you’re grilling dark or light meat chicken, and how rare or well done you prefer the meat, will also all play a factor. Beef cooked medium: 7 to 20 minutes. Allow steaks to rest 5 to 10 minutes after removing from grill. Poultry cooked well done: 10 to 20 minutes. Allow chicken to rest 5 to 10 minutes after removing from grill. Shellfish: 4 to 10 minutes. Fish fillets and steaks: 4 to 10 minutes. Whole fish: 12 to 30 minutes.

It’s ok if you don’t have everything ready by the time your guests arrive. People love hanging out with the smell of items on the grill. Allow your guests to mingle and have a beer or two while they wait. If you’re fortunate enough to have an outdoor television, there’s always a game of some sort to put on for entertainment.

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