Five tips for a sumptuous summer barbecue

The sun is set to shine again this weekend, and those lucky enough to have access to a garden are turning their minds to al-fresco dining. So we’ve gathered together our top five tips to help you pull off your weekend barbecue – everything from how to get the best out of your meat, to barbecue-friendly puddings.

1. Marinating

Marinating meat (and veg!) is a no-brainer when it comes to injecting flavour quickly and easily: using punchy spices, herbs, sugars and salts and letting them get to know the raw meat is minimal work for maximum reward. Ideally, you marinate quite far in advance, 12-24 hours depending on the marinade (that, for me, is part of its appeal; less frantic work just before I cook), but even if you forget and end up doing it half an hour before you grill while your barbecue is pre-heating, it’s still going to give bags more flavour than you would get without it.

It might sound obvious, but I speak from experience: don’t forget to season your marinade, otherwise your meat or veg will end up disappointingly bland no matter how many aromatics and chilli peppers you’ve rubbed into it.

Keeping meat moist and tender as it cooks over a high heat is the key to getting good results from small pieces of meat (on a skewer, for example), or lean cuts like chicken breast. Something as simple as rubbing the meat with a little olive oil and vinegar, or oil and wine will make a difference. Add some herbs, and you have a souvlaki-style marinade.

Marinating in yoghurt or buttermilk is a fantastic way of ensuring that any flavourings stick to the meat and protects the meat from drying out – but even better, the acids in the dairy react with the proteins in the meat and actively tenderises it: try buttermilk-marinated chicken or yoghurt and mint lamb skewers.