Your Ultimate Guide to BBQ Season: What to Grill This Summer
BBQ season always feels like a bit of a turning point in the year. As soon as the weather improves, food naturally moves outdoors and quick weekday suppers turn into something cooked on the grill. Socialising with friends and family picks up pace and weekends start revolving around who’s firing up the barbecue next.
It’s one of the simplest ways to bring people together. Nothing complicated, just good food, cooked outside, with great company. But while it all feels relaxed, the difference between an average BBQ and a really good one usually comes down to what you put on the grill and how you prepare it.
Moving Beyond the Basics
For a long time, BBQs in the UK meant the same few things: burgers, sausages and chicken drumsticks. I will always be here to defend these BBQ staples, because they have definitely earned their place on the leaderboard. But over the past few years, people have started using the BBQ in a much more interesting way.
You’ll now see proper steaks being cooked outside, chicken thighs going into marinades beforehand, ribs being cooked until they’re sticky and tender, and skewers packed with seasoned meat and vegetables. Even the more familiar options have improved, with better-quality sausages and burgers becoming more common.
More variety means more flavours, and more reasons to do it all again next week.
Better Meat, Better Marinades
If there’s one thing that really lifts a BBQ, it’s the quality of the meat you start with. Good cuts cook more evenly, hold their moisture better, and tend to have a deeper flavour once they’re done. It also takes away a lot of the stress when you’re cooking, so you’re not constantly worrying about things drying out or going wrong on the grill.
That’s exactly why well-prepared BBQ selections, like our BBQ meat packs, make such a difference. Everything is chosen with grilling in mind, and to make things even easier, we’re currently including a handy meat cooking guide and BBQ recipe cards with every BBQ pack order.
Marinades play just as big a role too. They’re one of the easiest ways to add flavour without much effort. Whether it’s smoky BBQ, garlic and herb, peri peri or something sweet and sticky, marinades help build flavour before the meat even hits the grill. Then, as it cooks, they start to caramelise and give you that delicious BBQ finish, slightly charred, full of flavour, and a bit more interesting than plain seasoning alone.
What we love about marinades is how flexible they are. The same cut of chicken can taste completely different depending on the marinade you use, which keeps things varied without changing what you’re cooking. If you haven’t explored our Downland range of tantalising meat seasonings and marinades, you don’t know what you’re missing!
The Best Meats for the Grill
Some meats just work better on a BBQ than others, and knowing what to go for makes everything easier. Steaks are always a favourite because they handle high heat well, giving you a good sear on the outside while staying tender in the middle. Chicken thighs are another solid option because they stay nice and juicy, and take on marinades really well.
Burgers and sausages are still at the heart of most BBQs, but the difference in quality really shows. Butcher-made versions tend to have better texture and a lot more flavour, which makes a noticeable difference once they’re cooked.
Then you’ve got ribs and skewers, the kind of food that usually gets people coming back for seconds. Ribs work best when they’ve had time to cook slowly and are finished on the grill and skewers are great for variety, mixing different meats and vegetables so everything cooks quickly and evenly.
A few simple habits also help everything turn out better. Letting meat come up to room temperature before cooking helps it cook more evenly. Giving everything enough space on the grill stops it from steaming. And resisting the urge to constantly flip things gives the meat time to develop decent colour and flavour. And finally, once cooked, always give meat a short rest before serving.
Bringing It All Together
BBQ season is meant to be social and straightforward, and having the right meat ready is essential. Our BBQ meat packs are put together with exactly that in mind, providing a mix of quality cuts that work well on the grill, without you needing to plan every detail yourself. To make things even easier, every BBQ meat pack order currently comes with a FREE handy meat cooking guide, packed with simple tips and inspiration to help you get the best from every cut.
After all, BBQs don’t need to be complicated. They just need good food cooked well, that tastes great and brings people together. With sunny skies on the horizon this holiday weekend, you’d better get your order in today if you want to be ready for grill time!