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Dec 13, 2023

The 5 common BBQ mistakes that are putting your family and friends at risk

THOUGH the weather doesn't always permit it, Brits do love a summer barbecue. But in the frenzy of delivering sausages, burgers and other delicious treats to your guests, you might make some crucial

THOUGH the weather doesn't always permit it, Brits do love a summer barbecue.

But in the frenzy of delivering sausages, burgers and other delicious treats to your guests, you might make some crucial mistakes when preparing your food.

Some of these are simple, like not washing your hands or leaving your food out a little too long.

But you do run the risk of making your guests ill.

The Sun spoke to food hygiene and health and safety consultant Sylvia Anderson about things need to keep in mind when hosting a summer barbecue.

A big mistake many a barbecue-er can make is putting the food on their coals too early, Sylvia said.

The coals should have turned white and stopped smoking before you load up your barbecue with high risk meats like chicken, sausages and burgers, the food safety consultant stressed.

But she said people make the mistake of putting their food in when the coals are still glowing red and flaming.

"So what happens is they're trying to cook the chicken, but it's essentially smoke," Sylvia went on.

What'll often happen in this instance is that you'll burn your meat on the outside, but when you take it off the heat and cut into it, it'll be pink.

"That's what gives people food poisoning," according to Sylvia.

With coal BBQs it can be difficult to keep the heat consistent across the grill, so Sylvia said you regularly turn the meat and move it around to get an even cook.

Disposable BBQs can also take longer to heat up and longer to cook food, she added.

Even if you heat your coals up right, many people might not know how long to cook their meat for, the food safety expert went on.

The 'dangerous three' when it comes to meat are chicken, sausages and burgers, Sylvia noted.

For steaks, the E. coli bacteria is on the outside, so when you sear it off on all sides you kill it off and that's why you can eat it rare and not get sick, she explained.

But the meat for sausages and burgers is minced, so the bacteria is all the way through it.

As for chicken, the germs are in the muscle so can be found throughout the flesh.

This means they all require thorough cooking to make the meat safe to eat.

She suggested always checking the packaging on the meat you buy, as it will tell you how long it needs to cook.

But a rough estimate is 15 to 25 minutes on the barbecue, depending on how thick the piece is, Sylvia said.

And always check whether the middle is pink before eating or serving to your guests - heat always takes longest to get to the middle of a cut.

She noted that chicken with the bone is will always take longer.

You can also solve the under-cooking issue by precooking your meat and finishing it off on the BBQ, or giving it a sear on your coals and then transferring to the oven.

"Most people are not going to have a probe at home," Sylvia said, but she did recommend getting one if you're planning on playing BBQ host.

You can get a meat thermometer for as cheap as £5.99 on Amazon.

If you've got one handy, check your burgers and sausages have reached a temperature of 75°C - this'll tell you they're cooked all the way through.

They also need to steaming hot inside.

This seems like a pretty basic tip, but many people forget to regularly wash their hands in between handling food.

"Always wash your hands before you start cooking, wash your hands in between touching raw products and cooked products," Sylvia advised.

An easy mistake to make is to carry your raw meat to the barbecue on a plate and place it on the same one after cooking.

You might also make the same mistake with tongs.

"Make sure you use different tongs - you should have tongs for raw food and tongs for cooked food," Sylvia said.

Anything that is for raw food on the barbecue must not be reused again for the cooked food."

According to Sylvia, "hot food has a window".

You can leave it out for up to two hours after you've cooked it.

Meanwhile, "cold food can have a four hour window before it can potentially start potentially causing food poisoning".

Once that window of time has passed, it's best to throw away your food or risk getting food poisoning - so make sure your guests are hungry and you've planned the quantities well!

According to the Food Standards Agency (FSA), there are 2.4 million cases of food-borne illness a year, and the risk rises in summer as the warm weather boosts bacterial growth.

According to the FSA, you can help minimise the risk germs spreading by:

If you also keep you barbecue in your garden year-round, you should also inspect it and give it a good clean before using it.

Bear in mind that when you're using frozen meat, it can not cook as thoroughly on the BBQ.

It's best to plan ahead and defrost the meat overnight in the fridge. You can also use the microwaved on its defrost setting to fully thaw the food - but in this case you should cook and eat it within 24 hours.