Barbie-ready? Here’s your spring BBQ checklist

Winter can be hard and long. It can take a real toll on your favourite garden entertainment spot, even when you’ve been out there partying through the cold weather. So what do you need to do to prepare the garden for the good times? Here’s your spring BBQ checklist, peppered with fabulous BBQ photos to make your mouth water.

Spring BBQ checklist

First, uncover everything. The wetter winters we’re getting because of climate change mean outdoor furniture and cooking equipment really does need to be covered up through winter. Luckily all the best BBQs have a fitted cover, some included with the barbie and others available separately.

Fitted protective BBQ covers save you time by minimising cleaning and drying. Your BBQ emerges from its cover clean and dry, as do your other outdoor lifestyle items like garden furniture, parasols, shade sails, solar lamps, patio heaters and chimeneas.

This is the perfect opportunity to hone the area’s layout so it works as well as it possibly can. If there isn’t enough room around the garden furniture in its current position, reconfigure it. If the table and chairs aren’t in the right place relative to your lounging set, move things around.

Rearrange the garden heating, garden lighting, and the position of your barbecue – maybe it’s been in a place where the wind howls through, messing with your cooking, or too close to a bed of flowers and plants. Can everyone chat comfortably?

Think about what’s missing. Are people having to balance their drinks on the patio because there’s nowhere convenient to put them? Is there a cold spot to fill with a patio heater? Do your guests keep falling down the garden steps – if so do you need solar lights to show them the way? Perhaps you keep scorching your legs because the garden lounger is too close to the chimenea. It’s all fixable.

It’s so much more fun entertaining outdoors when the setting doesn’t just look welcoming, it’s also practical, logical, and comfortable.

Safety first. Is the patio slimy and green? If so, give it a good scrub so people don’t injure themselves. Scrub your BBQ cooking equipment spotlessly clean using piping hot water and detergent, especially if it’s been stashed in the shed or a garden storage box for the winter. Do the same with the BBQ’s cooking grills and hot plates if you didn’t get round to it at the end of last season. If you did, do it again to keep things fresh.

How about fire safety? If you used your fire blanket last year, get a new one. If you didn’t prepare for putting fires out, do it this time so you know exactly what to do if it happens. Less running around like a headless chicken, more leaping into action like a well-oiled machine 😉

Next, BBQ fuel. Stock up now instead of experiencing existential panic when you realise you don’t have any, or don’t have enough. If you have BBQ fuel left over from last season, check to make sure it’s dry, safe and useable.

Yum. There are literally thousands of BBQ food recipes online, including a zillion Vegan and vegetarian options, plus plenty for pescatarians as well as the carnivores amongst us. Take a tour of the BBC Food site, for example, for enough ideas to keep you going for a lifetime of barbecuing.

So you’ve picked up a batch of tasty new BBQ recipes to try. Finally, make sure you’ve got the right BBQ accessories. How about a cast iron cookpot, chicken roaster, burger press, a serving board for your antipasti, or some great quality skewers?

Now all you need is people and you’re ready to rock ‘n’ roll. Let’s raise a glass to your first spring garden party of the year!