Summer is coming. The nights are much lighter, the temperatures are much warmer, all pointing in one direction- barbeque season. The barbeque has been a British summer staple for many years and has been a cooking method since the dawn of time. However, if you wish to make this year’s summer one to remember, then a gas barbeque will offer the ease of indoor cooking, allowing you to enjoy the social occasion.

Why Buy a Gas BBQ?

There are so many advantages of a gas barbeque as opposed to a traditional coal-burning barbeque;

Ease of Cleaning – No need to wait for the ashes to cool down, once you have turned off your BBQ, you can give it a quick clean and carry on with the evening. A coal barbeque requires a long wait and will be left for the next day, giving bacteria and food spills time to grow and set in, making it much harder to clean and encouraging rust.

Ease of Starting –  Even with quick lighting bags of coal, it can sometimes take a good hour or so for a coal barbeque to heat up and be usable. A gas burner will be ready from the minute you set it up.

Still Maintains The Flavour – The biggest misconception of a gas barbeque is that the food doesn’t quite taste the same as a coal burner. This is very much a myth. The taste of barbeque food comes from the juices escaping and hitting a hot surface, so whether it is a coal or gas burner, you still achieve that same great home barbeque taste. Manageable Heat – Most gas barbeques will come with a dial to adjust the flames. This allows you to control the speed at which food is cooked, preventing overcooking, drying out or creating charcoal of food, which is quickly done with coal.

How to Choose a Gas BBQ

Buying your first barbeque could lead you to a series of questions about which one is right for you. The primary consideration you must prioritise is who will be attending your garden parties? If it is just you and one or two others, then a colossal outdoor kitchen won’t be something you would get the use out of. However, a small and compact gas barbeque could be ideal. Whilst barbeques are measured like any other inanimate object to offer you the size, to understand the capacity, they are categorised into burners.

The burners relate to the tubes running down the barbeque, which, once connected to a 5kg patio gas, will provide the fuel and are lit by the ignitor. The more burners you have on a barbeque, the more cooking capacity the device has. They range from 2 burners to 6 burners and the right one will all depend on your use and requirements. A four-burner usually provides enough room for a family gathering, whereas a six-burner can cater to a large group of friends.

Whilst every barbeque will come with standard burners, many larger gas barbeques will come with an additional side burner. In contrast to the tubes in the main of the barbeque, the side burner is usually round and is suitable for small pans. These are ideal for frying off smaller food items such as onions or even sauces to garnish your cooked food. These do tend to increase the price of the equipment. Still, it can often be worth it to increase your cooking facilities to a range of different food (in addition, they can make a great chocolate dipping station with roasted marshmallows).

Choosing the Right Gas for Your BBQ

When it comes to finding the suitable gas, we have you covered. No matter how big or small you have chosen for your new barbeque, they all use the same gas for cooking; liquid petroleum gas. There are two kinds of LPG gas, butane and propane. Whilse either gas is suitable for barbequing, the most popular choice is propane.

The benefit of using propane is that it will last longer. When buying bottled gas, most people may intend to use their gas barbeque all year long. However, for most, once the weather turns and cools, it makes it less appealing to be cooking outdoors, and their 13kg propane gas bottle will be stored away in the shed, garage or basement for next year. Whilst butane can be stored away quite as easily, propane offers a boiling point of -42°, which allows this to last all year round, and you will still find the same amount left in the bottle when you return to it next year, unlike butane. Whichever you decide to buy, make sure you buy from a reputable LPG and Calor Gas stockist for the best high-quality LPG gas bottles, 5kg propane, 13kg propane patio gas bottles and more.

Choosing The Right Food

Now that you have the correct gas barbeque, the suitable LPG gas cylinders and an event planned in your calendar, it is time to prepare the right food.

If you wish to stick to the classics, the most popular items are burgers, sausages and chicken drumsticks, but if you would like to step up your barbeque game, we have some mouthwatering recipes below.

Fiery Prawn and Pepper Skewers

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:

• Three garlic cloves, crushed
• One red chilli, finely chopped
• ½ small bunch parsley, finely chopped
• 1 tsp sweet smoked paprika
• ½ tsp hot smoked paprika
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 400g raw king prawns, in their shells, if you like, or keep the tails on
• One jar of pickled cherry peppers, drained
• Lemon wedges to serve

Method:

Gather the garlic, chilli, parsley, paprika and olive oil and mix them in a bowl. Stir in the prawns and season before covering the bowl and putting it into the fridge. Marinate the prawns for at least 30 minutes before threading the prawns onto the skewers, separating them with the peppers.  

On high heat, place the skewers into the centre of the grill of your gas barbeque for 3-4 minutes until they become pink and opaque. Serve straight away with a squeeze of lemon. Remember to check if your guests have any allergies to seafood before choosing this recipe.

Grilled Aubergine with Sticky BBQ Sauce  (Suitable for Vegans)

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 medium aubergines
• 2 tbsp sunflower or vegetable oil
• 1 tbsp sesame seeds

For the Sauce

• 1 tbsp red miso (optional)
• 4 tbsp white miso (5 tbsp if not using red miso)
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 2 tbsp mirin, Japanese sweet cooking sake
• 100 ml dashi

Method:

Preheat the oven to 190°C. Whilst waiting for the oven, cut your aubergines in half, leaving the stalks present for decorative aesthetic. Score the vegetable in a crosshatch pattern. This allows the sauce to penetrate and flavour the aubergine well.

Brush each half of the aubergine with the oil and roast them for 20-25 minutes until you can see the vegetable soften. While the oven cooks, it is time to create the mouthwatering sauce. Place the miso, sugar, mirin and dashi in a pan and warm over medium heat, stirring regularly, until the sauce thickens.

Once the aubergines are ready, bring them out of the oven, pour over the sauce and place them onto the barbeque for 4-5 minutes until they brown off even further. Serve with a garnish of vegan mayonnaise or on their own. With all you need for the perfect barbeque and high-quality gas from us, you can successfully earn your crown as king of the barbeque this summer. You can order all our bottled gases online, and we offer speedy delivery, so don’t forget yours today!