The Basics of Barbecuing: A Handy Guide

St. David's Park - May 11^th 2017

North Wales has had its first bit of proper sunshine on our over the past few days and we hope you made the most of it. Some of you may have even had the barbecue out for the first time this year over the weekend. Well if your burgers resembled lumps of coal, fear not! We have put together a little guide to brilliant burgers and sublime sausages...

Slow n’ Low

When you break it down cooking through any medium is pretty simple – all you need is the right temperature for the right amount of time. That can be easier said than done though and one key thing to barbecuing is to not think of it like grilling meat which is a common mistake. Grilling uses high and direct heat whereas barbecuing should consist of lower indirect heat over a longer period of time. So to avoid burgers that resemble charcoal use the “Slow n’ Low” technique!

The Meat

May seem fairly obvious but the better the meat, the better the taste! Sure 12 burgers for £1 may offer good value but in terms of taste why not call in on the local butcher and get yourself some hand-made burgers or fresh meat hand prepared that very day? Plus, the butcher will be more than happy to offer their expertise and recipes for the meat. Down the road in Benllech we have two butchers; Ellis D & A & Sons and Glandwr. If you really want to geek out you could look up the perfect internal meat temperatures for what your cooking with a probe thermometer… the reward will be in the taste!

Flavouring

In Britain barbecuing seems to be a few burgers and sausages, black on the outside and hastily put in some cheap supermarket baps with a good quirt of tomato or BBQ sauce. We could learn a lot from across the pond here. Barbecuing over there is a pastime with bursts of flavour the difference. You can by specialist meat rubs and sauces from most supermarkets now. These are most commonly dry and rubbed into the meat prior to cooking, sauces, as I’m sure you know, are wet and applied when the meat is almost done so it caramelises over the meat. Ditch the bottle of ketchup and try something new!

The Barbecue

With prices ranging from £10 to £3000, finding the right cooker is essential and having a well-suited cooker or grill will make the world of difference. A quick, maybe a bit obvious, is using the price as a guide for quality. Also, when you’re in the shop lift up the barbecue – the heavier it is, the better quality the steel. The main choice you will face is gas or charcoal. Gas barbecues allow you to start cooking almost familiar and tend to cook more evenly as the heat is better regulated whereas the taste from charcoal is much more distinctive and succulent due to the longer time it takes to cook the meat. In terms of running costs, a popular choice for gas barbecues is a 13kg for £30 which will last around 12 hours. A typical 7kg bag of charcoal should be in the region of £7 - £10 and should fuel around 3 barbecues. Our friends at Fron Goch are currently running offers on barbecues (they also stock locally sourced meat so worth a visit!) such as the handmade Kadai fire bowls which are great for spaces such as decked areas outside caravans. Made from recycled oil drums, these are hand cut metal plates riveted in the traditional way for strength and durability. Fron Goch is located just 25 minutes away from St. David's Park down the road from our sister park Coed Helen, just put LL54 5RL in your sat-nav.

St. David's Park  is one of the premier parks on Anglesey and we carry a wide selection of new and pre-owned caravans and lodges available to view on our site. From St. David's Park you are perfectly situated to explore North Wales and all of the beauty, activities and attractions that the area boasts.