It might be that time of the month when it would seem like a great time to host your very own outdoor barbecue. What more than a great gathering where you, your family, and friends may all get together and have a good time while munching on some deliciously cooked meals. There is no need to get an event planner or go through a lot of reservations and make a lot of adjustments but simply just a few steps to host a great barbecue. Here are things to consider when hosting the perfect outdoor barbecue.
Make Sure Everything in Good Condition
Makes sure that everything that will be used is in good condition and will be ready for when your gathering begins. Either clean up plates and utensils or prepare plastic utensils and paper plates if you’re focusing on an easier clean-up. Make sure the grill is all clean and ready to go for the day and check that you have enough gas for when you will cook. Every time you use a grill, be sure to clean it properly and maintain it well so that it will be good to go for future usage as well.
Picking Out What to Cook
Choose what you will be cooking such as steaks, patties, sausages, and more meat for several of the guests. Sometimes guests will ask if they can bring meat as well which you can allow so there are more choices for food. In the case that there are people who do not eat meat or would prefer something else, you can always prepare vegetarian options such as corn, vegetable patties, zucchini, and more. Depending on who you invite make sure that people will be comfortable and will eat what is prepared.
Ingredients and Cooking Process
Make sure to prepare any additional ingredients you are going to use for cooking if you want to add some flavor to the food and be sure to cook everything properly. Give meat time to defrost after taking it out of the cooler and make sure that when you cook, the heat is prepared well. Try not to overcook anything and if you are new to using a grill, ask your friends to assist you and try to do some learning online as well.
Serving Side dishes
Since grilling will take some time, it would be nice to prepare some side dishes that people can snack on as appetizers such as mashed potato, corn slaw, and other simple snacks. A nice side dish goes pretty well with the main meat that is grilled as well so this can also build up the perfect meal for you and your guests. Buying bread is also a good choice since it’s great for snacking on early before gorging on some delicious meat.
Choosing Beverages
Prepare something to drink that suits everyone or have multiple choices of drinks such as water from a dispenser, canned soda, wine or even beer. Be sure to check if there are kids though and make sure that there is juice or soda from them and try to separate the container for alcoholic beverages and the rest.
Inviting People
When inviting people be sure to let them know what kind of a gathering it would be and consider inviting your neighbors since they are pretty much just next to you and this could also be a nice gesture, especially since the delicious smell of the barbecue will be all over the place. It’s also a great way to get to know each other and make more friends so try to invite others near you as well as your family and friends to get to know more people and build up better relationships with everyone.
Setting Up Your Area
Make sure you have the right furniture such as tables or chairs so that people won’t be standing up the whole time. You can always move furniture into the are temporary if that’s fine with you or you can look up a place to rent tables and chairs. Be sure to have more than enough chairs for everyone just in case they bring someone along and make sure to set up everything in a way that it’s not so crowded and that there is space to move around. Be careful with the placement of your BBQ too, arborists recommend that you keep your BBQ away from any tree cover as heat and smoke can cause permanent damage to the canopy and overall tree health.
Cleaning Up Afterwards
Regardless of where you are celebrating, you will need to clean up and this can sometimes be a bit of a bother if solutions to smarter ways to clean are available. Using paper plates and plastic utensils is fine but be sure to have a designated trash bin so that people will know where to place the trash. Always make sure there is a place to toss away the no longer needed trash and even better have one for biodegradable and non-biodegradable trash.
Hosting an outdoor barbecue can be really fun and a lot of people have a great time and leave with a full belly and a smile on their faces. Getting ready for the perfect outdoor barbecue is easy as long as you stick to the basics and follow the right steps while keeping the important things in mind.
