National BBQ Week | 27th May - 2nd June 2019

It’s official – the UK is going BBQ crazy. Thanks to long hot summers like the one we had in 2018, the barbeque market is growing at an astounding rate. When National Barbeque Week started out back in 1997, the UK saw around 9 million barbeques taking place. That may sound a lot, but last year that figure had risen to almost 140 million. The market is now worth in excess of £1.6 billion per annum.

So what makes the great British BBQ so popular? Whether you have the latest top-of-the-range 4 Burner or a disposable tray bought last-minute from your local garage, the thrill of cooking in the open air with friends and family is something that we are taking to our hearts more and more. Over 75% of us have some sort of barbeque at home – despite this, 48% of Britons say that they are awful at barbequing!

In 2016, research by Kantar Worldpanel suggested that burgers had overtaken sausages as the most popular thing to cook on the Barbie, with chicken coming in third. However, only 14% of those aspiring garden chefs served chicken that had been prepared on the barbeque itself, with most opting to cook in the oven before ‘finishing’ outdoors. At Porc.Wales, we want to see as many of you firing up the BBQ to cook some delicious, healthy treats using pork from Wales, such as our Spicy Pork Burgers and Pork Rocket Kebabs.

Obviously, it’s important to know some basic safety tips for barbequing, especially seeing as it’ll be your friends eating the majority of what you end up serving! Check out these tips from nationalbbqweek.co.uk to ensure that your guests are in safe hands;

Wash your hands thoroughly before preparing food, after touching raw meat and before serving and eating
Unless the cooking instructions say otherwise, always ensure that frozen food is defrosted before BBQ’ing so that it cooks evenly.
Always keep raw and cooked meats separate and keep uncooked meat, fish and vegetables separate from each other when preparing.
Ensure that you have sufficient preparation and serving areas and keep these two apart. If using separate tables, ensure that these are kept well away from the grill.
In hot weather, throw away BBQ’ed food left out for more than an hour.
BBQ’ed food may look well-cooked when it’s not. Burgers, sausages and chicken should ideally be checked with a meat thermometer or cut open and visually checked. If necessary, continue grilling until cooked through.
Never part cook on a BBQ and finish off later. However, you can par-boil poultry in the oven and then immediately finish off on the Barbie for added flavour.

When stocking up for your next barbeque, don’t forget to support your local pork producer by buying quality products direct from them. Share your cookery skills (or ask us any questions) by tweeting us @Porc_Wales or sending us a message on Facebook @Porc.Wales.