What’s Your BBQ Personality?


I listened to a conversation this morning that my husband and a few male friends of ours were having. They were talking about the best methods to BBQ, whether to poke the sausages before you put them on, how hot the BBQ should be and what tools are the best for flipping. It was all done in a very manly “hey look at my flame” sort of tone. These guys literally started to morph into cavemen in front of my eyes. I had a good giggle to myself because I know for a fact that my husband doesn’t do any of the barbecuing in our house because he has what I call “a Slasher” BBQ personality. He insists on slashing into the meat on the grill to check it’s doneness about 20 times which infuriates me to no end because all he accomplishes is letting all those precious juices run out. He’s been banned from the BBQ after one too many dry steaks.

So I got to thinking what type of BBQ personality I was. I used to be “The Wanderer”. I had a tendency to multi-task while I had the BBQ going. You know the type…put something on the grill, walk away to do 18 other things like fix the rest of dinner, read school notes, check emails, break up a few squabbles and fold the laundry. Then smell the smoke and rush out with tongs in hand! Nothing a little spicy salsa couldn’t cover up but I have learned that it will save me time (and money with one too many burnt out BBQs) in the long run by paying attention to the task at hand.

Here are a few different BBQ personalities I have come across and some tips on getting your household griller in fine BBQ form.

The Poker: Keeps poking and stabbing holes in the meat to let some of the fat out. Similar to The Slasher but does it much more frequently! All this results in is the loss of juices that will keep your meat moist and tender. Use long handled tongs to turn food instead of a fork. Note: The Poker also usually likes to flatten out those big thick burgers, letting all those juices out and leaving you with a tough hockey puck to put between your bun.

The Flipper: The Flipper insists on turning the meat every 28 seconds resulting in leaving half the meat stuck on the grill. Let the meat get a good sear first before turning – only once. The meat will naturally “unlock” itself from the grill after a few minutes allowing all those flavours to be sealed in and keeping the meat from sticking to the grill.

The Baster: This person should have been a painter. Back and forth, back and forth with the basting brush they go. The Baster’s meat usually ends up with a sticky, burnt outside and an undercooked or incredibly dry inside, never mind the singed eyebrows from the constant flare-ups! Better to baste your food the last 10 minutes of grilling to reduce chance of burning. Remember not to baste the food with the marinade that the raw meat or poultry was sitting in to reduce any chance of food borne bacteria.

The Fast & Furious: Probably the most dangerous of the lot, this person lights the BBQ to high and immediately slaps the food on. Then they leave the lid open, flipping, poking and prodding at a furious pace! Far better to let the grill heat up to high, sear your meat, then turn the temperature down to avoid burning the outside and undercooking the inside. Keep the lid closed to keep an even temperature and help to reduce unnecessary extended cooking time.