Counter culture: The kit you need for outdoor eating

Julia Platt Leonard rounds up the best outdoor barbecuing kit, from a pre-made meat box delivered to your door to a thermometer to ensure meat is never undercooked again

Made especially for a barbecue, your meat will never be underdone again (Thermapen )

I’m never one to knowingly walk past a cookware shop. There is the inherent promise that when I enter those doors I’ll find something new, something shiny, and something I never even knew I needed. Of course the ‘'need'’ is really ‘'want'’ but why quibble? Summer means cooking outdoors and that means a whole new excuse – I mean reason – to do a bit of cookware shopping.

Truth be told, cooking outdoors doesn’t demand much in terms of specialist kit. Most of what we use indoors, very happily transports outdoors. But there are a few items that are absolutely essential and a few cheeky extras that I’d add to a wish list. If barbecuing is your thing, then the first stop should be a two-piece grilling set. Skip the short-handled versions you use indoors, for the great outdoors you want long-handled versions to keep your hands away from the flame.

OXO makes a nice set with soft, non-slip handles with a comfortable grip. The tongs have a slight angle so it’s easier to pick up pieces of meat and a locking mechanism so you can store them easily. Both the tongs and the turner come with hooks as well to hang them up so you’re ready to grill at a moment’s notice.

Packed with organic meat, Abel & Cole's boxes select meat for barbecuing and deliver it

Another ‘'must-have'’ is a Thermapen instant thermometer to get an accurate temperature read on your meat, so there’s no second guessing if it’s done or not. It’s a brilliant design with no buttons or switches. You simply unfold the probe, insert it in the meat and read the temperature.

It’s very fast so you’re not lingering over a hot barbecue and it’s also incredibly accurate. Thermapen makes special barbecue thermometers but its standard model is up to the job unless you’re considering ditching the day job, booking a flight to the US and joining the barbecue competition circuit. You can use the Thermapen indoors or out too. It’s an essential for everything from checking the temperature when tempering chocolate, making salted caramels or roasting a turkey. Its Classic Superfast 3 is £51.60.

This basting pot and brush has a useful handle to keep the two together

If you like to grill fish, a fish grill basket is a nice addition to your batterie de cuisine. You place the fish inside the basket, clamp it closed and set the basket on the grill. It makes it easier to flip fish and helps it hold its shape so it doesn’t flake apart – two nice benefits. For prawns or smaller bits of meat or vegetables, a grill basket is helpful. The perforations are small enough to keep the food from dropping into the flames but large enough to allow the heat and smoke to circulate so you get true barbecue flavour. Weber – the barbecue kings – make a nice range of different sized baskets including the Deluxe Grilling Basket that retails for £29.99.


 Make perfect patties with this press; it even has measurements on the side

In the not critical but nice to have category is a burger press. Yes, you can make your own patties but a press makes them uniform size and shape so they cook consistently and look nice as well. They’re also handy if you want to make a stuffed burger with cheese. OXO Good Grips make one with measuring guidelines marked on the side so you can see how big your burgers are without having to weigh them out. It retails for £12.

Souschef – the online gourmet food and cookware shop – do a smart BBQ saucepan with basting brush which is handy to have when cooking outdoors. The pan has spouts on either side for pouring while the silicon basting brush sits on the handle securely so you’ve got everything you need close to hand. It’s nice for basting meat or why not whip up an oil, herb and spice mixture to baste fish or grilled vegetables? At only £7.95, it’s a no guilt addition to the shopping basket.

Stop fish from flaking off and breaking by using this grill basket

Souschef also offers a nifty line of barbecue rubs and spices, inspired by BBQ champs from the US who know their stuff. Dry rubs are a great way to introduce flavour to meat before it hits the heat. A set of three different rubs costs £19.80 and includes the prosaically named Eat BBQ Zero to Hero Sweet Rub (it has a fabulous aroma and is ace on pork ribs); Plowboys BBQ Bovine Bold (for low ‘n slow brisket); and Bad Byron’s Butt Rub (a good all-rounder). Of course, there is no guarantee that your results will be award-winning, but it can’t hurt.

Once you’ve got your grilling kit sorted, you can get go online and order organic meat delivered to your door with an Abel & Cole barbecue box. For £14, you get their Brilliant Barbecue Box which comes with an assortment of food such as chicken drumsticks, beef burgers and chipolata sausages – easily enough to satisfy 3-4 hungry guests. Or for £50, dine like barbecue royalty on the Gourmet Barbecue Box – a tempting assortment of tomahawk steak (a carnivore’s delight), rack of lamb and a spatchcock chicken. It’s all superb meat, ethically reared, plus it saves you a trip to the shops.

The only thing that’s missing is someone to cook the food, but that’s what you’re there for, right?