There’s no doubt one of the highlights of summer is the family BBQ. Getting everyone around for a fun afternoon of activities, great food and maybe a few tasty drinks is a popular activity across the UK. But how do you host the best family BBQ?
Plan the menu
Food is all-important for the family event, but you want to be a little smart about it – don’t leave everything to be done on the day or you will be too tired to enjoy the party.
With a BBQ, the centrepiece will usually be the different meat dishes such as burgers, sausages, marinade chicken and even pork steaks. These are cooked on the day as people want them. But you want to add other items to the menu to complement these.
Salads are a great idea. From pasta salad and potato salad to coleslaw, these can be made ahead and refrigerated until they are needed. They work perfectly alongside the meat dishes and are cool to their hot. You can even consider things like couscous mixed with roasted vegetables for a warm option.
Grab those tablecloths
Wherever you serve the food, you want to have some kind of protective covering down and this is where tablecloths can help. Two clever types are perfect for the family BBQ – vinyl cloths or oilcloths.
Both of these come in bright colours and patterns but more importantly, wipe clean. So, if there’s a spillage, you can easily mop it up to prevent flies being attracted. And at the end of the day, these wipe clean easily and can be folded up and stored for the next family event.
We stock an amazing range of disposable tablecloths that are perfect for your family BBQ, you can view our range here.
Have the right serving bowls
Serving bowls and dishes are important to help protect the food while making it easy for everyone to serve themselves. Consider boxes or dishes with lids that can be easily snapped into place between serving for the cold or cool dishes.
For the raw meat, consider having a cool box with the meat in different food bags ready to be cooked. That way, it doesn’t get warm while waiting to be cooked and the risk of bacteria growing on the surface is reduced.
Once the meat is cooked, aim to serve as quickly as possible. If not, find ways to store it with lids and out of the sun so flies aren’t attracted to it.
If you are having lots of company or just need some extra plates and bowls, our range of disposable party wear can help you put on the perfect BBQ with ease. Check out our range here.
Keep the kids occupied
Planning the food is a big job but don’t forget, if kids are attending, you will want to have some ideas to keep them occupied. A paddling pool could be a fun idea if there’s enough room while all kinds of lawn toys can keep their attention without adults needing to constantly supervise.
Enjoy! By preparing ahead and using clever things like wipe-clean tablecloths, you can enjoy the party without spending all of your time hosting it. Prepare some food ahead and have a simple way to store it between servings then you don’t need to stress about those pesky summer flies.