The British BBQ scene has changed massively.
Go back ten or twenty years and, for most of us, BBQ meant getting the charcoal going, throwing on some burgers and sausages and hoping the British weather held out long enough to actually eat them.
Smoking meat certainly existed ten years ago.
But nowhere near on the scale we’re seeing today.
Now you’ve got briskets smoking for 12 hours, pulled pork, ribs, beef short ribs, chicken wings, different woods, homemade sauces, BBQ rubs and people experimenting with cooking techniques from all over the world.
And I think a huge amount of that has come from across the Atlantic.
America has definitely influenced British BBQ
American-style BBQ has exploded in the UK.
Low and slow cooking, offset smokers, brisket, pulled pork, ribs and everything that comes with that style of cooking have become far more mainstream.
Personally, I think it’s brilliant.
But I think there’s another reason it’s grown so quickly.
Social media.
Open Instagram, Facebook, TikTok or YouTube and you’re surrounded by BBQ.
And some of the food people are producing looks absolutely incredible.
Perfectly sliced brisket.
Ribs with an amazing glaze.
Chicken with crispy skin.
Beautiful smoke rings.
Perfectly presented burgers.
I’ll openly admit, I look at some of these cooks and think:
I wish my food looked as pretty as that!
But there’s something I think we sometimes forget.
Looking good and tasting good are two very different things
I speak to lots of people through Backyard Pit Rubs, particularly at events, and something comes up surprisingly often.
People tell me about their failed BBQ attempts.
They’ve watched somebody online cook a brisket, rack of ribs or piece of pork.
They’ve followed the video.
They’ve waited hours.
Then they take theirs off the BBQ…
And it looks absolutely nothing like the one on their phone.
My advice?
Don’t stress.
Mine doesn’t always look like that either.
I’ve cooked plenty of things that tasted absolutely fantastic but wouldn’t have won any prizes for presentation.
I’ve also got things wrong.
That’s cooking.
And there’s another important thing to remember when you’re scrolling through social media looking at incredible BBQ food:
We normally only post it when it goes right.
Nobody’s Instagram feed is filled with the chicken skin that didn’t crisp up properly.
The brisket that took three hours longer than expected.
The ribs that got a little too dark.
The temperature that suddenly decided to run away from you.
Or the dinner that was supposed to be ready at six and eventually appeared at half past nine.
We take a photograph when we nail it.
Then everyone else sees that photograph and thinks:
Why doesn’t mine look like that?
Social media has been brilliant for BBQ
I don’t think that’s a reason to criticise social media.
Quite the opposite.
I think social media has done an enormous amount for the modern British BBQ scene.
I love seeing what other people cook.
There are some incredibly talented cooks out there producing food that genuinely makes your mouth water.
It gives people ideas.
It introduces us to different techniques.
It encourages people to try different cuts of meat.
It’s helped bring American BBQ culture to a much wider UK audience.
And most importantly, I think it’s encouraged people to realise that BBQ can be about so much more than burgers and sausages.
That’s a good thing.
But I also think we need to remember something.
Your BBQ doesn’t need to look like Instagram
If you’ve spent eight hours cooking something and your family demolishes it…
You’ve succeeded.
If your ribs don’t have the perfect glaze but everyone around the table wants another one…
You’ve succeeded.
If your brisket doesn’t have the smoke ring you saw on YouTube but it tastes fantastic…
You’ve succeeded.
And if something goes completely wrong?
You’ve learned something for next time.
That’s how most of us get better at cooking.
Experiment.
Get something wrong.
Work out why.
Try again.
Sometimes you’ll absolutely nail it.
Sometimes you’ll wonder what on earth happened.
And sometimes you’ll produce something that looks terrible but tastes incredible.
I’d take incredible flavour over an Instagram photograph every single time.
All the gear, no idea
There’s a well-known saying:
“All the gear, no idea.”
And I think there’s a little bit of that creeping into modern BBQ.
You can spend an absolute fortune if you want to.
Expensive smokers. Fancy temperature probes. Specialist knives. Premium accessories. Controllers. Gadgets for this. Gadgets for that.
Before you’ve cooked your first rack of ribs, you could have spent thousands.
But here’s the thing.
You don’t need expensive equipment to cook good BBQ.
Most people in Britain are realistically going to use their BBQ for four to six months of the year.
So if you’re just getting started, my advice is simple:
Start with the basics.
Learn to cook on what you’ve got.
Learn how to control your temperature.
Learn the difference between direct and indirect heat.
Experiment with different food.
Work out what you actually enjoy cooking.
Then, as you get more into it, start replacing and upgrading things.
You don’t need everything on day one.
My battered old smoker
Yes, these days I’ve got a decent BBQ setup.
But let’s be fair – BBQ is also part of my business, so I can justify having some decent equipment.
That doesn’t mean I’ve thrown all the old stuff away.
In fact, one of the smokers I still love using is about 15 years old.
It’s battered.
It’s dented.
The thermometer doesn’t work.
If I’m being completely sensible, it should probably have been taken to the scrap pile years ago.
But I can’t bring myself to get rid of it.
Why?
Because it still produces great food.
It doesn’t know it’s old.
The meat certainly doesn’t care that there’s a dent in the side.
And somehow, despite all the shiny new BBQ equipment that’s appeared over the years, I still enjoy firing that old smoker up.
There’s something quite satisfying about producing fantastic food on a piece of equipment that looks like it’s been through a war.
Upgrade as you go
That’s pretty much how I’ve built up my own BBQ equipment.
Slowly.
I’ve replaced things when I’ve needed to.
I’ve upgraded equipment over time.
Some bits have been bought for me as Christmas presents.
And gradually you end up with a collection.
That’s how I’d recommend anybody else approaches it too.
Don’t go mad.
If you’ve got £1,000 to spend on a smoker and that’s what you want, brilliant. Enjoy it.
But don’t think spending £1,000 is what makes you good at BBQ.
A £50 BBQ in the hands of somebody who understands how to use it can produce incredible food.
And an expensive BBQ can still burn a sausage.
The equipment is there to help you.
It isn’t there to replace learning how to cook.
So start simple.
Cook.
Experiment.
Make mistakes.
Upgrade slowly.
Ask for that fancy temperature probe for Christmas.
And one day you might find yourself standing next to a battered 15-year-old smoker with a broken thermometer thinking:
I really should replace this thing.
Then you’ll cook something incredible on it…
And decide it can survive another year.