Cooking a meal outdoors for family and friends can be lots of fun. Unfortunately, it can also turn to tragedy if you haven't taken the proper steps to ensure your backyard barbeque doesn't become a blazing bonfire. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
1. Set up your barbeque grill on a flat, even surface. It should be placed far away from the house (including overhanging eaves) as well as at a safe distance from trees, shrubs, decks, hanging plants, patio umbrellas and anything else that might catch fire.
2. Ensure that curious pets and adventurous toddlers will be closely supervised and kept at a safe distance from your barbeque area. For older children who want to help Mom and Dad flip the burgers or put hot dogs and corn on the grill, make sure that they only do so under adult supervision and have been instructed beforehand about the dangers of high heat and unexpectedly sputtering flames.
3. Wear clothing that hugs your body as opposed to styles that fit loosely or have billowing sleeves, long hems or scarves that could accidentally catch on fire. Likewise, if your guests are wearing outfits that invite this kind of safety hazard, be firm in advising them to enjoy your barbeque finesse from a distance instead of hovering over the grill.
4. Assemble all of your long-handled barbeque tools and oven mitts before you ever light the flame. The majority of fires that have been started by barbeques are a result of cooks who suddenly realize they forgot something and dash inside the house for only a minute to retrieve it. Only a minute, of course, is all it takes for an unguarded flame to jump out of control.
5. Place a large bucket of sand on the ground next to the barbeque. When you're grilling burgers and steaks, the fat that drips off during cooking can ignite and cause mini bursts of flame. While most of these will subside quickly, the sand is an emergency measure for those that continue to flair. A handful of sand will efficiently smother them.
6. Use a charcoal chimney to safely light your coals. In an earlier era, coals were typically ignited after they had been drenched with at least half a can of lighter fluid. If the chef determined that the coals weren't getting hot enough, out came the remainder of the lighter fluid to be squirted into the flames, causing a pyrotechnic "whoosh" that fathers seemed to think was a pretty cool trick. Environmental studies have subsequently found that all of those strong fumes are a health hazard, not to mention that squirting lighter fluid directly on an open flame is an invitation to singed eyebrows at the very least. With a charcoal chimney, you put the chimney in the bottom of the grill, place some wadded up newspaper in the bottom of the chimney, add your charcoal and light the newspaper.
7. Enlist an assistant to bring the food out to you when the grill is ready for barbequing. If you are barbequing solo, you will need to bring the food out yourself in a covered dish before you light the grill. Again, it's all about having everything close at hand so that you don't have to turn your back on your open-flame cooking.
8. Put the top cover on the barbeque and close the bottom vents after you have removed the last barbeque item from the grill. Make sure that the fire in the grill is completely extinguished when you have completed all of your cooking. This can be done with sand or with water and is critical before you go inside, go to bed, or take off to buy ice cream.
Tags: lighter fluid, your barbeque, bring food, catch fire, charcoal chimney
