Beat my BBQ
The summer is upon us and as the sun begins to shine it means only one thing - that the BBQ season has begun!
This year, we've teamed up with US master BBQ expert Adam Perry Lang who has crossed the pond to show us how we can really hot-up our BBQ skills for a brilliant barbecuing season! Make sure you check out Adam's recipes, top tips and BBQ videos all here.
Online tools
We've also created two great new tools for this summer; download our Beat my BBQ Facebook app to challenge your friends and rate each other's barbecues to see who really is best with the tongs. Or if you're needing extra help then you can also tweet any Barbecue questions to @BBQ_SOS for real-time tips and advice from a team of BBQ experts throughout 'Flaming June'.
Hall of flame
What's more, if you email us your best BBQ pictures to beatmybarbecue@goodrelations.co.uk, you will have the chance to appear in our 'Hall of Flame' and win some great BBQ prizes throughout the summer months - from great summer games to top BBQ tools.
So, with all this at your fingertips and Adam's expert advice, there's no excuse not to fire-up the BBQ and make this your best barbecuing summer yet!
Adam's Top Tips
Be adventurous
Go the extra mile this year and try something different to really wow your guests. Instead of just choosing burgers and sausages, try cooking with a variety of cuts like the much loved steak; anything from your rumps and sirloins to newer cuts like the flat iron steak which has been popular for many years in the States and is just being introduced over here. They're so simple to cook and delicious when grilled on the BBQ if you've got the know-how. Alternatively, if you want the wow factor at a lower cost why not try slow roasting a beef brisket or breast of lamb, then finishing it off on the BBQ before carving it up to share.
Quality
To make sure you're getting good quality meat, look for a quality mark to ensure your meat is Farm Assured and responsibly produced. One you can look for in supermarkets is the Red Tractor logo.
Full of flavour
For delicious beef and lamb barbecues, a great tip is to season and marinate! Choose from a selection of home-made or prepared flavoured butters, dry rubs and marinades. The boys will love a beer marinade - mixed together with Worcestershire sauce and mustard, you can't beat it! Check out www.simplybeefandlamb.co.uk/bbq/relish/ for a host of delicious marinade options for beef and lamb.
Get properly prepped
Make sure you have everything you need to hand before you begin, and don't be tempted to start cooking too soon, it's a sure-fire way to end in disaster! A tried and tested trick is to make sure your BBQ is glowing red and the charcoal has a layer of white ash before you start cooking - this ensures your BBQ is at the right even cooking temperature (otherwise your food could end up burnt on the outside but raw in the middle).
The perfect tool
Simply beef and lamb has created the ultimate barbecue guide with the iBBQ app. iBBQ brings together all the essential elements for perfect barbecue planning - you can use it to check the weather, find a location to legally barbecue away from home, as well as where to buy farm assured beef and lamb, get recipe ideas and tips to help you cook your beef and lamb to perfection. In addition there's the ifillet app - a steak-lovers best friend, which guides you through your cooking to steak perfection. Visit www.simplybeefandlamb.co.uk for full details of both of these free apps.
Get competitive
This year it's all about competitive dining, and the BBQ's no different. Check out www.facebook.com/simplybeefandlamb to try out the 'Beat my BBQ' competitive BBQing Facebook app and challenge your mates to go one better at their alfresco events this summer!
Most important of all
Have fun!
To avoid any BBQ disasters
Just tweet the team of experts at @BBQ_SOS any time throughout 'Flaming June'.