Jason’s How to Be a Fabulous BBQ Host

Now that's what I call a good barbeque

Since the dawn of mankind, early man have been blessed with the power to harness fire and with that the invention of cooked meat. Since then, there always sometime primal when it comes to man, the crackling flames and the sound of meat searing. Fast forward today, modern man Jason, BBQ supremo-wannabe and super host, will share with you his ideas on how to run the perfect BBQ gathering. Read on!

1. Book out the BBQ place in advance. Staying in a condo, sometimes it could be a pain when it comes to booking a BBQ pit especially on eve’s of public holidays. If you have a nice garden with a BBQ pit, make sure its cleaned out in advance.
2. If you have some budget, go for the quick start charcoals such as Kingsford’s which you can get from Tesco’s / Carrefour. Saves you time and the pain of starting up the fire especially during windy conditions. Once the fire is started, you can mix it up with the basic charcoals to save money.
3. Always use disposable and recyclable paper plates and utensils, you don’t want to come back with a huge wash up pile at the end of the day.
   

   Always stock up for those happy days

4. Always have a Plan B. Expect rain or a power failure to happen at the most unlikely circumstances.  If your BBQ pit area does not provide cover during rain, fallback to your place to cook instead. Make sure the food is all oven / fryer cookable.
5. There are 3 main phases in a BBQ event – the starter, mid event and closure, with their corresponding sticking points that needs to be addressed.
6. The starter: This is the part where you begin to build your BBQ fire and you have to entertain your hungry guests with pre-BBQ items such as pasta, fried rice, salads and roll out the drinks/beer to buy time will you start cooking the meat.
7. Mid event: Your fire is roaring by now and the cooked meat are flowing to your guests plates. You will have to keep this up and the fire going while socializing with your guests. The main issue on mid event is that the meat/food/drinks you have may not be enough for everyone especially if you are a popular person and your guest bring their uninvited friends along. Being a gracious host, always have some backup packs of sausages / drinks in you fridge so that you can compensate if there’s way more head count than expected. The sausages are your friends, yes I meant the meat silly.
   

   Too many guests? No problem.. hire some help from the Party's Planner

8. Closure: Prior to the event, make sure you have designated waste dump spots / bins prepared so that clearing up will be easier. Your guests by now will be almost full and time to break out the fruits and desserts to end on a high note.
9. Throughout the course of the BBQ event, part of being a gracious host and having a great BBQ is to socialize and network with your various friends and mingle the crowd is a must. This is possible if there’s 10 or less in your BBQ while you are cooking away. If your BBQ have 15 or more guest, its best to hire a cook assistant to cook the meat and frees you up to be a great host. Trust me, when there’s demand, you’ll have to keep up the supply and it can be a challenge to cook and at the same time socializing.
10. Food preparation can be a pain especially for a larger group. You will need at least one day in advance to go shopping, marinade the meat, prepare the salad, etc. If you don’t have the time or capability to make good BBQ preparations, outsourcing it to the best by getting professional help and I highly recommend the Party’s Planner by an awesome friend of mine Raymond, an ex-Uncle Ho’s chef. He does my monthly BBQ delivery preparation and let me break it to you, he never disappoints when it comes to great food preparation, value for money and most importantly, lasting positive guest impressions. You can check out the Party’s Planner here.
    

    Great way to end a BBQ with a group photo

At the end of the day, nothing beats the satisfaction of pulling off a successful BBQ,  great complements from your guests for being an excellent host and fantastic food. Bon’ appetit.

Tagged as: bbq, Food, The Party's Planners