Summer doesn’t officially arrive until the first BBQ is lit;
National BBQ Week is back for its 20th year and this year the campaign is focusing on something that could save lives and the environment!
Disposable BBQ’s are a health hazard, unfriendly to the environment and a fire risk – so BBQ Experts from the National BBQ Week team are calling for retailers to stop the sale of these ghastly grills and for consumers to ditch disposables and go portable instead for the 20th National BBQ Week.
These little metal trays may look harmless enough but they have actually been responsible for around 1500 injures last year* as well a number of deaths and many fires. And if you are lucky enough to survive all that then in the very least the damage done to food cooked on them should be enough to put you off.
There are a number of reasons they do not cook food well according to the Gastro Grillers of National BBQ Week. Firstly due to the closeness of the coals to the metal grill, the heat can be too intense, charring instead of properly grilling. Also as all disposables use a flame accelerant to ignite the charcoal you additionally get the nasty flavour of burnt chemicals. Finally they also do not hold cooking heat for so long so you additionally run the risk of food poisoning.
So if you want burnt bangers, smelling of chemicals and probably raw in the middle, go ahead. Then all you’ve got to worry about is how to dispose of a hot metal tray without getting burnt, or starting a fire!
Grill Master of National BBQ Week, Brian George, explains further:
“Whilst we are passionate about food and BBQ’s and there are many reasons why disposables BBQ’s should be avoided at all costs and that concern for us is heightened by the number of unfortunate incidents caused by disposable BBQ’s recently.
“You only have to Google ‘death disposable BBQ’ and a number of tragic stories about people being poisoned by carbon monoxide and fires appear. Alongside that is the injuries caused to innocent people – they get covered by sand and left on the beach for people to stand on and get burnt. Or they get left in forests or campsites and get touched by people or even worse cause fires. They are hard to dispose off, and quite frankly, the materials they are made of are a menace to the environment.
“We would love to call for a complete ban on them, but these things take time, so in the meantime we are asking everyone during National BBQ Week to ditch the disposable and go portable. There are so many portable options on the market that are better value for money, reusable and safe!“
The 20th National BBQ Week marks the beginning of the most delicious week of the year from May 30th – 5th June. Throughout the week, the UK is being urged to clear the patio, dust off the Barbi and get grilling as part of a national push to get everyone eating outdoors!
This is one of the UK’s biggest awareness weeks and has changed consumer BBQ attitudes and usage from just 9 million in 1997 to over 130 million last year with the overall BBQ food & drink market being worth around £1.3 billion, up from just £150 million back in 1997.
Alongside Majestic Wine Warehouse, National BBQ Week 2016 is supported by some great sponsors including Bombardier – Official Beer, debbie&andrew’s – Official Sausages, Fire & Smoke, by Rich Harris (published by Kyle Books, priced £19.99. Photography Martin Poole) – Official BBQ Book and Harvester – Official BBQ Restaurant.
After National BBQ Week finishes, Gastro Alfresco takes to the road! From June and over the course of the summer months, talented teams of Chefs and Brand Believers will visit 75 of the biggest Tesco and Sainsbury’s stores across the country with one sole aim, to help the UK enjoy summer!
