How do I run a barbecue safely?

Barbecue accidents fall into three groups: fire and burns while lighting, carbon monoxide afterwards, and food poisoning from meat cooked black outside and raw inside. All three are avoidable and the middle one is the least known.

Safety

Step by step

1. Never bring it inside, including afterwards.Cooling charcoal produces carbon monoxide for hours. Every year people die from taking a used barbecue into a tent or garage for warmth or to keep it out of the rain. It is odourless and there is no warning.
2. Site it well away from anything that burns.Fences, sheds, overhanging branches, garden furniture, the house. On level ground where it cannot be knocked, and away from where children and dogs run.
3. Use a chimney starter for charcoal.Newspaper underneath, charcoal above, lit and left for fifteen minutes. Faster than lighter fluid, no chemical taste, and it removes the main cause of barbecue burns.
4. Never use petrol or add fluid to lit coals.The flame travels back up the stream to the container. This is how the severe burns happen, and it happens quickly.
5. Wait for grey ash before cooking.Twenty to thirty minutes. Flames mean it is not ready — cooking over flames chars the outside while the inside stays raw, which is the food poisoning route.
6. Check gas connections before the first use of the season.Brush soapy water over the fittings with the gas on and the burner off. Bubbles mean a leak. Never use a flame to find one, and replace perished hoses rather than taping them.
7. Light gas with the lid open.Gas pools under a closed lid and ignites as a fireball. Lid open, igniter first, then gas — and if it does not light, turn the gas off and wait several minutes before trying again.
8. Store gas cylinders outside and upright.Never in a shed, garage or under the stairs. Turn the cylinder valve off at the end rather than only the control knob.
9. Set up two heat zones.Coals banked to one side, or one gas burner off. Sear over the hot side and finish over the cooler — this is how you get things cooked through without burning them, and it solves most barbecue cooking problems at once.
10. Use a thermometer rather than judging by colour.Chicken, pork, burgers and sausages need 75°C in the centre. Colour is unreliable in both directions — burgers brown before they are safe and can stay pink when they are.
11. Keep raw and cooked completely separate.Separate plates, separate tongs, and never brush marinade used on raw meat onto cooked food. This is the most common barbecue food poisoning route.
12. Keep food cold until it goes on.Out of the fridge only as it is needed, and covered in shade. Warm weather is exactly when bacteria multiply fastest, and a tray of meat sitting out for an hour is the classic mistake.
13. Keep water or sand nearby.A bucket within reach. Never use water on a fat fire in a gas barbecue — close the lid and turn the gas off.
14. Supervise it constantly.Never leave it alight and unattended, particularly with children about. A barbecue stays hot enough to cause serious burns for hours after cooking finishes.
15. Dispose of ashes properly.Leave them until completely cold — usually the next day — then into a metal container. Warm ash in a plastic bin or a green waste bag causes fires regularly.

Tips

• A chimney starter is inexpensive and removes the need for lighter fluid entirely. It is the single best barbecue purchase.
• Two zones — hot and cool — solves most cooking problems. Sear on the hot side, finish on the cool side with the lid down.
• A digital probe thermometer costs very little and is the only reliable way to know chicken and burgers are done.

Common mistakes

• Moving a used barbecue into a tent, garage or porch — Cooling charcoal produces carbon monoxide for hours. It is odourless, gives no warning, and it kills people every year.
• Cooking over flames rather than waiting for grey ash — The outside chars while the inside stays raw, which is both burnt food and a food poisoning risk. Wait twenty to thirty minutes.

If it doesn't work

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