Time to get the barbie out. Here are 9 unusual tips to help you kick off the barbecue season.

1. Easy cleaning.

Zwischen dir und deinem Grillabenteuer steht noch ein dreckiges Grillrost? Dann So, the only thing standing between you and your BBQ adventure is a dirty cooking grid. Don’t worry, we’ve got 2 simple tips for cleaning your grid quickly and easily: Cooling foil works just like the tried and trusted steel brush. Just shape a piece of foil into a ball, pick it up with the tongs and rub it across the cooking grid. Ideally, the grid should be hot already (or still). If you haven’t got any cooking foil with you, or prefer a more natural approach, use an onion. Just cut the onion in half, let the barbecue warm up and rub the onion across the grid. You should really use the tongs here too, to hold the onion tightly. The etheric oils and the onion juice are the perfect combination for getting rid of the dirt.

2. Recycling tip 1: Use your old egg boxes.

Egg boxes? Obviously, egg boxes! They are ideal for starting up the barbecue without chemicals, methylated spirits and so on. Simply fill the empty egg box with charcoal, place it in the barbecue and light it. The compressed cardboard that the egg boxes are made of burns slowly, the charcoal is heated gently and only the pure odour of the barbecue remains.

3. Recycling tip 2: Use an old plastic bottle.

If there’s no breeze, you often have to stand there puffing or flapping to keep the barbecue fire going. That can soon sap your energy. Using a pair of bellows is much more relaxing. But who keeps bellows in their backpack? It’s much easier to recycle a plastic bottle. Simply cut it open in the middle and place one half inside the other. Now unscrew the top and pull the back part of the bottle backwards, then push it suddenly forwards. The burst of air you create will provide the necessary puff of air to help light your barbecue.

4. The best way to keep food warm.

The sausages are ready, but the steak still needs a little time? We’ve got a really simple tip for keeping things warm on the barbecue. Just use two empty metal cans and place a little barbecue grid over them. This means that enough heat will reach the cooked food without burning it.

But maybe carrying extra cans and a spare griddle are too much work? Then you can just make use of a special technique when you set the barbecue up. Once the charcoal pieces have heated up, arrange them in two areas – one with a lot of charcoal for fast grilling and one with less for gentle cooking or keeping food warm. Then you’ll find the right place on the barbecue for whatever food you want to cook.

5. Well and truly skewered.

More and more people are barbecuing vegetables now. To make sure they don’t drop through the grill, we recommend using skewers. To give a very special flavour, you can do without the skewers and simply use fresh rosemary. It is sturdy enough to hold the vegetables and adds a really delicious touch. Don’t like the taste of rosemary? Then you can also use the traditional skewers, of course. The best thing is to use two skewers, which makes the vegetable kebabs easier to turn. If you want to use wooden skewers, remember to soak them in water for a few minutes so that they don’t start to burn.

6. Tenderize your meat with fruit.

Do you want to make sure that your meat stays lovely and tender on the barbecue? Then why not try it in combination with a banana skin, organic, of course. You can place smaller pieces of meat in the skin directly onto the grill. If the pieces are larger, you can lay them onto the grill in a banana skin together with the food to be grilled. The banana makes sure that the meat is cooked more tenderly. Make sure that the skin doesn’t burn too much, as this will create unhealthy bitter substances. The banana skin also adds an extra touch of flavour to the meat, of course.

Bananas are not your thing? Then try it with apple juice, filled into a spray bottle. Simply spray the meat a few times with the juice as you grill it. This helps it to stay lovely and juicy and to burn less, and at the same time, gives it a nice fruity flavour.

7. Never serve dry burgers again.

Do you like barbecued burgers? Then we’ve got a tip for you too to make sure that you serve them fresh and juicy. When making up the burgers, simply slip an ice cube, or even some cold butter, into the middle of the burger mix. During cooking, the butter or ice will melt, which means that the inside of the burger stays wonderfully juicy.

8. Medium, rare, well done – don’t lose track.

So you’re a large group and everyone wants their burger cooked differently? It’s easy to lose track of which is which… but not if you follow our tip: Simply mark your burger with barbecue sauce – for example, no sauce for rare, 1 blob for medium, 2 blobs for well done. Of course, you’ll need to check beforehand whether everyone likes barbecue sauce. But then the way is clear for individually perfectly cooked burgers.

9. A bed of lemons.

Do you like fish? Well, we’ve got good news for you. This tip is intended to make barbecuing fish easier without it sticking to the grill: Simply lay lemon slices under the fish. The lemons will stop the fish from sticking, so they’re easier to turn and they’ll have a really wonderful flavour.

Esbit Stainless steel charcoal barbecue

On the beach or in the park, at the open-air concert or on the roof garden: There may be preferred seasons for grilling, but it’s not restricted to special venues.

This stainless steel charcoal BBQ is therefore ideal choice when you want flexibility for grilling. The small pack size allows for easy transport. The grate with removable handle can be adjusted in height (3 levels). Both the carrier bag and the charcoal bag are made of nylon with waterproof lining.

The shoulder strap is adjustable and has a comfortable shoulder pad. The carrier bag can be closed using the hook-and-loop fastener.

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