Barbecue safety guide

Before happily firing up your barbecue this summer, be it natural gas, charcoal, propane or electric, make safety your priority.  Please download our free BBQ safety guide in PDF format.

If your barbecue is movable, as is the case with most charcoal or propane-fuelled models, when you do fire up, think about where you want to place it and be certain that you follow these safety measures:

1. Do not place the barbecue where anything will be dangling above it, such as low-hanging tree branches. And be sure it is far enough away from any structure to avoid smoke stains or discolouring. Never try to move your barbecue while it is alight.

2. Make sure your barbecue is on solid ground so that it doesn’t roll or tip.

3. Even if your barbecue uses natural gas and has a permanent location, survey the surrounding area before you light up, especially the first time in the spring. Greenery can grow surprisingly fast and leaves and twigs might have accumulated where they shouldn’t be, so clean up all debris first.

4. Realise that wind can blow the fire back on you, so be sure to take precautions with it. But do not light the barbecue in your garage or other indoor area to avoid the wind.

5. Don’t add anything flammable to lit charcoal, such as lighter fluid, paraffin, kerosene, or petrol.

6. Never leave the lit barbecue unattended, especially if there are children in the vicinity, even next door in a fenced garden. A ball hitting the barbecue could be disastrous. Even if the lid is in place, a ball could still cause the barbecue to tip over.

7. Always have a fire extinguisher nearby and keep a source of water handy, just in case.

8. If you have no choice but to place your barbecue on a wooden deck, be sure it is free from debris such as dry leaves, twigs, etc.

9. Clean-up is crucial. Don’t let grease build up on your barbecue as it catches fire easily and can be difficult to extinguish. If that does happen, quickly close the lid.

10. Do not wear loose sleeves or other clothing that could cause problems.

11. Wait until the barbecue has cooled down completely before you empty or clean it. Fires have been started from putting hot coals into a plastic containers.

12. For gas barbecues, be sure the tap is off before you try to change the cylinder, and always do that outdoors.

13. If you think you might have a leak in your gas cylinder or in your connection, brush soapy water around it to see if it bubbles. If it does, try tightening the joint, but don’t overdo it.

14. For gas barbecues: do not turn the cooking controls off first. Turn the gas cylinder off before you do that to be sure that residual gas in the pipe is used up.

Keep children safe

There really is no excuse for children ever to be harmed at a barbecue. Just use some common sense and this short checklist:

1. Always be sure that no children are in the immediate area when you decide to fire up your barbecue. If you don’t have a fenced garden with a lockable gate, you will have to keep an eye out so that neighbours’ children don’t wander into the area.

2. Be sure to teach your own children to respect the barbecue, letting them know in no uncertain terms that it is not a toy and they are not to go near it, lit or not.

3. And if children are going to be at your barbecue, be sure to keep an eye on them after the cooking is done, as well. Hot coals or leaking gas can be lethal.

And those precautions are not the only ones to consider. Food safety is an absolute must, especially when cooking outside. If you abide by the following rules, you should never have a problem.

Food safety

Use the following checklist to make sure your barbecue food stays safe:

1. Start with freshly washed hands.

2. Do not let raw meat juices drip onto other food.

3. Wash your hands again after handling raw meat.

4. Use separate utensils and plates for cooked and raw meat.

5. If you have marinaded raw meat, don’t add that sauce to food unless it has been boiled first. And always marinade in the refrigerator, not on the worktop.

6. Keep raw meat cold until you are ready to put it on the grill, especially when temperatures reach above 25 degrees C.

7. Always thaw meat in the refrigerator or in cold water.

8. If using charcoal, be sure that it is hot and ready (grey and powdery looking) before cooking.

9. Be sure your food gets cooked thoroughly by completely thawing it before putting it on the grill and repositioning it from time to time as it’s cooking.

10. As a further assurance that your food will be thoroughly cooked, pre-cook it in the kitchen.

11. A charred exterior is no guarantee that the food is done. Cut into it to be sure.

12. To prevent excessive charring and also possible flare-ups, remove the visible excess fat and push the coals away from the centre, keeping the food in the middle.

Get a good meat thermometer and use it. Never stop cooking meat once you’ve started and resume later. Finish cooking it all the way; otherwise, it will not be safe to eat.

Keep all meat at a temperature of 60 degrees C or more after it has been cooked. Do that at the side of the grill in a covered pan or dish or in the oven at the lowest setting. Never put the cooked meat back on the same platter that was used for the raw meat; bacteria could transfer to your cooked meat.

Finally, don’t let food sit out for more than an hour, especially in hot weather. Refrigerate it in non-plastic containers, if it is still warm.

Additional barbecue safety resources

County councils throughout the U.K. have issued their own barbecue safety guidelines.  Some councils have downloadable guides such as  Cornwall, Eastbourne, Elmbridge, Portsmouth, Rushcliffe, Stockport and Worthing.

Other councils including Stoke, Winchester, East Renfrewshire, East Herts, East Hants, Hart, Rushmoor, Halton, Brentwood, Glamorgan, Preston, Nottingham, Kensington and Chelsea, St Edmundsbury, Wealden and Tonbridge and Malling have focused on barbecue food safety.  Other good sources for barbecue food safety are Simply Beef & Lamb, Pork & Health and Meat Matters.

Some councils offer more specific advice: Fife offers advice on using gas barbecues and Brighton and Hove advise on how and where to barbecue safely.  Cambridge, Glasgow, Merton, N.Lanarkshire, Teignbridge, Selby, Surrey Heath and Horsham simply offer tips for having a safe and successful barbecue.  Ballymoney offer a handy guide to general home safety with specific advise for different age groups.  All council pages offer useful links and information on local safety services.

Local fire authorities are also a good source of barbecue safety advice and the fire services of London, Cheshire, Bedfordshire, Broughton, Essex, Fife, Hants, Tayside,  Leicestershire, Shropshire, Buckinghamshire, Warwickshire, West Yorkshire, North Wales, Mid and West Wales have some very useful experience to share.  The American fire services have an admirable enthusiasm for fire safety education and offer a wide range of outdoor fire safety advice, see the fire services of  Illinois, Big Country, Stayton, Magnolia, Windsor and Charlottesville for some of the best information.  Ex-fire, a site dedicated to retired firefighters also has some useful fire safety advice on their blog.  For an independent range of fire safety advice Brent Brain, Fire Net, The firepit and grilling guru, Safer Houses, Fire TV and Apple Creek Timber have lots of useful information.

The Hearth, Patio and Barbecue Association offer a “grilling fact sheet” that contains safety tips and advice on the different types of barbecue fuel.  The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, National Health Museum, Starchefs and Safe Gardening also have some excellent safety tips for using gas and charcoal barbecues.  The Grilling Coach offers “easy to follow safety tips for barbecue grilling” on Food Drink Tips and Beauty Pro blog.

For a range of educational resources that include guides and presentations such as “summer burn safety” and “springtime outdoor safety” go to the American Burn Association and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  Sussex County in the U.S offers a short video titled “don’t let your picnic become a statistic”, demonstrating some great visual food safety advice.  For some practical dos and don’ts around the grill and some “basics of backyard barbecuing” visit Safety Info.

For a home and family perspective on barbecue safety try the Home Safety Council or Family Education websites, who offer clear and concise information on how to prevent barbecue accidents at home.  If it’s the children your worried about when having a barbecue then Safekids, NetMums and My Child Safety have a wide range of child safety advice.  Pregnant women are more conscious than most when it comes to food safety, so for those who are expecting a child Eating for Pregnancy offer some specialised barbecue food safety advice. Netdoctor, Family and Consumer Sciences, Health Canada, the Grill Champ and Fightbac are also a good sources for some independent food safety advice

If you are planning a barbecue in a woodland or forest near you then check the Forestry Commission’s advice before you go.  The Mother Nature Network discuss the pros and cons of different BBQ fuels. To avoid annoying the neighbours check BBQ.me before lighting the BBQ.  The British Barbecue and So You Wanna offer lots of advice for barbecue beginners.  Recipes 4 us, Natural Gas BBQ and The Top BBQ offer some good BBQ safety advice as well as some general barbecue tips. For a doctors tips on having a “safe and tasty barbecue” Dr Madelyn Fernstrom has some advice.  For anecdotes and useful safety advice Barbecue Smoker Recipes offer some wise words. The Girls at the Grill offer some unique advice such as taping your tongs red and green to indicate which have been used for raw meat.  For advice on “how to host the perfect summertime barbecue” associated content have all the answers.  The University of Illinois Extension offer all the usual tips for outdoor grilling plus some cleaning up advice.