Nothing says summer fun like a cook out. Meat sizzling on the grill. Chunky potato salad in a big Tupperware bowl. Cold drinks on ice. These are the memories we make and remember fondly when we take the time to invite family and friends over for a yard or patio grill party.
Americans love to grill. In fact, three quarters of all families own some type of grill, and many families own more than one type. Once the grilling bug bites, it doesn’t let go. The average family grills out five times per month from Labor to Memorial Day, and the newest trend is to grill outside year round (even in the snow).
If you dream of throwing your own outdoor bashes, then buy a grill and practice ahead. There are a number of grills on the market ranging from charcoal to gas powered and even slow smokers that require all day or overnight cooking.
As a rule of thumb, gas grilling is the easiest to master while charcoal grilled foods taste the best. Smokers expand meat options but are toys of the hardcore given the amount of time required to slow cook larger cuts of meat.
Read up. Ask around. Buy and get to know your grill. Test drive your grill and skills before firing up in front of friends. It’s stressful to learn on the job and with an audience. A few practice sessions will make a big difference, and you get to eat the test run meats.
Think Simple
When planning a cook out, think simple. The best recipe for a fabulous outdoor gathering is good food and good company. If you have plenty for everyone to eat and are relaxed, everything else falls into place. There is a southern saying, “Ain’t nobody happy if Momma ain’t happy.” At a cook out, the same kind of thing applies. If the host is hang loose and having a good time even if things go wrong (which they can and do), then everyone rolls with the punches. In fact, some of the best memories may be of things that didn’t go quite right.
If you want to showboat, cater a big event at the park. If you want to have fun, gather the troops and share the work load. When folks offer to help, take them up on it. Most visitors will ask if they can bring something or do something. Have some items in mind that guests can bring and have some tasks to assign. Do try to match skills and interests and allow some creativity. For example, don’t ask your sister-in-law who never cooks to bring dessert. She’ll be more comfortable taking care of the ice. On the other hand, your neighbor who loves whipping up dishes for pot luck dinners may be delighted to take care of a side dish, but she will be a better team player and have more fun if you avoid telling her exactly how to toss baked beans together.
A Quick Overview
Be realistic in planning your cook out. Evaluate your space and determine what it will take to get ready and how many visitors you can accommodate. It’s better to have a small, successful cook out than a huge bash that goes down the tubes. Even one couple or one family can be a lot of fun and be a good chance to learn and grow as a host.
Break your event down in steps. Stagger jobs. Do things ahead that you can. Making lists can help a lot. Just check off the items and move through the tasks. It’s a lot more do-able to do jobs in chunks than to mentally tackle the entire project over and over as a whole.
Allow a little time right before the last minute party jobs to relax. Do something you enjoy and clear your head. When your head is clear, you’ll be ready to deal with things that come up. If you stay in hyper drive, then every minor problem becomes monumental. It’s easier to remember that almost any difficulties can be addressed and corrected when you’re calm rather than stressed. Maybe you did forget to buy napkins. Someone can pick up a pack and be back in minutes.
Once the cook out starts, keep an eye on things but don’t be so involved in making sure things are perfect that you aren’t really a part of the event. Your guests will overlook a lot of things if you are laughing and talking and a real part of the party. They came to spend time with you—not to watch you wait on everyone.
When things wind down, enlist some help on clean up. Have trash bags and such on hand. When everyone pitches in, it takes only minutes to clear up after a cook out. If you decide to be the martyr, then you will be left with a whale of a lot of clean up and no one to talk to while you do it. Having another cook out later won’t look as attractive, and that is a no-win situation for everyone.
Getting the Cook Out Area Ready
Be sure the grill is ready and clean. If you have gas, fill the tank. If you’re using charcoal, be sure you have starter fluid and briquettes. Make sure you have accessories like turners, forks, and hand mitts.
If the grill does not have an attached table, then come up with a small table or some sort of work station near the grill. The cook will need space to set up and a place to put cooked items.
If at all possible, plan for the food serving area to be somewhere other than next to the grill. Grills are hot and can be dangerous. Reduce traffic right around the coals and give the cook some space to do his or her thing.
Putting the beverage station in a separate area will reduce congestion and will keep the party flowing. The liquid refreshments tend to be most heavily visited and throughout the party. Keep this in mind when selecting a spot.
Make arrangements for seating. Borrow extra outdoor chairs or invest in some. Stackable plastic chairs are pretty easy to store and can be used over and over. Group these throughout your space for easy mingling rather than setting up a big circle.
If you’re throwing a dinner party, consider lighting. Though it may be sunny when you start, evening parties often run past dark. There are a number of options for lighting including lanterns, stringed lights, and candles. You don’t need to light up the whole block, but a few rays here and there may be needed.
Be ready for bugs including mosquitoes. Spray lightly the morning before the party and/or use citronella candles around the outer edges of the party area. Don’t use the citronella right on the tables or in the cooking/serving areas, since they give off odd odors.
Deciding on the Main Dish or Dishes
The most popular grill meats are hamburgers, hot dogs, steak, and chicken. Various cuts of pork and seafoods can also be grilled. Vegetables also fare well on the grill but are trickier to prepare and serve.
Hamburgers and hot dogs are the easiest to master and cost the least. Beginners usually do very well with the traditional bun-served meats, and even grill masters find that these favorites can be as good or even better than more complex grill meals. Don't feel bad about serving "just" hot dogs. You don't hear complaints down at the ballfield where dogs have been the standard for years.
Buy wieners and/or pre-made patties for the most basic grill meals. These are almost impossible to mess up. For variation, add a little barbeque sauce to the meats during the last few minutes of cooking time.
If you want to step up it up a notch, then buy ground beef in the 80/20 fat range and hand pat the meat. Marinate overnight with lemon pepper, Worcestershire sauce and spicy Italian dressing. Burgers made this way will impress your guests and though take a little more work are still quite simple to make and serve.
If going with steaks, chicken or other meats, expect to spend more time at the grill. The thicker meats take longer to cook and also are harder to gauge as far as doneness. Marinades, rubs, and sauces enhance flavors and are more important when working with more expensive cuts.
Vegetables on the grill can be fun and very tasty, but they take up a lot of space. Unless you have a really large grill, it’s hard to plan for meats and vegetables for a crowd. Ka-bobs with quick cook vegetables like tomatoes and onions are the easiest starter veggies. Foil pack potatoes and grilled corn are delicious but do take fairly long cooking times.
If you do have extra space or want something quick and interesting cooking as the grill is cooling down, toss slices of pre-cooked Texas style toast or slices of pineapple on the grill. These items really just need to be heated through and not really cooked. When toast or pineapple slices are hot with grill marks, they are ready to serve.
Sides
Once you decide on the grill foods, select easy sides that won’t require much preparation or attention. Grilling is pretty labor intensive, and it’s almost impossible to juggle both a grill and other foods needing attention.
If serving bun foods, consider finger sides. This will eliminate the need for tableware. Chips, cut raw vegetables and/or fruits are all good bets and can be ready to simply set out for consumption.
Cold sides are popular and are made ahead and served flexibly. Potato salads, pasta salads, and tossed salads all balance nicely with hot foods off the grill. Other good matches include cold bean mixes, raw tomato based dishes, slaws and various gooey 70s inspired concoctions.
Desserts
Most guests enjoy something sweet after the meal (or while waiting for the food to cook). Cookies, cakes and pies can be served, but do remember that many sweets do not fare well outside. Either select sweets that can handle the heat (crisper cookies, pound cake) or plan to do some last minute work to ensure that the treats are out and available following the meal and not melting on the table.
If you have some extra help, consider ice cream as the after-the-cook-out treat. Although it takes a little coordination to work in ice cream, something really cold and rich really tops off a night around the grill. Serve the ice cream in cones or plastic dishes, or set up a mini banana split bar and make the dessert portion of the meal one of the highlights of the evening.
Beverages
The easiest way to deal with the liquid needs is to buy cans or bottles and ice them down. This eliminates the need for cups and for clean serving ice. Plan to put the drinks on ice several hours prior to the party or even the night before. Coolers or even clean trash cans can be used to store the beverages. Be sure to have a plan for restocking the ice. It melts fast on hot days.
In selecting beverages, remember to include water on the list. Alcohol and sodas are dehydrating, and outdoor guests will need water to offset the heat. Again, individual servings work well though smaller sizes tend to go over better than the bigger bottles.
If you go with larger beverage sizes and use cups and ice, be sure to set up a station for the liquid refreshments. Stock more cups than expected, because most guests will not keep up with individual cups and will be thirsty more than once or twice during the evening.
Entertainment
Though a cook out is an event and can stand alone, do consider some light entertainment especially if kids are coming. In fact, it can really pay off to hire a local teenager to help out with and entertain the kids at a cook out. It’s pretty easy to find someone willing to work for a couple of hours especially when they get a great meal to boot. Just be sure to pick someone outgoing with a lot of energy if you want help with the fun end of things.
Horseshoes and badminton sets are inexpensive and work out in most yards. Most kids (and even adults) enjoy these traditional outdoor games. Set them up, and it’s likely that you’ll have games going with little effort.
Two other ideas that work well for cook out fun are bubbles and water toys. Buy or make lots of bubble stuff and place tubs around the party area. Add unusual blowers like old style flyswatters full of holes (which come in handy for the bugs too if needed), and watch everyone make bubbles. Hand out water guns and have some tubs or a hose for filling the guns, and even the grown ups may end up doing battle.
It's a Wrap
Once you get a couple of cook outs under your belt, you'll find that outdoor entertaining is easy and fun. That's the reason so many families own grills and why so many people do cook out. It does take some time and effort and a little practice, but grilling out is one of the best things about the summer.