Step Up Your Backyard Barbecue Game With This One Crucial Tip

Sure, you can fire up the grill and haphazardly slap ingredients onto the hot surface to cook and serve, but giving your set up a bit of attention before the party begins is a hack that can turn an average backyard get-together into an occasion worth remembering. Planning the perfect summer barbecue certainly isn't a task reserved solely for trained chefs. With some careful prep and organization, you can help keep guests full and make the life of whoever is stationed at the grill much, much easier. 

Mise en place is the commonly used culinary term that means "put in place." It's about getting everything ready before you start cooking, from all the food and drink prep to organising dishes, cutlery, and glassware. Though you might not be running a Michelin-ranked restaurant, outlining the menu and approximate number of dishes you'll need to feed an expected crowd can keep ingredients hot, fresh, and ready to dole out. With proteins stacked up and ready to place onto a fired-up grill and vegetables sliced and diced before the first guest arrives, you can not only entertain but actually enjoy the barbecue for yourself.

An organized assembly of foods and plates and bowls to put them in will reduce stress and the likelihood of having to run back and forth from the kitchen to the grill collecting burger patties and ears of corn. Portion out ingredients to arrange around the grilling station. Your thought-out set-up will offer you extra time that you can spend mingling with friends and pouring drinks as needed. If you want to focus your attention on keeping food tables neat and tidy, designated DIY drink stations stocked with batch-made cocktails can put drinks literally in the hands of your guests to pour and refill as they please. That leaves you to concentrate on keeping salad bowls full and platters of BBQ ribs stacked, instead.

In addition to planning out organized tables of food and drinks, estimate how many plates you'll need, set out serving utensils, and place plenty of napkins within reach to help food distribution run more smoothly. Set out areas for guests to discreetly place used dishes and deposit dirty utensils. Your careful planning will have you well on your way to party perfection.