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What's your grill like?

Fabulous! Four weeks of football. Which in our house means 4 weeks of catching up on DVDs. And doing some cooking, hopefully out of doors. So my concession to the football is to offer up some outdoor cooking options from around the world, something to tempt the BBQ king or queen to try something a little different!

My own BBQ king hankers endlessly after a traditional Greek barbecue, complete with motorised kebab skewers. I had to convince him not to try bringing one back from Cyprus last week. If you want to make souvla or souvlaki without the turning, then this is the route to do it. Planet Barbecue offer a variety of rotisserie kits, both battery and mains that they could add to their current charcoal barbecue.

For a different kind of kebab, you could treat them to their own tandoor oven, which would lead them to exploring different flavours. If they’re serious, then check out the serious sounding SS1 Ultima from The Tandoor Clay Oven. Or if you think they might like a project, then click here for how to make one from a flowerpot. A big flowerpot, I hasten to add!

South Africa has its braais, and it seems not only do you a barbecue but also a potjie pot. It would add a nice bit of variety to your average barbecue to produce something from it, as the traditional recipes are for something we would recognise as a stew. Try BuySouthAfricaOnline who have a whole variety of sizes, and maybe a recipe book to help them get the most out of it.

Of course, the USA has such a big culture of BBQs and outdoor cooking, and I’ve recommended Extreme Barbecue a few times, as a great read as well as recipe reference. If you need to cook for 50 or more. But I think for most of us a Weber BBQ is probably good enough. Thanks to one George Stephen’s eureka moment, the Weber has stood the test of time as he understood some of the challenges most of us face with the weather. He also created one funky design, albeit a bit accidentally!

I don’t know what our traditions here would be, but I guess there will be plenty of disposable BBQs being put to use! I fancy the look, though, of Planet Barbecue as a recipe book to really inspire something different on your grill this year. Over 300 recipes from 60 countries, this should really step up their barbecue game! Or try Outdoor by Ben O’Donoghue, same theme, newer book.

What will you be cooking out of doors this summer? And what on?

Great grilling shot by mccun934 over on Flickr.