7 days ago
The barbecue taste test: Which supermarket does it best?
For all the recent heatwaves, British barbecues are often still seize-the-moment affairs. There's no time to marinade meats or concoct elaborate sauces if you are snatching the opportunity to wheel out the charcoal on a warm weekday evening or unexpectedly sunny Saturday.
So, where you buy your barbecue-ready food really matters. The local butcher, if you have one, is a great choice, but for many of us a dash to the supermarket is more realistic.
Which one caters for your feast best? I tested the barbecue ranges of nine stores – cooking and tasting products across five categories: beef burgers, spicy chicken, glazed pork, vegan burgers and minted lamb kebabs – to discover which supermarket is king of the grill.
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How I cooked the products
Beef burgers
Vegan burgers
Sweet barbecue pork
Minted lamb kebabs
Spicy-smoky chicken
The big barbecue taste test verdict
How I cooked the products
My usual rule when cooking food for taste tests is to follow the instructions on the packet. However, many manufacturers state that their products should be cooked fully first in the oven or under the grill, then transferred to the barbecue to finish.
That's not barbecuing in my book. I'm assuming that these instructions are an effort to make sure food is fully cooked through, but the twice-cooked approach means overcooking is likely, while just five minutes on the barbecue is not enough time to get a delectable smoky crust.
For these products I tried them as the manufacturer recommended, but additionally, cooked solely on the barbecue. They all tasted best cooked on the barbecue only, and that is what the scores are based on.
