How to barbecue with a simple grill

Sunshine and outdoor cooking are the perfect combination, but you don’t need a fancy grill to serve up a feast. Our experts reveal how to keep it simple

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“If I could have only one barbecue, it would be a kettle,” says Genevieve Taylor, live fire cook and author of Scorched. “They don’t take up a lot of space, don’t cost a fortune and are easy to move .” Plus, you can do pretty much anything on a kettle that you can on a kamado. Sure, you’ll need to pay attention to fuel management, adding more as you go for low and slow cooking, and work out where to put food in relation to the fire, but otherwise the barbecue world is your oyster: “Big pots of stew, slow-roast pork, bakes, yorkshire puddings.”

The key is to not get too carried away. “There is no other meal where you’d be expected to eat wings, kebabs, steak and sausages all in one go,” Taylor says, so pick a central star and build salads or charred veg around it. And it’s with the vegetables that you can really have some fun, anyway. “I’ve yet to meet one that doesn’t benefit from a bit of barbecue action,” Taylor adds. Carrots are an excellent example: “Blanch them, marinate in cumin, chilli and garlic, then grill and layer into a lovely warm salad with nuts, ricotta and olive oil.”

Got a culinary dilemma? Email feast@theguardian.