An outdoor fry-up – The Unconventional Gardener

Every spring, I vow that this year will the one where we do more outdoor cooking. And every year, after one or two bbqs in spring, we give up. It’s just too hot in our garden in the summer, or too windy, or too wet.

But I do want to learn more about outdoor cooking, so on Saturday I filled up the bucket bbq (which is the ideal size for two people) with enough charcoal for a small fire. Twenty minutes later, it was ready for me to start some experiments.

I bought this bbq popcorn pan for Ryan a couple of years ago. It has languished unused in the shed ever since. I brought it out, gave it a wash (which is a bit awkward due to the long handle, but otherwise easy – the grill detaches) and measured how popcorn was needed to cover the base in a single layer (70g).

Ryan is the popcorn expert in our house, so he supervised as I added a generous glug of oil and a single kernel to the pan, then popped it on the fire to heat up. Popcorn takes longer than you think, and then – just as you’re sure it’s not going to work – it pops with a great bang and scares you senseless. Once it had, I took the pan off the heat and popped it onto the patio to cool for a minute. Then tipped in the rest of the kernels, firmly closed the grill lid and put it back onto the heat. Shaking the pan constantly to keep the kernels moving and the hot oil circulating, I realised why it has such a long handle – the oil spits! 

I was still surprised by how long it took to start popping, but once it did the expanding corn rapidly filled the pan. I kept it on the heat, shaking all the time, until the popping died down. We were left with some unpopped kernels – but the you always are!

At the bottom of the pan, the final kernels to pop had run out of space, clumped together and just started to burn. So I’ll use a bit less popcorn next time, but otherwise this was a very successful experiment, resulting in a big bowl of fresh popcorn. Now I just need to research some popcorn flavourings….

With the popcorn done and cooling, it was time to move on to an actual meal. We have a cast iron pan with a lid that doubles as a frying pan. I put that on the fire to heat up, and then attempted a fry up – bacon, sausages, and fried bread. The sausages cooked nicely, and the bacon was great. I didn’t have high hopes for the fried bread – it’s another of Ryan’s specialities, so I don’t usually cook it (to be fair, it’s a rare treat). Ryan decided he would have a sandwich, and didn’t want fried bread, so I started with one slice for me. When he saw how well it was turning out, Ryan changed his mind. I added a little more oil and a second slice, and it was all cooked to perfection in a jiffy!

All in all, it was a great outdoor cooking session, and really motivating to do it again very soon (weather permitting).

It was, however, the last outing for our faithful bucket bbq. The inner pan that holds the charcoal has rusted clean through. I think we paid about a tenner for it in a supermarket about 8 years ago, so it has more than earned its keep, and we’re thinking of giving the outer enamel bucket a tranquil retirement as a planter.

Fortuitously, its replacement is already on its way. As we eagerly await its arrivel, we’re thinking of names: Bear Grills? Nathan Grillion? Grill Shakespeare? What do you think?

Unless otherwise stated, © Copyright Emma Doughty 2024. Published on theunconventionalgardener.com.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider supporting my work. I have a subscriber-only Patreon for space plant enthusiasts, or you could just buy me a cup of tea:





Many thanks!