Just Eat launch new BBQ Rescue Service as we are forecast to ruin 58 million BBQs this summer

Collectively as a nation, we will host or attend 323 million BBQs this summer, which is roughly seven per adult, but new research has revealed that nearly a fifth (18%) of these are likely to fall flat.

The study of 2,000 Brits found that two thirds (66%) have experienced under or over-cooked food at a barbecue. Three quarters (75%) even admitted to having eaten before attending one as they were worried about going hungry due to the food that would be on offer.

That may be a wise decision, as a quarter of Brits (26%) confessed to having burned BBQ food when hosting, while a fifth of unlucky guests (21%) have even experienced food poisoning from a BBQ. One in four (24%) have turned to calling in the help of a takeaway delivery service to save the day after a BBQ disaster.

It seems many BBQ hosts are not responding to the changing dietary requirements of friends and family. Vegetarians regularly get a bum deal with nearly a fifth (18%) offered only one option to eat and a similar number (16%) only given a bun and salad. Over 1 in 10 vegans (14%) say they often arrive to find there is nothing they can eat, while a third (33%) have been put off eating vegetarian or vegan food at a BBQ as it had been cooked on the same grill as the meat.

In a bid not to offend their hosts, guests owned up to having secretly binned inedible food (27%), fed it to the family pet (17%) or even hiding it in their bag (13%).

The top 10 most common BBQ blunders experienced by Brits are as follows:

Burnt food being served - 45%

Over-catering - 29%

Meat being served under-done - 27%

Having to wait for hours for the coals to get hot enough to cook food - 22%

Cooking on a grill that hasn’t been cleaned - 18%

Guests suffering in a cloud of smoke for most of the event - 15%

Being forced to sit outside even though the weather was bad – 13%

Not enough alcohol - 12%

Not enough buns for burgers and sausages - 12%

Using the same tongs for raw meat as cooked meat, or for veggie options - 11%

In response to Brits’ tendency to bungle a BBQ, takeaway app Just Eat has launched a BBQ Rescue Service – asking Brits to share snaps of their grilling disasters to [email protected] to be in with a chance of winning a perfectly cooked BBQ meal of your choice delivered to your door.

Graham Corfield of Just Eat, said: “I don’t think I’ve ever been to a BBQ where there hasn’t been a burnt banger or a questionable burger being served. It may be quintessentially British for your BBQ to not go quite as planned, but we don’t have to stomach it any longer. With the new Just Eat BBQ Rescue Service, you’ll get the food you really want, safe in the knowledge that it will be delicious.”

Respondents said that men do most of the grilling (73%), the top reason being that barbecuing was the only type of cooking they do (25%), while some thought they ‘glory hunt’ and just want praise when the food is ready (22%).

People in London were found to barbecue the most, expecting 8 on average this summer, whereas those in the north west are expecting only two five.

Just Eat’s new BBQ Rescue Service launches on 22nd May 2019. Send photos of your BBQ disasters to [email protected] for a chance to win a summer BBQ meal delivery.