What’s cooking?

Let’s face it, an Aussie backyard wouldn’t be an Aussie backyard without a barbecue. There was a time when that would have been little more than some stacked bricks and a hotplate. Then the small, portable kettle-style barbecue made its debut, followed by larger trolley-style wheeled barbecues. Soon, barbecues were being designed not just to offer more burners, optional extras and storage — the barbecue evolved to be functional, versatile and good-looking.

One of the biggest leaps forward came when technology delivered a new concept in larger barbecues — the sleek, stylish, stainless-steel barbecue with a roasting hood. With the hood and indirect heat, delicate flavours were sealed in and enhanced. Since then, barbecue design has taken off in myriad directions, from massive eight-burner barbecues to slimline options that sit almost flush within a benchtop and space-conserving, wall-mounted grills for balconies and courtyards.

Today, the traditional four-burner stainless-steel barbecue is still one