Winter Is Coming – Barbecue Safety Tips

No one wants to witness an accident – especially at a winter barbecue.

The best way to avoid any mishaps is always to be prepared. Safety for you and your family should always come first, which is why we’ve highlighted a few safety tips for a winter barbecue!

Let’s take a look:

What You Wear Matters

Even though the grill gets super hot, the weather will still be cold. Dress warm and keep yourself covered. However, try to steer clear of any dangling items such as scarfs, mufflers, or other clothing items that might get close to the fire.

Covering up will help you stay warm as the barbecue process requires patience. You shouldn’t be rushing anything if delicious meat is your end goal!

Never Ever Grill Inside

Even when it is cold outside, firing up the grill inside your house or even your garage is never a good idea. The barbecue grill can get extremely hot, making it important to keep it away from any combustible materials or home structures.

It can even harm furniture if it’s too close. Hence, everything and anything should be at least two feet apart from the hot grill.

There is always a threat of catching fire or smoke damage that can ruin your ceilings and upholstery. This is exactly why it is always recommended to have a barbecue in open air, such as your backyard, front lawn, patio, or even the roof.

Use Proper Tools & Gear

When it’s snowing, you must clear the path for your barbecue. Use proper snow shoveling tools to clear the snow in the area where you want to carry out your barbecue.

Having a lot of now nearby can cause it to melt quickly and make everything slippery. It is best to clear a significant area of snow surrounding the grill machine before you begin grilling.

Moreover, do not mistake your grilling gloves for snow gloves. Both of them have completely different purposes. Hence, it is important for you to use the right glove at the right time to maintain your safety.

Grilling gloves are used for withstanding the extremely hot temperatures of a barbecue grill. If you want your food to be perfect, you will have to get close to the grill when searing the meat.  Hence, dealing with high temperatures is part and parcel of the situation.

Special gloves for grilling are made with fire-resistant silicone that helps you carry out your barbecue like a pro and save your fingers, palms, and wrists for painful burns. Additionally, grilling gloves also come with non-slip features which can help you handle hot utensils and foods while minimizing chances for accidents.

Remove Tripping Hazards

Things can get pretty messy if you are having a fun little barbecue night in your snowy backyard. Since it’s going to be nighttime, the darkness can let people trip over things like extension cords, garden decorations, yard furniture, or even slip due to the melting snow.

Tripping and falling in a barbecue zone can be disastrous. You can have an accident with the burning grill, smash a few plates, or even accidentally come in contact with a ridiculously hot part of the grill and burn yourself.

Check Your Propane

In colder seasons, propane fuel doesn’t burn as efficiently as it does in summer. Due to this factor, food also takes longer to cook. Hence, you should always be prepared to use more fuel than normal to get the job done.

Other than this, it is best to keep extra propane ready so that the winter season doesn’t hamper all the fun. However, you need to store the fuel safely. This means that it should be away from all heat sources.

If you prefer to use coal over propane, then storing coal in a safe, dry place should be a priority.

Be Careful About Lighting

Holding a barbecue in a dim-lit area might look aesthetic, but it can be very dangerous. Lighting will make your barbecue practical and will help people avoid trip hazards.

However, be very careful while choosing where to place your decorative lighting, and they can be dangerous near naked flames.

Wrapping Up

Even though a barbecue doesn’t sound all that dangerous, to begin with, it is still something where many accidents can occur. Perhaps the most common issue to worry about is the fire and smoke.

Fire damage can be pretty bad, and restoring the damage is a challenging task. You can rely on 911 Restoration of Howard County to help save the day. With their expert fire damage restoration services, they can help you out in case anything goes haywire!

With a 45-minute response time and a skilled team of professionals, 911 Restoration is the service to call!