Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ

There is likely to be a steep rise in garden barbecues this year, but many of us aren't sure of correct cooking times and are rather unadventurous in our choices, according to new research from olive magazine. With an improved summer forecast, 68 per cent of Britons are either planning or have hosted a barbecue this year, up 13 per cent year on year, according to the poll of more than 1,000 Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Magazines' readers. Key findings include:

• The food cooked most frequently was sausages, getting the nod from 59 per cent of readers, followed by chicken, 49 per cent and then burgers, 47 per cent.
• Only a tiny proportion regularly opt for more adventurous items such as pork, prawns, peppers, tuna or salmon.
• 15 per cent are undercooking chicken (ie, cooking it for less than 12 minutes) and more than half of readers are overcooking sausages for longer than the optimum time of 10-12 minutes.
• 1 in 20 respondents confessed to having food poisoning as a result of a barbecue.
• The age of equality still does not seem to have travelled to the outdoor barbeque, with 66 per cent of men still wielding the tongs, against just 11 per cent of women. (23 per cent said it depends.)
• Only a quarter of respondents are planning to spend more than Β£50 on hosting a barbeque, with the average spend being Β£39.93.
• Jamie Oliver is the celebrity chef whose barbecue we would most like to be invited to, according to 19 per cent of respondents, followed by the Hairy Bikers (14 per cent) and Rick Stein ( 9 per cent).
• 49 per cent of readers think beetroot and/or pineapple in a burger is just for Australians, with 51 per cent voting it 'a jolly good idea.'

According to olive editor Christine Hayes "Recipes such as olive's mackerel with lemon salsa, pork skewers with chilli apple, and sweetcorn with paprika butter are cheap, quick and easy to make and so much better than a burnt banger." The research was commissioned for July's olive magazine, which includes a free barbecue ideas booklet, with 101 triple-tested recipes aimed at inspiring us into more adventurous choices.

NOTES TO EDITORS
About olive Magazine
olive is the stylish, monthly magazine for food lovers with an emphasis on getting great value. It has 88,944 monthly readers according to the last Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) figures.

olive magazine recently won the "Best Restaurant Guide" award at the prestigious Rosemount Taste Awards 2008, and was competing with specialist reviewers such as toptable, Eat london, the Luxe city guides, and Hardens.

Toby Hicks