Who doesn’t love a summer barbecue? With the weather warming up, you may be thinking about firing up the barbecue for some outdoor cooking.

But how long has it been since you last checked your barbecue?

Don’t risk burning more than the sausages – check out our tips for keeping the barbecue in safe working order.

Barbecue tips

• Use baking soda to control grease fires.
• To reduce flare-ups while cooking, trim excess fat from meat, replace greasy barbecue beads and keep barbecue clean.
• Use long handled utensils and flame retardant mitts to avoid burns.
• When transporting a cylinder, ensure it’s in an upright position.
• Never use or store gas bottles indoors.
• Do not attempt to repair any gas bottle, which is rusty, dented, gouged or out of test date. Damaged or out of test gas bottles cannot be refilled.

Check for gas

Checking the level of gas in your gas bottle is a simple process, meaning you should never get caught short again.

To check the gas level:

1. Boil water in a kettle and allow to cool slightly.
2. After ensuring the gas bottle is turned off, gently pour the water down the side of the bottle.
3. After approx. 15 seconds, carefully feel the bottle from the bottom up. The steel will feel cooler below the gas level, and warmer above it. The level of gas inside the bottle is at the point where the temperature changes.

Connecting your gas bottle to an appliance

1. Turn all appliance controls to ‘OFF’.
2. Ensure the gas bottle is upright and the valve is turned off before removing the valve’s blue safety plug.
3. Remove both tags marked ‘PULL’ on the valve’s blue safety plug and unscrew the safety plug using a flat blade screwdriver or coin in a ‘CLOCKWISE’ direction – keep plug for future use or when cylinder is being stored or transported.
4. Insert appliance hose into the gas bottle’s valve and screw in an ‘ANTI CLOCKWISE’ direction to connect.
5. Turn the valve on, one complete turn will suffice.
6. Test for gas leaks by applying a soapy water solution all over the valve and appliance hose connection. If a leak is present, bubbles will appear and a “rotting cabbage” like smell may be detected. Re-tighten the appliance hose and test with soapy water again until there are no gas leaks present before using the appliance. If leaks persist, do not use the appliance.
7. Turn the valve off when the appliance is not in use.

Refilling your gas bottle

It’s pretty simple! You take your empty gas bottle to the shop or petrol station, leave it with them and take a full one in exchange. When it’s empty, you can either keep it and have it refilled or swap it again for a full gas bottle.