Spring 2026

Welcome to the Spring issue

Plenty is cooking in the UK – Matt Tebbutt’s seafood fire plate anyone, or Sloppy Joe hot dogs from Chris Mackett? But this issue also sees the arrival of our new USA correspondent, Rasheed Philips.

You would have read all about this exceptional pitmaster in the last issue, but now the Gentleman Smoker is officially BBQ magazine’s man stateside, taking deep dives into the people, places and ideas shaping modern fire cooking.

Back home and this magazine has partnered with The Fire Club, lighting up The Walled Garden in Surrey and we chat to chef Simon Stallard, whose spirit of adventure continues to push boundaries.

Two great BBQ cooks, Genevieve Taylor and Jim Moore, have stunning new books out, coincidentally with very similar titles and both forces of fire nature.

Isabelle Gray heads to Cornwall and learns all about sustainable seafood and fish on the grill, while Rupert Bates goes to Wolverhampton for an evening of country music and its soul food BBQ, and to Northamptonshire for a seven-course tasting menu cooked by amazing young chef Hannah Dunne.

It’s early in the year, but we might already have seen and devoured the best lunch – certainly the best Welsh lunch – as Sam and Shauna gave a BBQ masterclass to former Wales rugby captain Ieuan Evans and his wife, Kathryn, at their home – surf and turf with the best local produce.

Our annual Hot List rounds up the very best and latest grills and thrills for your shopping list, and we also seek out some of the finest festivals where BBQ lights up the food scene.

We once again showcase a delicious, eclectic collection of brilliant and simple, or even brilliantly simple, recipes for readers to replicate, while Roger Jones finds the best South African wines to pair with a braai.

Hickory’s continues to open new smokehouses, bringing Texas inspired BBQ culture to our shores, which means the editor has to keep eating in them; this time he takes former Premiership rugby player Alex Waller to talk food and furniture and help demolish the platter, while BBQ Clubhouse puts on its pads for the start of the cricket season.

There are books reviewed and BBQ Bites taken, as well as some rather lovely, if expensive, houses with outdoor space to dream and drool over.

Yours in live-fire cooking

The BBQ magazine team