Top Tips for Cooking Eggs on the BBQ

We spoke to food editor and chef, Warren Mendes, for his top tips for cooking eggs on your BBQ this summer.

---

Invest in a flameproof cast iron skillet – the benefit of the skillet is that you can use the skillet on your BBQ while cooking other items on the grill. For instance, you can fry up some eggs, while you have sausages on the grill. It’s a great alternative to just using a flat hotplate on the BBQ, allowing you to contain some food items that would otherwise fall through the grill, like an omelet or even pancakes.

Use large mushrooms as vessels to cook your eggs – remove the stem from large portobello mushrooms and grill them for a few minutes on the side you’ve removed the stem from. Turn them over so they face up and crack an egg into the cavity. The mushroom makes for a perfect egg ring and whilst the mushrooms finish cooking, so will your eggs! You can also do this with halved capsicums.

Use your BBQ for dessert too – if you’re grilling outside, you can use your BBQ to cook your pavlova too! The result is a smoky sweet dessert. Setup a trivet – so a heatproof tray and a rack on the BBQ and then form the raw pavlova on a smaller tray and set it above the rack. Close the lid, and cook the pav at the lowest temperature, adding some wood chips to the BBQ for some extra smokiness. Try the recipe here.

Use foil trays to make baked eggs or a frittata – this is a perfect trick for camping breakfasts. Use your regular shakshuka or frittata recipe but use a disposable foil tray set over medium low heat in the BBQ, ideal to cater for larger groups with ease.

Save your egg cartons as fire starters – if you have a wood/coal BBQ, instead of buying fire lighters, use your cardboard egg cartons as fire starters – making sure you peel off any plastic stickers beforehand.

Avoid split yolks – if using a hotplate on the BBQ, crack your eggs into a small bowl or ramekin first and then gently lower it onto the flat surface. This way you have more control and can gently add each egg to the surface. Also ensure your hotplate is clean and free of large chunks from your previous BBQ.

Breakfast pizza – if using a pizza stone on your BBQ, crack a few eggs onto a pizza topping along with some other brekky favourites, close the lid and by the time the base of the pizza is cooked, the egg whites should be just set.

Take it slow – if cooking a lot of eggs on an open BBQ (no lid to trap the heat), turn the heat right down and cook them gently. You don’t want burnt bottoms and completely raw tops. By cooking them slowly from the direct heat below, you can cook the eggs more evenly without scorching.

Fat first – remember eggs probably cook the quickest on the BBQ, so prioritise the other ingredients you have on the hotplate. If you're cooking bacon or sausages, do that first and then you can take advantage of the grease on the hotplate to cook your eggs without them sticking.

Eggs on the BBQ are not just for breakfast – eggs make such a great addition to lunch and dinner as well. A soft white roll with a minute steak and a perfectly cooked egg with a splash of tabasco makes for a great outdoor lunch. Likewise, you can turn eggs into a dinner hero, by greasing your hotplate with a little garlic oil and scattering your eggs with fresh chilli and a splash of soy sauce for the perfect addition to a hearty Asian salad bowl outside.

BBQ pancakes – Use the hotplate or a cast iron skillet on the grill and cook your pancakes outside. For every egg I use 1 cup of self raising flour, 200ml milk and 1 tbsp caster sugar. You can add 25g melted butter in there too if you want them extra rich! Serve them with some maple and grill some fruit at the same time for a brilliant breaky or dessert.

Try our Dutch baby pancake recipe here or the Japanese style savoury pancake, Okonomiyaki.