Brilliant BBQs

Fires that won't stay lit, sausages that are black on the outside and raw in the middle, not enough food - there are endless ways to turn a barbecue into a disaster.

Luckily for all you garden chefs, we've got a guru on hand to give us some words of wisdom. Step forward Sam Martin, author of How to Mow the Lawn (Bloomsbury, £9.99).

I've got a group of hungry mates coming over for a barbie in a few hours and I'm panicking...

It's a good idea to prepare a marinade for the meat and vegetables in advance. Alternatively, mix together some herbs and spices to rub onto the meat. If your party's going to be this evening then do this when you get up in the morning or even the night before; the longer it sits in the marinade the better.

Make sure you have charcoal; you don't want to be running out to get some when your mates are just arriving. And if you haven't had a barbecue in a long time, just make sure that it's still operational and you've given it a good clean out.

How many people should I invite?

This depends on the size of your barbecue - you've got to use a little logic, really. If you're going to invite 30 people over and you've only got a tiny barbecue, then you're going to end up with some hungry guests at the end of the evening. You might want to invest in a bigger barbecue, or just keep the fire going so you can cook a round of food, take it off, and throw some more on afterwards.

But the fire's going out... help!

To keep a charcoal fire going, don't pour the charcoal right on the top. Invest in a little shovel that you can use to scoop the ashes out with after your fire's been going for a while. After you've cooked one round of food, push the really hot coals over and then put a small amount of new coals down along the side of them. If you want to keep your fire going for a while, add about half a dozen or so charcoals every 20 or 30 minutes.

My sausages are black on the outside and raw in the middle. What have I done wrong?

If you're using charcoal, the trick is not to put the food on if they're really white, white hot - you should wait until the charcoal looks like it's got a dusting over them, so the food slow cooks better. Make your fire well ahead of time - you need a continuous fire that lets the smoke cook the meat.

Argh! It's raining...

A little rain's not going to hurt anyone, and it's certainly not going to put out the fire unless there's a complete downpour. So you can stay out there and get all wet (it looks more heroic, anyway).

But I don't want to be heroic

You could buy a smoky, ready-made marinade to smother your food in and then cook in the oven. You can't really replicate a barbecue inside, but if you're using the oven you still have to cook very, very slowly - pretty much all day on a very low heat. Rest assured your tuck will still be tasty.

Sam's top five barbecue rules:

1. The golden rule of barbequing is that you shouldn't eat until everyone else has. Of course, I do sometimes cheat and eat a little there while I'm cooking - you have to make sure it tastes OK!

2. There are two basic kinds of barbecue - gas grills and the ones where you build the fire yourself. I prefer the latter, because building a fire is more fun and the food gets a more smoky flavour.

3. The key to cooking meat is to cook it slow and let the smoke do a lot of the cooking.

4. Looking after the barbeque is a really good excuse to get people to run and get beers for you. After all, you can only be in one place at a time.

5. Meat isn't the only thing you can put on a barbecue - fish, vegetables (especially on skewers) and halloumi cheese all taste great, too!