The grill master controls the pit, and homemade sides are a must.
Etiquette includes not touching the grill, seasoning food well, and bringing something useful.
Desserts like banana pudding and peach cobbler take priority over store-bought sweets.
Source: Unaihuiziphotography / Getty
Summer season and summer holidays are quickly approaching, some would say it’s already here. This means it’s the season for backyard bar-b-ques, late summer nights, pool days with family and friends, but most importantly, the one everyone has waited all year for. The cookouts, it’s officially cookout season.
A successful cookout is built on great food and the unwritten rules that come with it. It’s the smell of seasoned meat on the grill, foil pans filled with family recipes, and everybody crowding around the food table waiting for their turn. The best cookouts always have structure without anyone needing to explain it. The grill master controls the pit, the sides better be homemade, and nobody shows up empty-handed.
From perfectly cooked ribs to the unspoken etiquette around fixing a plate, every detail plays a part in creating the kind of cookout people talk about long after the food is gone.
Take a look at these mandatory foods that are a must at every traditional cookout, along with the unwritten cookout rules:
First unwritten rule:
Speak Before You Eat
You greet the family before heading to the food table.
The MandatoryMeat Lineup:
BBQ chicken
Unwritten rule:
Seasoning Is Mandatory
Bland food will get talked about all night. Everything better have flavor before it hits the grill.
Ribs
Unwritten rule:
Everybody Thinks They Can Cook
At least three people believe they make the best mac and cheese or ribs in the family. This dish needs to be tasked to one person only.
Burgers
Unwritten rule:
The Cook Eats Last
The person cooking usually feeds everyone before making their own plate.
Hot links
Unwritten Rule:
The Best Meat Gets Hidden
Somebody always saves a private tray of ribs or hot links for later.
Smoked sausage
Hot dogs
Brisket
Unwritten rules of the grill
Don’t Touch the Grill
The grill belongs to the grill master only. If you weren’t asked to help, stay away from it. This goes for in the kitchen with the sides as well.
Bonus Item:
Turkey legs
The Required SideDishes:
Sides are where the real competition begins. Mac and cheese, potato salad, baked beans, greens, and pasta salad can make or break the entire function because everybody secretly judges the sides first.
Baked mac & cheese
Unwritten Rule:
The Mac and Cheese Must Be Baked
Box mac doesn’t count. Real cookout mac and cheese comes baked with cheese on top.
Potato salad (no raisin preferred)
Baked beans
Greens
Corn on the cob
Deviled eggs
Hawaiian rolls
Controversial but common items that are brought from time to time:
Spaghetti
Though delicious, its not needed at a traditional cookout
unwritten:
Keep the Food Line Moving
Don’t block the table being indecisive.
Vegan food
Healthy food options are good, just not at the cookout
Unwritten rule:
One Dish Always Looks Suspicious
There’s always one dish people wait to see someone else try first.
Must-havesdesserts:
Banana pudding
Unwritten Rule:
Don’t Come Empty-Handed
Even if they say “just come,” bring drinks, ice, chips, or something useful.
Peach cobbler
Unwritten Rule:
Homemade Desserts Come First
Store-bought desserts get ignored until the homemade cobbler disappears.
Sweet potato pie
Unwritten rule:
Everybody Takes Food Home
A good cookout ends with leftovers packed in foil and to-go plates.
Pound cake
Unwritten rule:
The First Plate Should Be Calm
People judge overloaded first plates. Save the big plate for round two
