Barbie boys: Pitt Cue

Tom Adams and Jamie Berger are the duo behind Pitt Cue Co, the cult BBQ operation that caused Londoners to crowd under Hungerford Bridge in 2011 to eat ribs from the back of a van. Their restaurant opened in Newburgh Street last year.

Get set

Your BBQ is going to become your workhorse, so invest in something half-decent such as a Big Green Egg, a ceramic BBQ that retains heat well, allowing you to cook slowly for up to 24 hours without adding more fuel (from £399; biggreenegg.co.uk). If your budget doesn’t stretch to that, invest in a heavy, cast-iron grill grate — it will store heat much better than something flimsy and cheap, and will help meat brown evenly. Source some natural British lumpwood charcoal and natural woods from The London Log Company (thelondonlogcompany.blogspot.com). The charcoal will be the consistent heat source, and the wood will be your flavouring.

Meat and great

Barbecuing doesn’t have to be limited to burgers and bangers. More interesting beef cuts such as onglet and rump cap and pork shoulder chops are brilliant on a BBQ. Onglet has a gamey beefiness and comes in a long, thin steak that cooks quickly. Rump cap is one of the muscles that makes up the rump; it has loads of flavour and a good amount of fat running through it. Pork shoulder chops are made up of lots of small muscles separated by a thick web of fat that makes the cut very moist.

Go slow

If you want to go down the low and slow route for soft, gelatinous goodness, opt for beef short ribs, ox cheek, pig’s head or pork shoulder. If you don’t have time to tend a BBQ for hours, try pre-cooking the meat with a good spice rub (a salt, sugar and spice mixture that forms a tasty crust) at 110C/Gas Mark ¼ in the oven until it is soft and yielding, before finishing over charcoal. Pork belly is also good for this. Brining will season the meat to the bone and allows you to introduce aromas that add layers of flavour, such as lemon zest, star anise, fennel, coriander, thyme and peppercorns. Try brining chicken for two hours in a 10:1 water-salt solution with a touch of sugar and aromatics.

Veg out

So many vegetables benefit from time on the grill. Blanch cabbages, broccoli and leeks before dressing lightly with rapeseed oil, and grilling. Lettuces are amazing when grilled. When stone fruits are in season, get peaches on the grill. When cooked slowly the skin will slide off easily and leave a perfect peachy orb.

Get stuck in

Touch is very important, but learning to tell whether a steak is medium rare or well done will come with practice. Start by training yourself with a instant-read digital thermometer: 48-50C in the centre is rare, 54C is medium rare, 56-58C is medium well done, and 60C is well done. A large steak will continue to cook when it comes off the grill, so allow for a few degrees rise in temperature.

Pitt Cue Co: The Cookbook is out now (Mitchell Beazley, £20)