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York FourthThe Fourth of July magazine of York, PA

Section 04 · Backyard BBQ

Backyard BBQ: the Fourth of July cookout desk

The backyard BBQ desk for the Fourth: menus with Pennsylvania sides, the charcoal or gas decision, cooler arithmetic and cookout timing.

Backyard cookout table with a charcoal grill smoking, bowls of corn salad and sliced watermelon, and folding chairs on grass

The Fourth of July eats differently in York County than it does on a postcard. The table carries the cookout classics, but the sides lean Pennsylvania Dutch: corn cut off the cob, potato salad with a hard cooked egg in it, chow chow from a jar somebody's church canned, and a whoopie pie plateau where the cake should be. This desk covers the cooking, from the charcoal or gas decision to the arithmetic of keeping a dozen neighbors fed and cold on a ninety degree afternoon.

We write the guides we would hand a neighbor: real timings, real quantities, the sequence that lets the cook sit down for ten minutes before the food goes out, and the safety notes that belong in a kitchen rather than on a poster. The menu guide is the anchor; the grill and cooler pieces do the supporting work.

In this section

  1. Picnic table loaded with grilled chicken, corn on the cob, potato salad, sliced watermelon and a plate of whoopie pies under string lights

    The Fourth of July BBQ menu, York County style

    The table a York County Fourth actually wants: grilled mains, church cookbook sides, corn by the dozen and a timeline that lets the cook sit down before the food goes out.

  2. Black kettle charcoal grill with glowing coals beside a stainless gas grill on a mowed backyard lawn in late afternoon light

    Charcoal or gas: the Fourth of July grill

    The oldest argument in the backyard, settled for the one day it matters most: what each fire does well, what it costs, and why a holiday justifies a compromise.

  3. Open cooler packed with ice, covered dishes and drink jugs on a picnic table beside stacked plates and a folded dish towel

    Cooler math for a dozen neighbors

    Feeding a dozen neighbors is arithmetic, not heroics. Quantities, ice discipline, the two cooler rule and the July food safety that keeps the holiday a holiday.

The pieces of this section feed the day planned in the complete Fourth of July guide, and two neighbouring sections extend it: Parade Guide and Fireworks Schedule.