BBQ Favorites

The Best Oils, Vinegars and Rubs for a British Barbecue

British barbecue is its own thing. It is not the twelve-hour low-and-slow smoking tradition you will find at a Kansas City cook-off. It is a garden, a gas or charcoal grill, a bag of sausages from the local butcher, some marinated chicken thighs, a few steaks, halloumi for the vegetarians, and whatever side dishes the weather permits. The difference between a good British barbecue and a great one usually comes down to what you brush, rub or drizzle on the meat before and after it hits the heat.

This collection brings together the products our customers reach for the moment the grill comes out of the shed. Flavoured extra virgin olive oils that double as instant marinades. Flavoured balsamic vinegars that finish a glaze in thirty seconds. Our Classic and Sweet and Spicy BBQ rubs. Seasoned cooking oils for searing. And a few quiet heroes, like our Wild Garlic Pesto, that turn a plain grilled chicken breast into something worth photographing.

Flavoured Extra Virgin Olive Oils That Work Harder Than Any Bottle of Shop-Bought Marinade

The shortcut most home cooks miss is this: a 100 ml bottle of properly infused extra virgin olive oil is a marinade, a finishing oil and a dressing in one. You do not need a separate jar of ready-made sauce with a list of ingredients you cannot read. You need one bottle, a pinch of salt and five minutes.

Our Smoky BBQ Extra Virgin Olive Oil is the single most useful bottle you can own during British barbecue season. It goes on pork chops, chicken skin, portobello mushrooms, corn on the cob and baked potatoes. Brush it on before the meat hits the grill for real smoke character without a smoker, or drizzle it over the plate just before serving.

For heat, the Jalapeño Extra Virgin Olive Oil gives you bright, green chilli warmth without the fight of chopping fresh peppers. It is the oil that turns halloumi into something people queue for. Pair it with our Mango Balsamic Vinegar and you have a sweet-heat dressing for prawns, chicken wings or a watermelon and feta salad that belongs on any summer table.

The Chili Oil sits in a different register: deeper, more aromatic, better for tossing through noodles, drizzling over pizza once it comes off the grill, or stirring into a tomato pasta sauce for the sausage leftovers on Monday. Our Garlic Herb Oil is the lazy cook's best friend, a single brush replaces four fresh herbs and a clove of garlic.

Two newer oils have joined the collection this season: a Cucumber Extra Virgin Olive Oil, which sounds unusual until you drizzle it over grilled salmon or a gin-and-tonic cocktail, and an Extra Virgin Olive Oil al pomodoro that tastes of sun-ripened San Marzano tomatoes and goes straight onto grilled bread, mozzarella and steak.

Flavoured Balsamic Vinegars: The Glaze That Finishes the Plate

A flavoured balsamic reduction is the thing that takes home cooking from competent to memorable. Drizzle a thick, syrupy balsamic over grilled halloumi, strawberries, roasted peaches or a charred pork chop, and the plate reads as restaurant-standard. All you have done is pour.

The Mango Balsamic is our most popular flavoured vinegar and for good reason. Tropical, sweet, tangy. It is the bottle people open at a barbecue and finish by pudding. For something sharper and more citrus-forward, the Calamansi Balsam brings a Filipino lime-orange note that cuts beautifully through rich meats and oily fish. Both come from our traditional barrel-aged balsamic base, the same craft heritage that underpins our authentic balsamic vinegars from Modena.

BBQ Rubs: Two Blends, Both Do the Work

A rub is not a seasoning. A seasoning is what you sprinkle on at the end. A rub is what you push into the surface of the meat twenty to forty minutes before cooking so the flavours have time to penetrate and the salt starts its work. Get the rub right and you can skip the marinade entirely.

Our Classic BBQ Rub is the all-rounder: sweet paprika, brown sugar, black pepper, garlic, onion, a touch of cumin. It is the one to reach for with beef ribs, pork shoulder, chicken thighs, and pulled pork. The Sweet and Spicy BBQ Rub dials up the chipotle and chilli for those who want a darker, hotter finish on burnt ends, chicken wings, or a whole bird spatchcocked for the grill. For fish, we brush the fillets with our Smoky BBQ Extra Virgin Olive Oil and season simply with flaky sea salt and lemon, which keeps delicate flesh from being overwhelmed. Apply rubs generously, press in, rest ten minutes, then grill.

The British Barbecue Marinade Formula: Fat, Acid, Salt

Every marinade that has ever worked, in any cuisine, is built on three components. Fat to carry flavour and keep the meat from drying on the grill. Acid to tenderise and brighten. Salt to season from the inside out. Skip any one of the three and the marinade is a dressing at best.

• Fat: one of our flavoured extra virgin olive oils, or a neutral oil from our seed and nut oils collection if you are searing rather than marinating.
• Acid: one of the flavoured balsamics, or a splash from our Aceto Balsamico di Modena IGP range for traditional depth.
• Salt: a rub, a pinch of flaky sea salt, or a spoonful of our Chili Oil for those who want heat layered in alongside the seasoning.

Equal parts oil, acid and salt by volume is the starting point. From there you adjust: sweeter for pork, sharper for lamb, milder for white fish, bolder for beef. Two hours in the marinade is enough for chicken breasts. Overnight works for pork shoulder or brisket. Fish needs no more than thirty minutes or the acid starts to cook it.

High-Heat Cooking Oils: What Actually Works on a Grill

The smoke point matters more than most home cooks realise. Extra virgin olive oil has a smoke point around 190 to 210 °C, which is fine for most grilling, but not for the hard searing you want on a ribeye. For that, reach for the Seasoned Cooking Oil, or a neutral high-smoke-point oil from our seed and nut oils range, both blended for the temperatures a cast-iron grill pan or kettle barbecue can reach. Guidance on cooking oils and smoke points is maintained by the British Nutrition Foundation.

Finishing Touches and Sides

A good barbecue plate is not all about the protein. The Wild Garlic Pesto, made seasonally from foraged British wild garlic, goes on everything from grilled bread to barbecued courgettes, lamb chops and new potatoes. The Tropical BBQ Dip is the condiment we put on the table next to the burgers and watch disappear. Brush corn on the cob with our Garlic Herb Oil, roll in flaky salt, and grill until the kernels char at the edges.

From the Cask Since 1994: Why vomFASS UK Does This Differently

vomFASS began in Germany in 1994 with a simple idea: sell oils, vinegars and spirits straight from the cask, the way wine merchants used to. Bring your bottle, refill it, taste before you buy, and pay for quality rather than packaging. We opened our first UK shop in Stamford, Lincolnshire, bringing that same refill concept to British cooks. Every product in this BBQ Favourites collection is either hand-blended in our Stamford shop from casks we import ourselves, or sourced directly from the family producers who make them. Free UK delivery on orders over £75. Refills available in-shop at a discount to new-bottle prices. Read more about the vomFASS refill model and single-producer sourcing on our about our products page.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use flavoured extra virgin olive oil for cooking, or only for finishing?

Both. Our flavoured extra virgin olive oils have a smoke point of roughly 190 to 210 °C, which is high enough for most grilling and pan-frying. For very high-heat searing above 220 °C, switch to our Seasoned Cooking Oil or a neutral high-smoke-point oil from our seed and nut oils range. For finishing, drizzle the flavoured olive oil on after the meat comes off the heat so the aroma is not cooked away.

What is the difference between a BBQ rub and a marinade?

A rub is a dry blend of salt, spices and herbs pressed into the surface of the meat twenty to forty minutes before cooking. It forms a crust on the grill and penetrates only the top few millimetres of the meat. A marinade is a wet mixture of oil, acid and seasonings in which the meat sits for thirty minutes to overnight. It flavours more deeply but does not form the same crust. Use both if you want: marinade first, pat dry, then rub, then grill.

How long should I marinate chicken or pork before a barbecue?

Chicken breasts and thighs benefit from two to four hours. Whole chicken pieces on the bone are happy overnight. Pork shoulder or brisket can go twelve to twenty-four hours. Thin cuts like skirt steak need only thirty to sixty minutes. Fish should not marinate in an acid-heavy mixture for more than thirty minutes or the flesh starts to cure.

Can I refill these bottles in your Stamford shop?

Yes. Every flavoured olive oil and balsamic in this collection is available for refill at our Stamford, Lincolnshire shop. Bring your empty vomFASS bottle in, we refill from the cask, you pay less than the price of a new bottle. The refill concept has been the vomFASS model since 1994.

Do you deliver to the whole UK?

Yes. Free UK delivery on orders over £75. Standard delivery on smaller orders. We ship to all of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Our Balsamic Stars double as instant BBQ glazes. Drizzle Wild Mango over halloumi, Fig over pork, Date over lamb.