THE sun is shinning, and summer is nearly upon so it is time to get the Barbecues out once again. However, students, being students seem to have a unique technique to running a barbecue.

For one, it is almost forbidden for any form of cutlery to be used mainly due to the lack of clean cutlery around the house, but other reasons include barbecues held on the university fields, or the laziness of not being bothered to walk back inside once everything has been set up.

This however causes a problem as substitute cutlery has to be made, but feer not as one thing students are capable of doing is improvising. The most common student cutlery is that of the cardboard packaging found around the food as this can be used for almost all needs. If folded up into a strong rectangle it is perfect for flipping those burgers and sausages, or if lay flat is a perfect subsititute for a plate.

Other common instruments used are sticks to flip the food, or keys used as a fork to eat the finished product. The drawback however to these inventions is the almost inevitable fact that along the way your hand will get burnt from the meat, which despite optimism is always going to be hot when touched straight from the coals.

The other difference from a student barbecue, to the traditional family meal is the choice of food, with almost all student barbecues consisting of mainly burgers and hot dogs, with the accompanying slices of cheese to add the flavour. The reason for this is simple, and that is the price, however it is important to include at least one really good bit of meat and a good recommendation is chicken, as although hard to cook is always the best part of the barbecue.

However the best bit of it being BBQ season is the people you get to eat it with, as being students each BBQ is accompanyed with cold beer and cider, and is the perfect way to spend a summers evening.