Our core 5-hour classes suit a range of abilities – and because we work with small groups we have the flexibility to answer lots of questions for all levels of barbecue experience. That said, it’s worth bearing the following in mind:

• Foundation Barbecue Class – the class for people who are new to fire cookery. This class gives relative beginners a broad grounding in fire cooking techniques and helps them to build their barbecue confidence.
• Grillmaster Barbecue Class – all about direct grilling. Suitable for all abilities, but especially relative novices, or people who wish to consolidate or fill gaps in their knowledge; we cover fuels, different types of barbecues and all the key grilling techniques.
• Kamado Masterclass – intended for people who are relatively new to ceramic barbecues; intended for owners (or prospective owners) of ceramic and Kamado-type barbecues. We cover everything you need to know to get the most out of this style of barbecue.
• Low and Slow Class – suitable for all abilities, though people often progress to it having done the Grillmaster class previously; this class focuses 100% on indirect cooking and smoking, particularly longer and slower cooking.

If you are interested in a particular ingredient or cuisine:

• Texas Barbecue Masterclass – assumes previous experience with indirect barbecue cooking; this class takes the techniques covered in the Low and Slow class and applies them to central Texan cuisine, including dishes which people often find a considerable challenge such as brisket.
• Cantonese Barbecue Masterclass – assumes previous experience with direct and indirect barbecue cooking; this class teaches the secrets behind classic Cantonese dishes like siu yuk, roasted duck and char siu.
• Fish Barbecue Masterclass – all about things that swim; no experience needed.
• Steak Barbecue Masterclass – a big time steak fix; how to buy it, how to cook it; no experience needed.

Directions can be found here.

Check the weather forecast and dress accordingly. We do have shelter from rain but are somewhat exposed to the elements – so warm clothes if the weather is inclement, hats/sunglasses if sunny.

Please wear closed-toe, flat footwear. For safety reasons we are not able to admit participants to classes if they are wearing any other type of footwear (sandals, flip flops, heels etc are all forbidden).

We send detailed electronic recipes and notes for everything we cover after classes but it can be useful to bring a pen and notpad if you like to take your own notes.

We can arrange private classes on all sorts of topics that are not covered in our normal programme – and if enough people are interested we may even be able to include it as a future class. Please contact us to see what is possible.

Our cancellation policy can be found here. In short, if you have booked a space on a class, and cancel at least a fortnight before the class, you’ll get a full refund (less a 2.75% fee to cover non-recoverable card transaction costs that we incur); if you cancel with less advance warning you’ll get (at worst) a partial refund, or no refund if you cancel with less than 7 days notice. Please always give us as much notice as possible as it makes it easier for us to fill empty spaces.

We understand that problems with getting to a class can arise, so we always work hard to fill spaces when we get cancellations – and if we can fill the space(s) we will give you a full refund or move the booking, whatever the cancellation notice. In all situations we need to receive a written request to cancel/change a booking, from whoever made the booking.

If you have arranged a private hire of the school the cancellation policy is different.

If you are unwell or injured and are worried about coming to your class please contact us as early as possible to discuss. We understand that people do sometimes get ill and we’ll always try to help.

For a business like ours it unfortunately not possible to unconditionally move bookings at short notice; we would end up running significantly below capacity which would either risk the School’s sustainability, or would necessitate charging much higher prices (which would be unfair on the people who don’t ask to move their booking). So we can only accommodate short notice requests to move a booking if we are able to fill the space of the person who asks to rearrange, otherwise our normal cancellation policy applies.

We can accommodate many dietary requirements and allergies but we do need to agree what (if anything) can be arranged – and please realise that sometimes special arrangements are not possible. For this reason contact us before booking to discuss.

We are not able to accommodate vegetarians or pescatarians on most of our group classes (the exceptions being the Vegetable Barbecue Class and Fish Barbecue Class, respectively) – the classes are based mostly around animal-protein so it is not practical or feasible to provide alternatives. And we cannot change the menu cooked by the rest of the participants to suit the requirements of an individual or party who have booked spaces for a group class.

For private class bookings we can plan delicious vegetarian/vegan menus and alternatives to cater for everyone in your group.

It is not always logisitically feasible to arrange alternatives to the planned dishes for classes – but occasionally it is possible. Contact us before booking to discuss and we will let you know if we can help.

We do not plan alternatives as a matter of course; if someone mentions in their booking that they don’t eat an ingredient/dish (without having contacted us beforehand) we will not plan an alternative, we will just assume they will skip eating that dish.

Yes, you can find out all about them and buy them here.

We do sell gift vouchers but we limit the number we sell and we are not able to sell them all year round – so they may sometimes be sold out. This is for a few inter-related reasons:

1. The organisations which process our card payments restrict how far in advance we can sell our services. This means we are obliged to have (and enforce) expiry dates on gift vouchers. When combined with the fact we operate seasonally, at certain times of year this means that any vouchers we sold would have an expiry date before they could possibly be redeemed – obviously not a good situation for customers.
2. Because vouchers have to have an expiry date (so cannot be rolled forward to the folwing year) we cap the number of vouchers we sell to esnure everyone with a voucher will have a wide choice of classes and class dates.

We do not accept any other organisations’ gift vouchers. We are aware of other organisations who sell vouchers and make unauthorised advertisements that London Barbecue School will accept their vouchers – this is not the case (and we have made and are making consderable efforts to have untrue claims made by 3rd parties withdrawn). Please do not buy any other organisations’ vouchers if you wish to use them for one of our classes.

Yes, we can arrange private hires of London Barbecue School during our summer season, details of which can be found here.

One of our team of fantastic tutors. They are great at barbecue before they come to work for us, but they also undergo detailled teacher training to ensure that their communication and class structure is top notch, so you can be sure of a great (and enjoyable) learning experience.

Photographs and short videos (up to 1 minute in duration) are great, as long as they are not for commercial use. We especially like it when people share and tag us (@LondonBBQschool)! If you are taking photos please ensure that it doesn’t interfere with the class’s progress, and be mindful that not everyone will want to be in pictures. Unfortunately we can’t let you film the whole class, or large parts of the class; we do provide detailed notes and recipes so this should not be necessary.

There is no parking right on out site, but there is parking available nearby. The pay and display car park on Choumert Road is free at weekends, and there is on-street pay and display on some of the roads surrounding us.

Unfortunately children younger than the age of 16 are not allowed to take part in classes. This is due to a licensing condition imposed on us by the local council. Young people aged 16 and 17 are allowed to take part in classes, provided they are accompanied by a paying adult participant.

BYO is not allowed. We have a reasonably-priced, licensed bar at the School with a selection of local beers and good wines.

In all our classes we cook plenty and there will be lots to eat, even for people with big appetites – but it needs to be eaten on site, we are not permitted to allow takeaway of cooked food or drinks. This is due to both licensing and insurance restrictions. The only exception is the Butchery and Barbecue Class at the end of which participants are able to take home some uncooked meat, if they wish.

We have nothing against social media, we just don’t rely on having a super-active social media presence to publicise and fill our classes – instead we prefer to put as much effort as possible into making our classes the best they can be. We find that if people think our classes are great then word spreads. No shade on anyone who posts loads but, just because you don’t see us sharing lots, doesn’t mean we aren’t busy!