COMPETITION TIME: It’s BBQ time! Good barbecuing is all about enjoying food, family, friends, and fun, and if you get the food part right then the rest follows.

Basically anything you can cook in an oven in your kitchen, you can cook on a quality barbecue.

We’re lucky enough to have the Weber Grill Academy – the UK’s first and only dedicated year-round barbecue cookery school – right on our doorstep in Marsh Baldon, which is just a few miles south east of Oxford.

Fun and informative, the Grill Academy’s full day classes will expand your barbecue knowledge and show you how to cook so much more than just sausages and burgers.

Barbecue fans can choose from the ‘Thrill of the Grill – Part 1’ course which is open to all skill levels or ‘Part 2’ that takes those skills a step further, with lessons on using specialist accessories to further build on the tips and tricks picked up in ‘Part 1’.

But right now, Clare Edwards, head tutor at the Grill Academy shares her top tips on how to get the best out of your barbecue.

* Make sure you use a good quality barbecue with a lid and always cook with the lid down (whatever the food).

* Don’t limit yourself to the basics, you can roast or grill on gas and charcoal barbecues. If you’re using a charcoal barbecue, use quality briquettes not lump-wood, arrange the coals to either side of the grill with a drip tray in the middle and place your food over the drip tray. Close the lid, and you can make your barbecue act just like an oven.

* Use good solid tools. If you don’t want to mess around lighting charcoal, or worrying about when the coals are ready, get a chimney starter which practically does the job for you. Don’t turn the food too often, once or twice is enough, and always turn meat with tongs – using a fork lets all the juices out!

We’ve teamed up with Weber to give one lucky reader the chance to win a stunning One Touch Premium 57cm in Blue Wave worth £199.99.

Two runners-up will win a One Touch Original 47cm in Lemongrass worth £119.99. All three winners will also get a handy Weber Apron and Barbecue Mitt.

For entry details, just buy the Oxford Mail on Thursday, April 5, and turn to its entertainments magazine The Guide.