Recommended merguez bbq time

Swaledale’s award-winning lamb merguez sausages are made using native breed Yorkshire Dales, lamb shoulder combined with hand-mixed spices.

A slower cook over the barbecue is ideal for this sausage as it helps develop a wonderful texture while bringing out all the delicious flavours you expect from this award-winning merguez. Cooking on a barbecue also enables the natural flavours of wood and fire to combine with the lamb and spices, adding another delicious flavour dimension. Make sure you use natural lump wood charcoal to help achieve this.

In total, the merguez barbecue time is around 10 minutes.

How to bbq merguez sausages to perfection

Place your charcoal to one side and light using a natural fire lighter. This creates a cooler section on your bbq.
Remove your merguez sausages from the packaging and pat dry.
Once the charcoal is glowing, place your merguez on the grill, but not over direct heat. Put on the lid with the vents half open.
The trick is to cook the lamb merguez gently. If you cook them over very high heat, you risk splitting them.
Cook for around 4-5 minutes a side, turning them every 90 seconds to avoid charring.
The merguez sausages are cooked once golden brown. An internal temperature of 70°C is ideal if using a meat probe.
Once cooked, remove your sausages and rest for a minute, then enjoy.

Top tips

Don’t be impatient and begin prodding the sausages, as this can also cause breakages.
The fat from the lamb can cause flames, so be careful.
You can warm up some flatbreads (see recipe below) by placing them on top of the barbecued merguez whilst they finish cooking. Flavour passes over, and heat is transferred.