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How to baste on a barbecue

Updated: 22 October 2026

You have chicken, ribs, or burgers on the grate and a pot of sauce that has already met raw meat. How to baste on a barbecue is a hygiene rule and a timing rule. Set aside a clean portion of sauce, or boil the marinade that has touched raw food, and put a sugary glaze on late so it does not burn. The brush is an example. Listings are ranked on the [BBQ basting brush comparison](/hub/grill-accessories/bbq-basting-brush). A qualifying purchase can earn us a commission at no extra cost to you. Peter F. applied Food Standards Agency guidance to these listings on 20 October 2026. This is not a lab test of any brush.

You have chicken, ribs, or burgers on the grate and a pot of sauce that has already met raw meat. How to baste on a barbecue is a hygiene rule and a timing rule.

Our top picks

OXO OXO Good Grips grilling brush

Best overall

OXO OXO Good Grips grilling brush
7.4/10about £14.29
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SURDOCA SURDOCA silicone basting brushes

Best value

SURDOCA SURDOCA silicone basting brushes
6.8/10about £2.99
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YFWOOD YFWOOD 18 inch cotton mop

Alternative

YFWOOD YFWOOD 18 inch cotton mop
6.6/10about £9.99
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On this page
  1. 1.The marinade rule
  2. 2.When the sauce goes on
  3. 3.Wash the brush you just used
  4. 4.The brush does not cook the meat

The marinade rule

The Food Standards Agency says you should not baste partly cooked meat with a marinade that has already been on raw meat. If you want to use that marinade as a baste, boil it first. Keep a jug of sauce that never touched the raw chicken, and brush from that jug. Food Standards Scotland says not to use a sauce on cooked food if raw meat has been in it. One brush for the raw tray and the cooked glaze is how the raw juices travel. Use a second brush, or wash this one before it touches food that is nearly done. A two-colour pair, such as the red and black SURDOCA brushes, only helps if one colour stays clean. Washing is the step. If someone is ill after a raw marinade was served as a sauce, that is NHS advice. A food business asking about compliance goes to the local authority.

When the sauce goes on

A glaze with sugar, honey, or a thick barbecue sauce burns if it sits on the meat for the whole cook. Char-Broil’s UK guide says to glaze near the end so the sugar does not burn, and it quotes 74°C for thighs. That 74°C is the publisher’s cooking check, not an FSA figure. Great British Meat suggests sauce in the last 10 minutes or after cooking. Treat those minutes as a publisher method. A thin mop is a different clock, on the BBQ mop for a smoker page. Ribs take a glaze once the surface is no longer wet and raw. Burgers take a quick brush at the end, not a soak that drips onto the coals and flares.
OXO OXO Good Grips grilling brush

Testsieger

OXO OXO Good Grips grilling brush
7.4/10about £14.29
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Wash the brush you just used

If the brush went into a raw marinade, it does not go onto the finished chicken until you have boiled that marinade or switched to a clean portion and a clean head. Silicone is the easier wash. The OXO and the SURDOCA pair have a dishwasher field that says yes. NileHome’s field says no, so wash that pair by hand if you follow the listing. The 30 cm EMTPJAL has no yes-or-no field. Cotton is the awkward one. The YFWOOD field says yes, and UK reviews still say the head stains. The M METERXITY listing has no dishwasher field and tells you to soak, scrub, and hang the head to dry. Hang cotton until it is dry. Do not leave the brush on the grate. Joseph Joseph’s UK page says not to park a basting tool on the grill.

The brush does not cook the meat

A clean coat does not mean the centre is cooked. The Food Standards Agency uses 70°C for 2 minutes in the centre, or the equivalent times on that page. You need a probe in the thickest part, away from bone. Food Standards Scotland gives 75°C on a thermometer as its fully cooked check. Do not average 70°C, Char-Broil’s 74°C, and Scotland’s 75°C into a new number. In England, Wales, or Northern Ireland, follow the FSA page. In Scotland, use the Food Standards Scotland line. If the meat is still under that centre rule, more sauce will not finish it. A head that melts into the food sits under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 with the seller. Who each listing is for is on the best barbecue basting brush page. Thick glaze or a thin mop is on the silicone basting brush vs cotton mop page.

Common questions

Can I brush cooked chicken with the marinade from the bag?
Not if that marinade has touched the raw chicken, unless you boil it first. The Food Standards Agency says to boil a used marinade before it goes back on the food. Food Standards Scotland says not to put that sauce on cooked food. Keep a separate jug that never met the raw meat.
Do I boil the used marinade, or keep a clean portion aside?
Keep a clean portion aside if you can. Boiling is the FSA’s route when the only sauce you have already held the raw meat. The line used here is boil it. We are not adding a boiling time the FSA text does not give. A second clean brush still helps, because the bristles can carry juice.
When does barbecue sauce go on?
Put a sugary glaze on near the end, once the meat is close to cooked. Char-Broil UK says glaze near the end. Great British Meat talks about the last 10 minutes or after cooking. Those are publisher methods, not an FSA minute count.
Do I need one brush or two?
Two is the simple version: one for raw meat, one for the glaze, and you do not mix them. One brush is acceptable if you wash it first, and if any marinade it carried is boiled or thrown out. A two-colour pair only works if you treat the colours as a rule and still wash them.
What temperature line applies in Scotland?
Food Standards Scotland says not to reuse a sauce that has had raw meat in it, and it gives 75°C on a thermometer as the fully cooked check. The FSA page, for England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, says 70°C for 2 minutes in the centre, or the equivalents listed there. Use the body that covers where you are cooking.

Related pages

BBQ basting brush buying guide

BBQ basting brush

Best BBQ basting brush: OXO on the grate, not rank 1

BBQ mop for a smoker: long cotton, then hang it dry

Silicone basting brush vs cotton mop for the glaze

Sources

Public UK sources and the manufacturer pages named in the digest, retrieved on 21 October 2026.

  1. Regulation (EC) No 1935/2004, Article 3 (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  2. Materials and Articles in Contact with Food (England) Regulations 2012 (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  3. GOV.UK food contact materials regulations (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  4. FSA food contact materials authorisation guidance (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  5. FSA BBQ food safety (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  6. FSA cooking your food (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  7. GOV.UK refunds for faulty goods (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  8. Joseph Joseph GrillOut UK (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  9. OXO grilling basting brush, SKU 11309300 dimensions (retrieved 21 October 2026)