LSU Tailgating: Grilling Tips for Baton Rouge Game Day
Game day in Baton Rouge is a cooking event that happens to have a football game attached. The challenge is doing your best grilling away from your home grill: in the heat, on a portable setup, for a crowd that grazes for hours. The cooks who do it well all follow the same pattern — most of the slow work done at home, quick cooking on site, and a plan for keeping food safe in the sun.
Please note: GrillingTips.org is not affiliated with Louisiana State University. Check the school's current tailgating policies before game day — rules on grills, tents, and setup times change, and this guide does not replace them.
Do the slow cooking at home
A tailgate is a bad place to start a long cook. Smoke pork shoulder, brisket, or ribs at home, where your grill holds a steady temperature and you control the timing. Chill the meat, transport it cold, and reheat it on site over gentle indirect heat or in a covered pan. Reheated barbecue at a tailgate tastes like barbecue, not like a compromise — and it frees you to enjoy the day instead of babysitting a fire. The same goes for anything that needs hours: cook it at home, finish it at the tailgate.
Pick food that travels and holds
Smoked sausage is the perfect tailgate food: it is already cooked, it holds well, it grills in minutes, and it feeds a crowd from a small footprint. Burgers and chicken thighs are next — thighs especially, because they stay juicy over an unpredictable fire. Skewers and kebabs cook fast and eat without plates and forks. Skip anything delicate or fussy: fish, thin steaks, and food that needs precise temperature control belong at home, not on a portable grill in a crowd.
The portable setup
Keep the setup simple and packable: a portable grill you can carry and set up quickly, a chimney starter, charcoal, long tongs and a spatula, a folding table, and a cooler that actually keeps ice. A heavy ceramic kamado is a wonderful home grill and a miserable thing to haul — if you bring one, secure it for transport and set it on stable, level ground. Bring more fuel than you think you need, plus fire starters, a spray bottle for flare-ups, and a thermometer. The thermometer matters more away from home, because you are cooking on an unfamiliar grill in wind and sun.
Quantities for a crowd
Tailgate crowds graze for hours, and people who said they were not coming show up hungry. Cook for a few more people than your RSVP count, and plan the cook in two waves: a first round when the crowd arrives, and a second round later, so food comes off the grill hot instead of sitting out. Sausage and burgers are easy to cook in waves; a single giant cook that all finishes at once is how food ends up sitting in the heat.
Food safety in the heat
Louisiana heat is the hardest part of tailgate food safety. Keep cold food on ice until it goes on the grill, and get leftovers back on ice promptly — perishable food should not sit out for hours in the sun. Keep raw meat separate from cooked food and ready-to-eat food, and keep a separate set of tongs for raw and cooked. Bring a water jug, soap, and paper towels if there is no wash station nearby. When in doubt about something that has been sitting out, throw it out. Check current guidance from a public food-safety authority if you want the details.
Quick cooks beat low-and-slow on site
On site, cook things that finish in minutes: sausage, burgers, chicken thighs, skewers. Save the long smokes for home. If you want smoke flavor at the tailgate, add a handful of wood chunks to the coals — it gives you the aroma without the hours. Keep the menu short: three things done well beat eight things done badly when you are cooking for a crowd on a portable grill.
Teardown and pack-out
Plan the end of the day before it starts. Bring trash bags, and leave the spot cleaner than you found it. Let coals cool completely before disposal — never dump hot coals — and follow the site's rules for ash and charcoal. Pack leftovers onto ice quickly rather than letting them ride home warm. A tidy teardown is part of being invited back.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best grill to bring tailgating?
A portable grill you can carry, set up quickly, and control — a small kettle grill or a portable gas grill suits most tailgates. Heavy ceramic grills cook beautifully but are hard to transport and set up, so keep the setup simple.
How do you keep tailgate food safe in the heat?
Keep cold food on ice until cooking, return leftovers to ice promptly, keep raw and cooked foods separate, and do not let perishable food sit out for hours in the sun. When in doubt, throw it out.
What should you cook ahead at home before a tailgate?
Anything slow: smoked pork shoulder, brisket, or ribs. Cook them at home, chill them, transport them cold, and reheat gently on site. Quick-cooking food like sausage and burgers is best grilled fresh at the tailgate.