Foods to Avoid for Your 4th of July Tri-Cities BBQ

Celebrating our Nation's birthday usually involves certain things...fireworks, friends and family, flags, and plenty of food.  Most backyard barbecues will offer similar food.  Hamburgers and hot dogs are a staple, ribs are always welcome, and chicken hot off the grill/smoker is hard to beat.

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While offerings may vary a bit from party to party, there are some foods you should avoid serving at your 4th of July bash.  Considering temperatures in the Tri-Cities will be around the triple digits for the 4th, the foods that follow just don't make the menu when they'll sit in the hot sun.

Meat From a Can

First, when burgers, brats, hot dogs, ribs, chicken, brisket. and/or any other fresh off the grill meat is being cooked, why would you even think of serving meat from a can?  Truth is, canned meats will not survive well in the heat once they come out of the can.  Save the tuna for the fridge and weekday lunches.

Cheese Plates

A common theme is dairy and heat do not work well together.  The last thing you want is something to smell in the middle of your outdoor spread and that could happen with hot cheese.  Unless you are having an indoor party, or your bash will begin after sunset, leave the cheese off the menu and out of the sun.

Chocolate

Another food that can't stand the heat is chocolate.  While it tastes great warm and you can melt it in for a number of sweet snacks, you don't want it melting in your hands instead your mouth.  Save the chocolate for the post sunset fire pit for a s'mores making finale to the evening.

Deviled Eggs

Another common theme is mayo and the hot sun, much like dairy and the star at the center of our Universe,they do not mix well when spending lots of time together.  Mayo based foods can spoil easily and quickly in hot outdoor temps.  Unless the line is long for the deviled eggs,it might be better to hold them for the Labor Day bash.

Ice Cream

This one is out of the bug fat bag of duh.  It's frozen and it's dairy so a double whammy for a roughly triple digit party.  If you listen closely to a bowl of ice cream left in the hot sun you might hear it faintly scream like the Wicked Witch of the West in the Wizard of Oz.

Mayo Based Salads

It's not just deviled eggs that you need to be worried about.  Mayo based potato and pasta salads can spoil if outside in the heat for too long and make your stomach feel like it just finished a triathlon.  That also goes for mayo based slaws and really mayo based anything.  Keep it on ice in a cooler if you're going to serve it or opt for the German style potato salad which is pretty fantastic in it's own right.

For more foods you might want to avoid during a mid summer cookout, check out the rest of the list from the folks at The Daily Meal.