Top 10 Tailgate Hacks for a Fiasco-Free Football Season
From cheering on the Vols to singing the Rammer Jammer, there’s nothing quite like a perfect football Saturday here in the South. But between weather that’s more unpredictable than Auburn and snacks that have to stay cool, putting together the perfect tailgate can be a little tricky. While our top tips for a perfect tailgate won’t take the sting out of a loss, they can certainly make your weekend a little easier:
Plan Your Schedule (and Your Spot): Any season tailgater will tell you that a schedule is almost as important as your spot. It’s important to figure out where you want to set up – if you’re too close to the stadium, it’ll be really busy, but no one wants to walk two miles either – but once you’ve popped the canopy and the tabs, you don’t want to spend your day cooking only to miss kickoff. The best guides out there say to plan to arrive four hours prior to the start of the game and eat two hours later. That gives you plenty of time to party, enjoy the company and clean up.
Pre-Prep Your Grill Food: Think of a tailgate just like a picnic or holiday dinner – the more you can do ahead of time, the less work you’ll be facing the day of the event. If you’re thinking about making hamburgers, consider making patties and putting wax paper between them the night before. We’re also big fans of kabobs, since you can skewer and marinate them the night before. Both cook up easy on the grill, whether you have gas or charcoal. Of course, you can always make things easy on yourself and grab a few packs of Berks!
Tailgate Toolbox: We’ve seen some amazing tailgate setups, but there’s almost nothing we love more than the good old tailgate toolbox (or tacklebox!) Consider all of the items you use regularly and put them in a small box together so you don’t forget the small things. From having a place to safely store your knives to not forgetting the baggies, we’ve seen these come in handy more than once!
Make the Most of Your Cooler Space: There are oodles of guides out there to show you the best way to pack your coolers, especially if you want to get a lot into small space and keep things really cold. Basically add more ice than you think you need, use watertight containers and freeze what you can.
User Coolers to Keep Things Hot: Coolers are pretty much stuck with their name at this point, but don’t let their moniker keep you from making the most of it! Coolers are actually almost as good at keeping things warm as they are at keeping things cool, especially with the right prep work. Try putting a double layer of towels at the bottom of the cooler, wrapping your hot food in heavy duty tin foil, cover the food with another towel and close it up. The trick is not to open the cooler again until you’re ready to eat!
Secure Your Canopy: If you want to stay at least somewhat protected from the sun, rain or snow, a canopy is a tailgating essential. But they can also be extremely hazardous in windy conditions. If you are bringing a canopy to a tailgate, make absolutely certain you can keep it on the ground. Lots of canopies come with stakes, but chances are good that you’ll be on concrete, so make sure to bring enough weights!
Share Your Location on Google: Lots of tailgaters mark their location with a balloon or flyer, but if it’s a busy day and you’re not a seasoned tailgater, it can be tough to find your friends. We prefer to share our Google location through the Google Maps app. It can be scary accurate and it’s easy enough to turn off after the party! If you want to keep it classic, a good princess balloon can also be easy to find.
Bring a Tub for Dirty Dishes: Even if you use paper plates, every tailgate party ends up with some amount of dirty dishes. Whether it’s spatulas and pans or grill tongs and knives, there always seems to be something you have to take home. And there’s a good chance it’s covered in grease. Skip worrying about your car seats while you’re at the game and put all those dirty (and cooled off) dishes in a plastic tub. You can worry about those tomorrow!
Remember the Cleanup: Even if your dirty dishes are in a tub, you’re probably still looking at quite a bit of cleanup. Assuming you ate two hours before the game started, your grill should be pretty cool, but you absolutely have to check before packing it away. We also suggest bringing extra foil and sandwich or gallon bags for leftovers. You don’t want to let extra food go to waste – pack it up and send it home with your friends!
Check the Policies: The biggest piece of advice we can give you for tailgating – whether you’re at Ben Hill Griffin or Kenan Memorial – is to check the policies before you go. Some stadiums don’t allow canopies, others don’t want grills on the concrete and a lot of colleges don’t allow alcohol. Make sure you check those policies before scheduling the big day!
