BBQ Team Building

Competition, mostly, and the friendly kind. A professional pit master runs a two-hour hands-on session at your office: your team builds signature spice rubs, works the grill in relays, and plates dishes against the clock. The facilitators are there to make sure the confident griller does not take over the station and the person who has never touched a pair of tongs still ends up cooking something they are proud of.

Popular team building activities:

• Best Sauce Competition: teams compete to create the most delicious custom sauce.
• Grilling Tag Team: collaborative cooking challenges for a preferred cooking station.
• Backyard Games: classic outdoor games running alongside the grills.

Whether your team is made of seasoned grillers or complete beginners, everyone leaves having cooked, eaten and argued about barbecue sauce.

No. Rockoly brings the whole setup to your office: grills, utensils, local organic ingredients, the pit masters and the team-building activities. Setup and cleanup are ours too, so the space is spotless when the two hours are up and nobody on your staff is scrubbing a grate at 6pm. Your side of the work is choosing a package, telling us about dietary needs and pointing us at the space. Bring an appetite and, ideally, a competitive streak.

Most outdoor spaces work: patios, courtyards, rooftops and parking lots have all hosted these. Plan on roughly 15 by 15 feet of clear area per grill station, plus room for people to stand, eat and play between courses. Grills need open air and clearance from the building, so your planner helps you find the right spot during planning rather than guessing from a floor plan. If the space is tight, we will say so and adjust the station count rather than overpromise.

Weather is a genuine variable on this one, so plan for it early. The grills need open air and clearance from the building, which means the cooking cannot simply move indoors. Raise it with your planner while you are still choosing the date rather than the week of, and they will help you settle on the spot. The booking terms matter here too: you can reschedule up to 48 hours before the event, and cancelling at least 48 hours ahead, or within 24 hours of purchase, is a full refund. A forecast that turns early is far easier to act on than one that turns overnight.

It is the best piece of barbecue trivia there is, and your pit master will explain it while it happens in front of you. The pink layer just under the crust of smoked meat is a smoke ring, and it is not undercooked meat. Burning wood produces nitric oxide, which dissolves into the damp surface of the meat and binds with myoglobin, the pigment in muscle, fixing it pink before the heat can turn it grey. It only forms early, while the surface is still cool and wet, which is why a good ring is a sign of real low-and-slow smoking rather than a shortcut.

Grilling does the opposite job. High, dry heat drives the Maillard reaction, named for the French chemist Louis-Camille Maillard, who described it in 1912, in which amino acids and sugars rearrange into hundreds of new aroma compounds. It is the entire reason a seared burger smells nothing like a boiled one.

The Southern Seafood menu leans on the first, with cedar-smoked salmon, hickory-smoked trout and a real lesson in wood-chip selection. The Grill and Chill and the Lamb and Wagyu menus lean on the second. Pick accordingly, or ask your planner which suits your crowd.

Three packages, all two hours, priced per person:

• Grill and Chill Classics, $140 per person: Angus beef burgers, gourmet hot dogs, grilled chicken skewers, garlic butter shrimp and fresh vegetable kebabs. The relaxed crowd-pleaser.
• Southern Seafood, $210 per person: cedar-smoked salmon, hickory-smoked trout, maple-glazed smoked carrots, charred Brussels sprouts and portobello mushrooms, with genuine instruction in smoking technique and spice rubs.
• Basting Lamb and Wagyu, $230 per person: herb-basted Australian lamb chops, garlic-rosemary butter basted Wagyu beef, soy-ginger glazed asparagus, Mediterranean grilled zucchini and eggplant, and rosemary garlic baby potatoes.

Menus are fully customizable. Mix and match meats, seafood, vegetables and sides until the spread matches your team rather than our list.

Drinks are add-ons, so you decide how the event feels. A craft beer selection is $20 per person and assorted wines are $25 per person. A Southern cocktail bar or signature cocktails run $30 per person. On the non-alcoholic side, an iced tea station is $12 per person and sparkling flavored waters are $8 per person. A completely dry event is a normal booking here, not an awkward exception.

On food: vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free needs are accommodated at no extra cost when you share them in advance, and every package already includes serious vegetable dishes rather than a sad afterthought plate. Tell your planner about allergies early so the pit master can plan the prep and the grill around them.

Give it about three weeks. In-person events need pit masters, equipment and ingredients scheduled to your address, so the earlier you ask, the more dates are open to you. Rush dates are sometimes possible depending on availability, so it is worth asking. Fill out the form on this page and a dedicated planner will confirm your package, settle the space with you and hold the date. A $250 deposit secures it, by credit card, ACH transfer or check. Cancel at least 48 hours ahead, or within 24 hours of purchase, for a full refund. Every event carries the Love Your Event Guarantee. You can also call (617) 939-9732.