When the sun is shining and the weather is warm, there's nothing quite like gathering with family and friends for a picnic or BBQ.

And like every facet of Jewish life, there’s important stuff to keep in mind when picnicking or barbecuing. Read on to find out more.

Washing For Bread

If you plan on having bread at the picnic, make sure that you have water and a cup with which to wash netilat yadayim. You can bring your own water, or you can use water from a water fountain, river or (non-salty) lake.

Where to Wash?

Avoid washing for bread with water from a bathroom. If it’s the only option, take the water out of the bathroom and wash outside. If that’s not possible, wash inside the bathroom but say the blessing and dry your hands outside.1

What Can You Wash With?

Use water to wash your hands. In extenuating circumstances, you can use fruit juice (other than wine) or a drink that mainly consists of water, such as beer.2

What If There’s No Water?

If there’s no water, you should travel up to 18 minutes out of your way to find some. If there will be water on the route you are already traveling within 72 minutes of travel, you need to wait until you get to that water and then wash.3 So, let’s say you’re hiking and you run out of water but you wish to eat lunch, keep walking for up to 72 minutes to find a body of water.

If none of these options are available (or you’re unsure whether you’ll find water within 72 minutes further along your journey), wrap your hands in a cloth or wear gloves and eat the bread without touching it.4

Washing Without a Cup

If you don’t have a cup to wash your hands, you can dip your hands (a single time) into a river or lake that contains at least 40 se’ah of water (about 80 gallons, sufficient for a kosher mikvah). You would then recite the blessing "Baruch . . . al shetifat yadayim" instead of "al netilat yadayim." If you mistakenly say "al netilat yadayim," you still fulfill the obligation.5

Non-Kosher Facilities

Don’t put your food down directly on non-kosher surfaces—even if they’re clean—since it can potentially affect the kosher status of the food.6

Public grills are generally not kosher due to non-kosher meat use. You can theoretically kosher them by heating the grates until they’re red-hot or produce sparks (libbun gamur). Since this is difficult, it’s best to bring your own grill, or at least your own grates.

The parts of the grill that don’t touch food, such as the frame and the grill box, don’t normally need koshering. But it’s best to cover the sides with aluminum foil, clean the grill box, and burn coals for several minutes before use to eliminate any leftover non-kosher fats or oils.

Grilling Fish and Meat

According to Jewish law, you can’t cook fish and meat together7 or even in the same oven simultaneously (unless one of them is completely covered).8 However, you can use the same pot for both if you’re cooking them separately and if the pot is completely cleaned of any residue of the meat or fish in between.9

So, theoretically, you could grill fish after meat (or vice versa) if it's thoroughly cleaned of the meat residue first. In practice, however, since cleaning a grill thoroughly is extremely difficult, it's best not to use the same grill rack for meat and fish. Instead, either double-wrap10 the fish in aluminum foil or use separate grill racks.

If you would put both fish and meat on separate racks of the grill at the same time, don’t close the hood, as this would cook them together.

Grace After Meals

You should say Birkat Hamazon (Grace After Meals) seated at the same place where you ate. Therefore, if you plan on moving around, as is often the case with outdoor activities, you should have in mind at the time of saying Hamotzi that you intend to complete the meal elsewhere.

Shabbat Picnics

When eating outside on Shabbat (assuming that carrying on Shabbat isn’t an issue; for example, it's done in your own yard with a proper eiruv), take care that no liquid falls onto the lawn or plants.

Since it’s hard to ensure that no liquid spills on the grass, it’s better not to serve drinks or soups in a garden on Shabbat.11