The Smartest Way To Keep Mosquitoes Away From Your Cookout Food

Twilight cookouts in the local park or your backyard epitomize the summer eating experience. Unfortunately, they're also attractors for some unwanted guests: Mosquitoes. Keeping the hungry beasts away from your outdoor barbecue (without bringing chemical bug sprays into the equation) probably ranks at the top of your priority list. Solving this issue effectively means no bug spray gets into your grilled steak or the beer you're washing it down with. Fortunately, non-chemical remedies for mosquitos allow you to keep bugs off your body and out of the air around your cookout area. 

One of the smartest (and easiest) things you can do is slip a mosquito-repellent bracelet around your wrist or ankle. Some brands tap into the bug-repelling power of essential oils, like geranium oil, lemongrass, and citronella oil, to keep pests away. They also prevent you from exposing your food to chemicals like DEET, a common ingredient in mosquito spray. Many of these bracelets fall into the one-size-fits-all category, giving you treatment options that benefit the whole family. They come in a resealable bag that allows you to reuse the armband at your next cookout. Most importantly, they're portable, which means you can take them with you to a cookout in the park. Or keep them handy in the medicine cabinet at home for those nights when the grill is just asking to be fired up.

There is a reason that so many natural bug sprays contain ingredients like peppermint and lavender oils. They — and the plants they come from — boast a reputation for keeping biting bugs away. These plants are considered such adequate bug repellents that people in Europe plant them in their gardens to knock back mosquitoes in the yard. It might be helpful for you to follow this lead and grow some bug-repelling plants around your barbecue area.

Some effective choices include geraniums, lavender, marigolds, lemon balm, citronella, and bergamot, and yes, that's the same bergamot that makes your cup of Earl Grey tea taste so distinct. If your property has pine trees around it, you're in luck — they also repel mosquitoes. Many of these plants, like citronella, don't kill the bugs but rather hide your scent so bugs can't find you. Other plants, like clove, are effective as insecticides in their oil form, according to a study published in the Journal of the Florida Mosquito Control Association. 

It's also worth mentioning that if you're the type of home gardener who plants flowers and veggies together, then think about planting some garlic, cloves, rosemary, thyme, and basil, in addition to your floral blooms. You'll keep the bugs away and get a head start on growing the herbs you need for your favorite herb-roasted beef tenderloin recipe.

Electric fans and candles that keep mosquitoes away aren't some steampunk novel fantasy. They count among the mechanical options you have at your disposal to get rid of biting bugs. Electric fans do two things that keep mosquitoes at bay. First, the fan makes it difficult for bugs to find you because it disperses the carbon dioxide from your breath. Mosquitoes rely on the scent of carbon dioxide and your body odor to locate you. If they can't smell you, they can't find you. If they can't find you, they can't bite you.

Additionally, despite being persistent flyers, they aren't powerful flyers. The gusts of a strong fan are enough to keep bugs away because they don't have enough strength to fight the effects of the wind created by the fan when they fly near it. In light of that, positioning a few large fans around your cookout area keeps you cool and bite-free.

Finally, citronella candles repel those nasty arm biters. And unlike many chemical compounds, they have a pleasant lemony scent, which definitely smells better with dinner than chemical bug repellents. These candles make it difficult for mosquito snouts to find you, effectively masking your scent and the scent of the carbon dioxide you produce. And more importantly, these candles allow you to enjoy grilling like a master, bite-free.