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In my humble opinion,
these days’ the word BBQ means different things to different people.
I have lately come to the conclusion that to the majority of folk’s BBQ describes a social gathering of one or more people, the main purpose is to cook out in the open, enjoy the weather, food and company. (Even BBQ restaurant’s used to cook their food outside).
Since each region, restaurant, family and grill cook swears that their version (smoking, grilling, open fire, covered grill, etc) is the gospel, describing BBQ as a cooking method seems rather futile to me .
However, I had many a chef getting his / her knickers in a twist discussing what BBQ actually and REALLY means, so I just accept whatever is the explanation of the day.
( Even the origin of the word Barbecue seems to have different proponents ).
If I take my classical french training into consideration, you have the cooking methods :
Grilling (never covered), Smoking (always covered) Jerking ( a combination cooking metod, since we grill, smoke and steam at the same time) and “the way of Life BBQ”, where we use any cooking method traditionally employed in our area and / or backyard, invite a bunch of friend’s and family over and have smoked, grilled, jerked food, maybe a barrel of beer and lot’s of fun.
BBQ – happy cooking outside, whichever way, as long as you are having fun ! 🙂
Please give us your opinion in the poll below.
Live is Good !
Brussels Grill: Mixed vegetables (Photo credit: batigolix)
Beef and Corn on a Charcoal BBQ grill (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Some chicken, pork and corn in the barbeque (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
English: a typical offset bbq smoker (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
English: Image of a propane smoker in use. Diagrams the elements. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
English: Preparing grill for grilling, grill with flames and cones. Česky: Příprava grilu pro grilování, gril s plameny a šiškami. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
English: Chicken wings being cooked slowly over charcoal ashes. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
English: “Little Chief” food smoker, popular in the Pacific Northwest for home smoking of fish and meat (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Pork steaks cooking over a charcoal fire (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
English: A barbecue on a trailer at a block party in Kansas City. Pans on the top shelf hold hamburgers and hot dogs that were grilled earlier when the coals were hot. The lower grill is now being used to slowly cook pork ribs and “drunken chicken”. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Can’t claim credit for this cooking, my friend Paul was responsible. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
This is a traditional asado. The picture shows ribs grilled in the traditional Argentinean way. The meat is on top of the grill and the charcoal or wood at low fire under the grill. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Deutsch: Bratwürste auf einem Grill (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Español: Cocinando carne para hamburguesa al grill. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Barbecue (Photo credit: Johann Richard)
The smoking setup – left (Photo credit: ntang)
Pork ribs being smoked (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Cooks remove racks of herring from a traditional smokehouse (Heringsräucherei) (Photo credit: drakegoodman)
English: Barbecue grill trailer and church, Index, Washington. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
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ChefsOpinion 
Nothing is much better than having a great BBQ with friends and family and great food.
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As any BBQ eater knows, “…the secret is in the sauce…”
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Sauce is key!! if you have a good sauce that makes the best BBQ. What I have found out if getting a simple “base” sauce with a good hickery, smokey flavor then adding your own “signature” spice to it. Depending on the crowd and the protein differnt spices work good in different situations.
BBQ, drinking some beers and having some laughs with friends… Nothing gets better
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I would have to say that what makes a good BBQ is first and foremost a good cook and loved ones to enjoy it. After that how you chose to prepare the food is up to you.
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Bennet, stick to your sanitation 🙂
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And now for a real treat ( BBQ ? ) :
WHOLE spit roast Oxen !
Where else, Germany 🙂
Both videos make my mouth water.
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Being a Kansas Citian AND a former professional BBQ Pit Cook at Gate’s BBQ in Kansas City I learned from the masters that in BBQ that you cook with Fire, Smoke, and Water. The rub you use is more important than the sauce, type of pit, or method of cooking. Sauce can be important but if the rub used creates a bitter product, no amount of good sauce will hide the disappointment. Low and Slow, as done in compitition style and backyard BBQ’s or the higher temperatures and shorter cooking times of professional BBQing where pit management (the moving and/or placement and positions of the meats in the pit) it makes no difference as long as you aquire the skills (which are easier than most BBQ pitmasters let on).
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Not sure what city started it but as far as chain BBQ I enjoy eating at The Whole Hog. They put no sauce on their meats. However the table has six different sauces for you to choose from. Delicious.
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Sounds good to me Clarence. However, you might want to have a look at part 2 and part 3 on my blog. Stay tuned 🙂
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