BBQ: What it Is!

Barbecue can be a verb (a method of cooking using smoke) or a noun (a. the best smoked meats on the planet; b. the actual cooker used to barbecue meat). As a cooking method it is a long, slow, indirect and low heat way of smoking and cooking primarily large cuts of meat (or meats with tough connective tissues) over smoldering wood or charcoal. The heat source is generally isolated from the actual cooking area in a way that induces the heat to draw smoke from smoldering coals with it through the cooker and over the meat as it evacuates. The smoke serves as a means of food preservation, as well as a flavoring agent for the food. The sweet aroma of BBQ smoke lingering on a person is a sign of greatness, witness to the fact that they have been engaged in one of cuisine’s most-honored and respected arts. A whiff of that sweet elixir is enough to bring a sentimental tear to the eye of the true believer.