Posted: 2/15/2006 5:46:25 AM EDT
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Barbecuing vs. Grilling: Many people become confused when distinguishing the difference between barbecuing and grilling. There can be various interpretations of the term “barbecue” around the world. In some cases, barbecuing is used to describe a social gathering and cooking outdoors. Although some people use the term barbecue to describe the grilling of food, barbecuing isn’t grilling. Barbecuing requires the use of special equipment to slow-cook meat, using wood smoke to add flavor. To barbecue, you cook by using indirect heat or low-level radiant heat at lower temperatures and longer cooking times. Grilling takes place when you cook over direct heat, usually a hot fire, for a short time. Primarily, the distinction between barbecuing and grilling is the heat level and the intensity of the radiant heat. It’s the smoke from the burning wood that gives barbecue its unique flavor. The longer cooking times used while barbecuing stems from techniques involving the tough, less expensive cuts of meat that must be cooked until they become tender. For instance, brisket comes from the breast area of a steer and tends to be very tough. This is also true for pork shoulders. Long, slow cooking helps tenderize these cuts of meat. In most cases, grilling has become the fashionable way to cook. Grilling is convenient and takes less time than barbecuing. You can grill using charcoal or by using a gas grill. Since charcoal produces smoke and heat, the two mix together to give your food a better flavor. Gas grills use a clean fuel that doesn’t really produce smoke. Of course, this is just the tip of the ole iceberg - you have dry rub, wet, the different types of sauces (tomato, mustard based, etc.), and much more. Whichever method you prefer - just get out there and enjoy! 
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Barbecue sauce is for savages though. so a -1 on that. Meat does not need sauce. It's people like you that make it damn near impossible to get a good peice of barbeque that isn't slathered in some syrupy goop. It's a tool of the devil, I tell you. If you need sauces or glazes, you didn't cook it right. JMHO of course though. 
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 What's wrong with it? |
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I prefer to BBQ....low coals, long time, nice smoke flavor in the meat. As far as sauce, I agree....good meat doesnt need sauce....just a nice dry rub before it gets put on the fire. For ribs I like to dip in sauce when I eat them....but I rarely put sauce on them when I BBQ. Grilling is what I do when I make hotdogs and hamburgers. If you are BBQ'ing and it takes less than an hour to cook your meat, you grilled it! 
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It may be a regional dialect thing, but around here, that's wrong. Barbeque (noun) - a food made by slow-cooking meat at low temps for a long period of time using hardwood smoke as a flavorant. Usually made using pork shoulders, hams, and ribs and beef briskets and ribs. Barbeque (verb) - The act of making barbeque. If what comes out of your cooking gear isn't barbeque, then you didn't barbeque. (For making barbeque, I find that brining the meat for a few hours before cooking it makes it a hell of a lot more juicy and flavorful.) |
