Introduction
One of my goals for Barbecue Foodie is to help you prepare great food, whether it is smoked or French cuisine. Both traditions can have a different meaning to different people and it may be helpful to start of with some basic information to kind of set the stage. In this post I will give you some information on ways to prepare barbecue, equipment, different types of “fuel” and of course barbecue food possibilities. As far as what is the best barbecue; go ahead and experiment to see what you like best!
Barbecue Preparation
Barbecue exists all over the world and it is prepared in many different ways. In Hawaii, Kalua Pig is cooked by hot coal in a pit in the ground. In Texas barbecue, meat is most often smoked in above ground smokers that are also called pits (hence the term “pitmaster”). In these smokers, the food is cooked by letting smoke from a wood fire pass over it to give it a distinct smoky flavor. Food prepared over direct heat on a gas or charcoal grill is also often called barbecue.
All of this often leads to discussions around what is best barbecue. When it comes down to it, it really is a matter of personal preference. For me, I simply don’t worry about it and enjoy many different styles of barbecue food ranging from brisket to salmon to a good old grilled burger.
Barbecue Equipment
For our purposes, we will divide barbecue equipment into two broad categories: smokers and grills.
Smokers are available in many shapes and sizes. The most basic version is the offset smoker, which usually consists of a barrel shaped cooking chamber with a firebox attached to it. The fire box is positioned lower than the cooking chamber, hence the name offset smoker. Traditionally these smokers use logs as fuel and require quite a bit of attention to make sure the temperature in the cooking chamber stays a the desired level. More modern version use wood pellets that are automatically added to the fire at a certain rate and require less handholding.
Cabinet smokers have a heat source at the bottom that’s usually propane or electric. There’s a metal box above the heat source that contains wood chips and/or chunks to create the smoke in this model. These are easy to use and I like mine to smoke food that doesn’t require a lot of time to cook, like salmon or sausage.
Another common model of smoker is the barrel smoker, which is an upright barrel shaped cooker with the heat source a the bottom.
When it comes to grills, the main difference is whether it uses charcoal or propane to cook the food. Charcoal will give the food a unique flavor and wood chips can be added to create smoke as well. Gas grills are easy to use and the temperature is easier to control. For a smoky flavor you can wrap wood chips in aluminum foil, poke some holes in it and put on top of a burner. Another option is to use a metal wood chip box that’s placed over a burner.
Barbecue food
Most foods prepared in smokers tend to be meat and poultry, but fish and other seafood are also common. I have also smoked potatoes, corn and other vegetables in the past. They were definitely tasty, but when the main dish is smoked meat it feels like it’s just more of the same, and it’s better to use these as a side dish for other main courses.
When it comes to grilling, the possibilities are literally endless. All kinds of meat and vegetables are great on the grill, even some unexpected items like Romaine lettuce and avocado to be included in a grilled chicken cobb salad. This may sound strange, but give it a try and you’ll find that just a few minutes on the grill unlocks the flavor in these veggies.
Barbecue Rubs
Rubs are blends of herbs and spices that are rubbed on the food before and/or after cooking it in a smoker or on the grill to give the food a distinct flavor. The most basic rub consist of just salt and pepper and quite a few folks in the barbecue world are of the opinion that this is all you need. At the same time, there’s an enormous variety of rubs available at most grocery stores and even more at barbecue specialty retail outlets as well as online.
Of course it’s also possible to create your own rub with herbs and spices you already have in your spice drawer. The basic ingredients are salt and pepper, after that it’s really up to you to create the particular flavor profile you like. This gives you a lot of options and is less costly then buying a rub at the store. I will go into more detail on this in future posts and provide an approach to creating your own personal, signature rub.
Barbecue sauces
As with rubs, there are many barbecue sauces available commercially and you can also make your own sauce.
The most common sauces are tomato based and have a reddish to brown color. There are also sauces that are vinegar based, which are lighter in color and are much thinner than the tomato based sauces. A third variety is white barbecue sauce.
In some barbecue styles the sauce is put on the meat before it goes on the smoker or grill, or it is added after the food is cooked. The sauce is also often served on the side, so you can add it yourself in the desired quantity.
Conclusion
As you can see there are many different ways to prepare barbecue when it comes the preparation, equipment, food to barbecue as well as the use of rubs and sauces. In future posts we will dive deeper into the details of all this. Hopefully this post peaked your interest in barbecue, if so please come back regularly to enjoy future posts. In the meantime, if you have any questions or suggestions for future topics don’t hesitate to leave a comment below.
Thank you for visiting and talk to you soon,
Herman