Competitive/American style bbq

[asix]

In the UK we don’t get this our bbq tend to be burgers (burnt) and under cooked chicken (burnt) that’s it.

I'm watching Man V Food and its opened my eyes to a hole word of food i didn’t know existed. Can anyone help me with this one. Where do i start cooking? Will i need my own smoker?

[dg]

You can make pretty decent Carolina style pork bbq if you have a charcoal grill and access to some hardwood chips, like hickory or applewood. We just use pork butt, the cut is actually called Boston Butt, put a dry rub on it (tons of recipes for that online), then put it on low indirect heat on the closed grill(somewhere in the 200f range), adding moistened wood chips in a perforated foil pouch right on the coals to get it smoking. We've done it for 8 hours, for 12 hours, or for just 3 hours followed by wrapping in foil & finishing at 225f in the oven for a few hours, and it comes out tasting awesome and about the same any of those ways. We usually do it the last way most often, because it stays moister, and we've found that the smoke only gets into the meat about the same depth no matter how much longer we smoke it.

This method also works great for beef,sausage, turkey, salmon, and just about any other meat you can think of. Once the pork is done, we shred it up and mix in a vinegar/red pepper - based Carolina style sauce and make sandwiches. Some people baste or spray this sauce on during smoking as well. Plenty of recipes for that online, along with Memphis, Kansas City, or Texas style rubs & sauces too. I grew up with the Carolina stuff, so it's my favorite, but I've tried them all and it's all awesome when done right. There are tons of great sites online with recipes & videos.

[Jack Napalm]

Real bbq is awesome. Meat takes on a whole new personality. There are many types of bbq as well, some use sauce, some use rubs, some use both, some use none. What dg says is spot on. There are a ton of resources online. The only 'rule' is cook slow and low. Low indirect heat, I use about 225, and cook for hours. You can easily finish it up on a higher heat. I am doing that this weekend with pork ribs. You won't regret it. It will take you a few tries to 'get it right' and you will change what you do over time. Have fun.

[etepbbb]

I have a smoker, and I'm an apprentice with it still. But, smoked pork and smoked salmon rule. Smoked almost anything is great for that matter. It requires a little of planning, because you have soak the wood chips, rub or marinade the meat usually 24 hrs before cooking, and smoke stuff all day. But, the end results are excellent. Do some google searchs, its not terriblely expensive to start doing.

[Jack Napalm]

Put this in your smoker: Jalapeno peppers, stuffed with chicken and wrapped in bacon. Report back your findings.

[DonP]

In the UK we don’t get this our bbq tend to be burgers (burnt) and under cooked chicken (burnt) that’s it.

I'm watching Man V Food and its opened my eyes to a hole word of food i didn’t know existed. Can anyone help me with this one. Where do i start cooking? Will i need my own smoker?

I think I've seen shows where they make a smoker with a large cardboard box. Do a google search, maybe there's stuff online.

BBQ is good. I work in Nashville every other week. I like Jim and Nicks, but theres Famous Dave's, Porkey's Bar-B-Cutie, ...this list goes on for all of the BBQ places. I almost had BBQ again last night but the wife (and kids are with me on vacation) was tired of it.

[Sharkfin]

That's a crying shame... I might have to have BBQ for lunch because I can. No you don't need a dedicated smoker you can use a charcoal grill as a smoker if you have one. BBQ'ing entails cooking meat using indirect heat whereas grilling is cooking meat using direct heat. A lot of people tend to confuse the two, when in fact they are not the same.

Different people and areas of the US have different BBQ'ing methods as well as the sauce bases that they use. Carolina style I believe is more of a vinegar based sauce while Kansas City for example is more tomato or ketchup based. Also some use a dry rub (spices rubbed on the meat before cooking) and some use a sauce that they use to mop or baste the meat as it's cooking. The fun of it all is trying out the different methods and what you like best.

If you want some great info on BBQ'ing you shouldn't have any trouble finding info online and there's plenty of video's on YouTube. I'd say the key is knowing how to use what you have and fresh ingredients. Here's a BBQ show I like to watch often on the tube.

[Shawn Lutz]

you can do some tasty BBQ without a smoker. I don't have one but I BBQ stakes, chicken, pork chops, fish, shrimp, burgers, hot dogs, links, ribs, kabobs etc out on a gas grill. You do need a smoker if you want to cook a brisket but since I live in Texas I can just go out for brisket

[asix]

I have a half drum bbq I may try to make a lid for that.

[Cygnus X1]

Put this in your smoker: Jalapeno peppers, stuffed with chicken and wrapped in bacon. Report back your findings.

Also stuffed with Philly Cream Cheese.
I've been smoking and BBQing for a few years.
Posts above are well informed.
I would advise to start a little smaller than a whole butt or shoulder.
Pork backribs are a good start.
Then move on to spare ribs, then on to larger cuts once you learn how to control
the process.

The king of them all is beef brisket.
Once you have mastered that, then you are crowned The King!

[Endrik]

A week ago I managed to get some eel with a very good price so I tried cooking it with my smoker using wet alder chips. Awesome but I still prefer frying it in butter.

[Shawn Lutz]

I have a half drum bbq I may try to make a lid for that.

use the other half of the drum and put hinges on it

[Hellbat]

Here's a BBQ show I like to watch often on the tube.

This channel has laid waste to my whole day and now I'm STARVING lol!

[Newc]

If your grilled burgers and chicken are burnt, try not putting the meat on the fire. Let it die down so it's heat with very minimal flame, and don't believe the Burger King hype - move it off the flames and over to the side where the heat is.

Basically a grill is like an old-fashioned oven - you have to put the stuff in it to burn to make heat, not just fire. After that, it's just like your gas/electric oven - heat the meat.

[DonP]

I feel like "grilling" today. Too hot outside.