BBQ and Grilling ARE NOT The Same Thing!

You hear it all the time…people throwing the word barbecue around when they are actually talking about grilling. In the world of barbecue, nothing could be more sacrilegious! To hear these words exchanged like so much American currency is maddening and needs to be properly explained…so let’s get at it.

First, let me qualify myself as someone who knows what he is talking about. I am the site administrator for one of the largest and most active barbecue forums on the internet. I have been actively grilling for fifteen years and have been barbecuing for the last five. I have conducted a number of podcast interviews with competition barbecue cooks as well as barbecue and grilling authors to include Dr. BBQ Ray Lampe, Ed “Fast Eddy” Maurin, Mike Davis and Steven Raichlen. So yes, I do know what I am talking about!

Let’s talk about barbecue first. Barbecue is not an action…any pit master worth his salt would tell you it’s a noun! You don’t ask when it will be done, how long it will take or anything else related to an expedited cooking process. Barbecue is something that is done over an extended period of time and typically uses larger cuts of pork and beef and is cooked at low temperatures…and the barbecue tells YOU when it is done.

Barbecue is typically cooked between the temperatures of 180*-250* and is fueled by either wood or charcoal. Purists would argue that “TRUE” barbecue is cooked over coals that have been burned down from logs and continually feed in to a bbq pit. However, there are many different articles I can and will write on the regional aspects of barbecue and what those people consider “real” barbecue versus what other people around the country eat.

Traditional barbecued meats include pork butts which make pulled pork sandwiches, beef brisket which make barbecued beef, chicken (either whole or pieces) and ribs, traditionally pork spares or baby backs, but there are other ribs out there that people have tried at one point or another to include beef ribs and veal ribs.

Chickens will take the least amount of time to cook…typically in the 2hr + range, ribs are second coming in at the 4hr-6hr range depending on if you are smoking baby backs or spare ribs, brisket is next usually running about 1.5 hrs per pound (average weight of 13 pounds) and finally pork butts which usually take about 2.5 hrs per pound to cook (average weight of 8 pounds).

Another thing to remember is that , aside from chicken, which is cooked to 165* in the breast or 180* in the thigh or leg, brisket and pork butts are cooked to a much higer internal temperature than what is normally considered finished. Brisket and pork butts can be considered done in the 150* range but these cuts of meat are inherently tough and would not be enjoyed by anyone at your dinner table. So to avoid this, you actually cook the meat past “doneness” and cook it to “tenderness” which is in the 190*-200* internal temperature.

During the cooking process the meat’s fatty and connective tissues break down and melt through the meat effectively basting the pork or beef keeping it nice and moist through the entire process. A properly barbecued piece of meat is incomparable. There is smokiness, tenderness and an ambiance that no other food has.

But barbecue is not for everyone, especially those who do not want to put the time and effort in to doing it properly from start to finish. It is well worth the journey as the rewards are delicious!!

I hope this give you a basic idea of why grilling and barbecue are different. Grilling is done at much higher temperatures, 400* or higher, and takes considerably less time to cook. Gas grills have become very popular these days but a true griller has a charcoal kettle grill somewhere in his or her arsenal.