A barbecue on a trailer at a block party in Kansas City Pans on the top shelf hold hamburgers and hot dogs that were grilled earlier when the coals were hot. The lower grill is now being used to slowly cook pork ribs and "drunken chicken"Barbecue, (also spelled barbeque, or abbreviated BBQ) is a method of cooking meat with the heat and hot gasses of a fire, smokeing wood, or hot coals of charcoal and may include application of a vinegar-based sauce to the meat. The term can also refer to foods cooked by this method or a party that includes such food. Barbecue is usually cooked in an outdoor environment heated by the smoke of wood or charcoal, or with propane and similar gases. Restaurant barbecue may be cooked in large brick or metal ovens specially designed for that purpose.
Barbecue has numerous regional variations in many parts of the world. Notably, in the South and Midwest of the U.S. , practitioners consider barbecue to include only relatively indirect methods of cooking, with the more direct high-heat methods to be called grilling.
For those that distinguish between the terms, grilling is almost always a fast process over high heat and barbecue is almost always a slow process using indirect heat and/or hot smoke. For example, in a typical home grill, grilled foods are cooked on a grate directly over hot charcoal; while in barbecuing, the coals are dispersed to the sides or at significant distance from the grate. Alternately, an apparatus called a smoker with a separate fire box may be used. Hot smoke is drawn past the meat by convection for very slow cooking. This is essentially how barbecue is cooked in most genuine "barbecue" restaurants, but nevertheless many consider this to be a distinct cooking process called smoking. Regardless of the method, the meat should be turned several times to ensure complete cooking.
The slower methods of cooking break down the collagen in meat and tenderizes tougher cuts for easier eating.
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Etymology
The origin of both the barbecue cooking activity and term are somewhat obscure and controversial. The word itself varies in spelling; variations include barbeque, BBQ, and Bar-B-Q
The Oxford English Dictionary states that the word is derived from the influence of the French Haitian phrase "barbe a queue," which translates as "from whiskers to tail." This refers to roasting and smoking an animal, like goats and pigs, whole.
Smoky Hale, author of The Great American Barbecue and Grilling Manual, claims that the Taino Indigenous Nation of the Caribbean used a term "Taino barabicoa" which means "The sticks with four legs and many sticks of wood on top to place the cooking meat." There is also the Taino word "barabicu", which translates as "sacred fire pit". In one form, barabicoa or barbicoa indicates a wooden grill or a mesh of sticks; in another, barabicu, it is a sacred fire pit.
Traditional barbicoa implies digging a hole in the ground putting some meat (goat is the best, usually the whole animal) on it with a pot underneath (to catch the concentrated juices, it makes a hearty broth), cover all with maguey (cactus) leaves then cover with coal and set on fire. A few hours later it is ready.
While not everyone agrees that barbecue originated with the Taino, researchers do generally agree that barbecue originated in the Caribbean . There is ample evidence that the word and technique migrated out of the Caribbean and into and through other cultures and languages (with the word itself moving from Caribean dialects into Spanish, then French, then English in the Americas ). This would mean that the word "slowly evolved from barbacoa to barbecue and barbeque and bar-b-que and bar-b-q and bbq."
Of course, there is disagreement on even this consensus. For example, in the Southern United States , the word "barbecue" is used predominantly as a noun which specifically refers to roast pork (which is then chopped, pulled, or sliced, depending on region, and served with a tomato, vinegar or mustard-based sauce). Some supporters of southern barbecue believe that the letters BBQ, and not the word itself, initially represented this style of cooking. Supporters of this view believe the term BBQ resulted from when roadhouses and beer joints with pool tables advertised "Bar, Beer, and Cues." This phrase was shortened over time to BBCue, then BBQ.
However widely used, the spelling "barbeque" is a result of a gradual misunderstanding of the "BBQ" abbreviation. Due to this abbreviation, with the third syllable "-cue" being represented by the identically-sounding letter "Q," people came to believe that the word was spelled "barbeque." This is also evident in viewing the word's Taíno roots, with all three variations being spelled with the letter "c," as opposed to "q."
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History
In the Southern United States , barbecue initially revolved around the cooking of pork. During the 19th century, pigs were a low-maintenance food source that could be released to forage for themselves in forests and woodlands. When food or meat supplies were low, these semi-wild pigs could then be caught and eaten.
According to estimates, prior to the American Civil War Southerners ate around five pounds of pork for every one pound of beef they consumed. Because of the poverty of the southern United States at this time, every part of the pig was eaten immediately or saved for later (including the ears, feet and other organs). Because of the effort to capture and cook these wild hogs, "pig slaughtering became a time for celebration, and the neighborhood would be invited to share in the largesse. The traditional Southern barbecue grew out of these gatherings."
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Events and Gatherings
The word barbecue is also used to refer to a casual event, usually outdoors or with an outdoor theme, serving food which has been barbecued on the premises. Grilled foods and side dishes may also be served. For this reason many people mistake any outdoor cooking, including grilling, as barbecue, which is frowned upon by devotees. The device used for cooking barbecue can usually be used for both barbecuing and grilling and is often called a barbecue grill by those unaccustomed to slow barbecue, thereby adding to the confusion.
In parts of the United States , outdoor social and family gatherings where food is grilled and served are often referred to as "cook-outs" or "grill-outs" instead of as "barbecues."
In the United States , similar gatherings where food is prepared elsewhere and brought to the site are properly referred to as "picnics."
In Australia , the barbeque (or as it is sometimes referred to in Australian slang as a barbie) is an important cultural expression of the outdoor lifestyle and social interaction. Australian celebrity Paul Hogan was famous for his phrase "I'll whack a couple of shrimps on the barbie for ya" in tourism advertising. Among other things, Australians will usually cook basic meats such as snags (sausages), chops and steaks, but it is often the beer, conversation and other activities, such as a social kick of the footy or game of social cricket that the term barbie is associated with.
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Techniques
Wood
The choice and combination of woods burned result in different flavors imparted to the meat. Different types of wood burn at different rates. The heat also varies by the amount of wood and controlling the rate of burn through careful venting. Wood and charcoal are sometimes combined to optimize smoke flavor and consistent burning.
Charcoal
This generally begins with purchasing a commercial bag of processed charcoal briquets. An alternative to charcoal briquets is lump charcoal. Lump charcoal is wood that has been turned into charcoal but unlike briquets it has not been ground and shaped. Lump charcoal is a pure form of charcoal and is preferred by many purists who dislike artificial binders used to hold briquets in their shape.
A charcoal chimney starter is a traditional method for getting a consistent heat from your coals. Another method is to use an electric iron to heat the coals. A common but less preferable method is to soak the briquettes in lighter fluid (or use pretreated briquettes) and light them in a pyramid formation. Although this last method is one of the quickest, it can impart undesirable 'chemical' flavors to the meat.
Once all coals are ashed-over (generally 15-25 minutes, depending on starting technique), they can be spread around the perimeter of the grill with the meat placed in the center for indirect cooking, or piled together for direct cooking. Water-soaked wood chips (such as mesquite, hickory, or fruit trees) can be added to the coals for flavor. As with wood barbecuing, the temperature of the grill is controlled by the amount and distribution of coal within the grill and through careful venting.
For long cooks (up to 18 hours), many cooks find success with the "Minion Method" This method is usually performed in a Weber Smokey Mountion (or similar design) smoker. The idea involves putting a small number of hot coals on top of a full chamber of unlit briquettes. By leaving the top air vent all the way open and adjusting the lower vents, a constant temperature of 225 can easily be achieved for up to 18 hours.
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Natural gas and propane
Gas grills are easy to light. The heat is easy to control (via knob-controlled gas valves on the burners), so the outcome is very predictable. They result in a very consistent result, although some charcoal & wood purists argue it lacks the flavors available only from cooking with charcoal. Advocates of gas grills claim that gas cooking lets you "taste the meat, not the heat" because it is claimed that charcoal grills may deposit traces of coal tar on the food. Many grills are equipped with thermometers, further simplifying the barbecuing experience. However propane and natural gas produce a "wet" heat that can change the texture of foods cooked over such fuels.
Gas grills are significantly more expensive due to their added complexity, and higher heat. They are also considered much cleaner as they do not result in ashes (which must be disposed of) and also in terms of air pollution. Proper maintenance may further help reduce pollution.
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