On the other hand, hard-core backyard barbecuers (who tend to be a real) on one hand, fast food advertisement claim anything with BBQ sauce smeared on it is barbecue. special bunch) think only a particular sauce cooked in a particular way over a particular wood counts as barbecue. Smoking and grilling just confuse things more, are they different from barbecuing, or different types of barbeque?
There is no barbeque means. There is an argument over whether "barbecue" is a noun (a type of food) or a verb (a method True barbeque cooking requires four things. First (a, b, c, d, a, b, c) Third, meat cooked (with some exception, like corn on the cob or potatoes). Second, it is generally cooked outdoors (but we & # 39; over a live fire, not in an oven or on a stove. Fourth, real, true barbecue is cooked slowly with indirect heat at a low temperature.
In grilling, meat is cooked quickly (in minutes) over direct heat at a high temperature (and all you suburbanite grillers are not barbeque) (5000 F or over) In barbecue, meat is cooked slowly (in hours) in indirect heat at a low temperature (between 2000 F and 2500 F). Smoking counts as BBQ, it meets all the requirements listed above but is a specialized type that is includes The answer is that barbeque meat is extremely tender and juicy .
The low-temperature, indirect heat helps prevent the meat from drying out, keeping it juicy. What long folks slow cooking time breaks down the collagen in the meat, making even the tougher cuts of meat nice and tender for easy eating. do not realize (including some some hard-core barbecuers themselves) is that the marinade, ribs, bastes, and sauces of barbecue cooking are all design towards this ultimate goal of tender and juicy meat. Marinades almost always include an acidic base ingredient, such as During the long, multi-hour soak, these acids tenderize the meat by breaking down the tissue, making it more tender and possible the absorbent moisture The basting BBQ sauces, usually applied in the later stages of cooking, often contain some form of sugar (brown sugar, molasses, or honey), which caramelizes around the meat from the heat and seals in the juices (olive and other oils produces the same effect).
Even the barbecue sauces (which in the United States are either tomato or vinegar based) a final distinct element of barbecue meat is a smoky flavor. Cooking over a live fire to the meat to absorb the smoke from burning wood. Evening cooking over charcoal briquettes or gas instead of wood, the meat still gains at least a hint of that indefinable charbroil taste. Smoking, of course, is a specialized So that & # 39; s what barbeque is, meat cooked low and slow until it & # 39; s tender and juicy. Different cultures in different countries have their own homegrown barbeque tastes and traditions , but we & # 39; ll describe those in the next article.
