BBQs

BBQs, Barbeques and Barbecues – Let’s call the whole thing off!

 

The origins of the BBQ

 

Generally speaking, barbequing (or barbecuing) is the application of direct or indirect heat to meats and other foods as part of the cooking process. There are a great many variations globally as to what is considered a BBQ. For instance, in many of the Southern States in the USA, the term BBQ is only considered applicable when the cooking is being performed via indirect heat, such as cooking foods over smokes from hardwoods (commonly used hardwoods for barbequing include Hickory, Maple, Pecan and Oak). In these States, the application of direct heat is generally referred to as grilling. In Britain, grilling and barbequing are essentially the same terminology.

 

The origins of the word barbeque (and consequently other derivatives including barbecue, BBQ etc), are not certain. There is evidence to suggest that term barbeque is derived from the word Barbacoa. Barbacoa roughly translates to mean “Sacred Fire Pit” in the language of the Taino people of the Caribbean. The original technique of Barbacoa involves excavating earth (or sand) from the ground and placing mean over burning coals for a couple of hours. The mean in the Caribbean would traditionally comprise a whole goat. The globalisation of the word Barbacoa into so many other languages and derivatives is understood to have moved from Caribbean dialects into English, Spanish and French (the most active travellers and invaders of the Caribbean waters at the time).

 

BBQ cooking techniques

 

There are two distinct BBQ cooking techniques. The first involves cooking at lower temperatures (approximately 240 degrees using low level radiant or indirect heat) for long periods (often hours). The second involves cooking at much higher temperatures (often 500 degrees) using direct heat generated from charcoals, wood or gas.

 

Grilling with woods

 

Woods are used in barbequing to flavour the meats and other foods with the smoke of the wood. As mentioned previously, woods used on the BBQ are generally hardwoods and often include Hickory, Maple, Pecan and Oak. The temperature generated from burning woods can vary depending on the wood used, the amount of wood used and the ventilation setup of the BBQ. Often it is common practice to use a blend of woods and charcoals to enable a consistent heat application to the meats, whilst imparting the wood smoke flavours into the meats.

 

Barbequing with charcoals

 

Charcoals do not provide the meats with any rich smoke flavours; however they are easy to get hold of and are a cheaper, more manageable solution to home grilling. Once the charcoal briquettes have been lit for say 20 minutes or so, and are no longer flaming, they are perfect to start grilling with. If desired, you can at this stage add in damp hardwood chips onto the briquettes to add the wood flavours back to the barbequed meats.

 

Natural gas and propane BBQs

 

We get a lot of inquiries from customers asking us which barbequing method cooks meats best, gas or charcoal. Our answer is not helpful in the sense that there is no answer and it is down to personal BBQ preference. There are people who would argue charcoal barbeques can cause a resin or tar to form on the meat distorting the flavour; the phrase being, “you taste the heat not the meat”. However, this is not to say gas barbequing is not without any drawbacks. There is first the slightly more artificial edge to this cooking process, but also that propane/natural gas barbeques produce a “wet heat” which results from the combustion process (water vapour being one of the by-products). This can change the texture of the meat. It is possible to add the wood chippings to a gas barbeque also to help add some more natural flavours to the barbequed meat. These damp wood chippings can be placed in a smoker box under the grilling plate.