Jonas Cramby - Texas BBQ

Love on a plastic tray from Blacks BBQ in Lockhart, Texas.

S ometimes there can be some confusion with regard to the concept of the barbecue. Is it a special spice or outdoor grill? Or is it simply a synonym for grilling? The answer to all these questions is no. So what is barbecue then?

Ill start with the long answer.

If traditional grilling means to quickly cook a piece of meat at a high temperature, barbecue works just the opposite way: here, its slow cooking at low temperatures. Barbecue, you could say, is simply like discovering that your outdoor grill also has an oven function. This method of cooking meat has several benefits. On average, meat loses between 25 and 30 per cent in weight during cooking, so the low, even heat in a barbecue helps the meat to retain a lot more of its juices. The meat is record- breakingly juicy, and at the same time it develops the dark, crispy crust thats called bark. This bark works a bit like a perfectly grilled chicken skin and adds crispiness, stickiness, chewiness and wonderful caramel flavours to the juicy, smoky meat.

The slow cooking process also breaks down the collagen in cheap and tough, but often a lot more flavour-rich, cuts of meat. These become fantastically tender, and at the same time, the meats natural fat has got time to slowly melt and moisturise the meat from within. When the source of heat is wood, you automatically get an unbeatable flavour enhancer in the form of smoke smoother and more comforting than the smell of granddads pipe tobacco.

But its not only tastier to smoke-barbecue ones meat its also cosier. To stand and guard a slowly smouldering barbecue grill with an ice-cold beer in your hand on a warm summer afternoon is one of lifes simple pleasures. You get time to ponder while fiddling with the fire, and you will soon feel how the smell of the smoke, meat and spices slowly transform into something so much larger than the sum of its parts. And thats when your loved ones start gathering around.

Since the start of human civilisation, barbecuing has been an opportunity to gather around the fire to hang out, drink beer, listen to music, talk rubbish and wait for it to be ready at some point.

To put it simply, eating perfectly barbecued meat together with the ones you love is at the same time an expression of culture, bodily function, an act of love, and, above all, an opportunity to throw a party.

And that was the long answer.

So what then is the short one?

Well, barbecue is smoke, meat and love.

JONAS CRAMBY

The biggest investment for the aspiring pitmaster is without a doubt the smoker. So, which one should you go ahead and buy? Well, I dont know. It depends on everything from your budget to how many people you want to be able to feed. Personally, I have a kamado grill that I love as much as if it were a pet.

The smoker at Smittys Market in Lockhart in Texas is an ancient closed pit that is only lit with wood from post oak. Not for the home-griller perhaps.

A common kettle grill with a lid is often the introductory model for the barbecue novice. The pros are that its cheap and easy to get hold of, as well as easy to use for two-zone grilling (when you have to change between indirect and direct heat quickly). The cons are that its difficult to maintain a constant heat and that you wont fit a lot of meat in it. To cook with indirect heat on a kettle grill, place the charcoal in one half of the grill and in the other half, place the meat on a rack with an aluminium pan filled with water underneath. Since the only way youre able to control the heat is how much charcoal you use, its important that you dont use too much. About 810 pieces is normally enough to keep the heat at around 115C/239F. Add more charcoal when needed and dont lift the lid too often.

The step up from a kettle grill is the oil drum grill which you can either make yourself or buy for around 100 ($160) at your local DIY or home improvement store. The pros are that its cheap, large, as well as easy to use for two-zone grilling (when you have to transfer between indirect and direct heat quickly). The con is that its difficult to maintain a consistent heat. To cook with indirect heat, place the charcoal in one half of the grill and in the other half, place the meat on a rack with an aluminium pan filled with water underneath. Since the only way youre able to control the heat is how much charcoal you use, its important that you dont use too much. About 1520 pieces is normally enough to keep the heat at around 115C/239F. Add more coal when needed and dont lift the lid too often.

A bullet smoker looks like an upright drum grill and is normally found in DIY or home improvement stores for a fairly cheap price. The pro with this model is that its made for barbecuing, so its fairly easy to maintain the heat for a long time. The con is that if you need to use two-zone grilling (when you have to change between indirect and direct heat quickly), you will need a separate grill on the side or use your as a turbo grill. To cook with indirect heat using a bullet smoker, place the charcoal in the bottom of the grill, then place a divider with a pan of water over the top, and place the rack with the meat on top of that. You control the temperature by adjusting different valves to increase or decrease the supply of oxygen.

A kamado grill is a Japanese ceramic grill thats become incredibly popular in barbecuing circles. The pros are that its very easy to control the temperature and since the ceramics isolate the heat, its usually enough to get it up to the right temperature once and then it will last for the rest of the day. The kamado grill is also very dense, which means that the steam stays inside the grill and that the meat juices stay inside the meat. When you dont want to barbecue, it can also be used as a normal outdoor grill as well as a stone oven. The cons are that its expensive and if you need to use two-zone grilling (when you have to change between indirect and direct heat quickly), you will need a separate grill on the side or use your chimney starter as a turbo grill. To cook with indirect heat, place the charcoal on the bottom of the grill, place a divider with a pan of water over the top, and put the rack with the meat on top of that. You control the temperature by adjusting different valves to increase or decrease the supply of oxygen.