The word Barbeque has as many meanings as it does spellings and they are infinite!

American Barbeque has several governing bodies, the main being the Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS), which defines barbeque as the slow cooking of meat or fish over a low temperature (approx 225°F) for a long period of time, where the heat source must come directly from a wood or wood based derivative (eg., charcoal or pellets) and where other fuels are not allowed (eg., gas or electricity).  The aim of this method of cooking is to allow the meat or fish to cook in the generated smoke, allowing it to absorb a mild wood flavour whilst achieving a tenderness that is second to none.   This is especially applied to larger cuts of meat (eg., pork shoulder, whole beef brisket), but also to ribs and chicken.  This method of cooking allows the meat to cook slowly, render the fat and melt the collagen in the meat to allow what are acknowledged as tough cuts of meat, to become melt-in-the-mouth tender and wonderfully flavoursome.

A visit to an American Barbeque ‘shack’ will convert the average ‘doubting Thomas’ to what is America’s most popular food and probably their national cuisine. 

Below are some examples of competition level American Barbeque meats, as would be submitted for a KCBS sanctioned competition cook-off. 
 

Chicken thighs & breast

                                  Pork Ribs

                                   Pulled Pork

       Brisket

                       Chefs Choice - Cooking from the Homeland

                                 Dessert --- well ok, we toasted the Almonds on the BBQ!!!

Barbeque / Smokers 

Along with the many variations on the meanings of the word and spelling of barbeque, the number an types of machines that can be seen in America on the Barbeque competition circuit and restaurants, defies the imagination.  Most traditionally burn logs (sticks!!) or charcoal (briquettes or pure).  The issue for modern man for both of these types of machine is the time from deciding to barbeque, to starting to cook!  Also, the versatility of the machine is important, few of these machines are able to grill, bake of barbeque as a combination of options, hence why our personal research has led us to favour pellet barbeques, which give the best of all worlds.

 

The Pellet Smoker / BBQ 

A pellet smoker / barbeque not only complies with the rules of the KCBS in that the pellets are derived purely from wood, with no additives; but  the pellets do not contain any bark or bitter wood, as invariably the wood is a by-product of industry and contains only sweet, untreated wood.  Because these machines confirm to KCBS rules, they are also allowed to be used in Barbeque Competitions sanctioned by the KCBS, whereas electric and gas fired cookers would not be permitted.

Pellet cookers are an advanced, easy to operate way of cooking on pure wood, thereby retaining the benefits of traditional American barbeque, but combined with the ease of use, normally associated with gas or electric grills.  Using a Pellet BBQ means that cooking takes place over a wood heat source and does not allow any other ‘flavour’ to spoil the pure ‘wood-smoked’ flavour of true American Barbeque.

The cookers vary from the small backyard machines, to computer controlled food service models that can cook up to 750 lbs of meat in one operation and be handled by staff with minimal training. 

This type of barbeque has long been extremely popular all over the Southern USA, but until very recently has been relatively unknown and untried in the UK.

It is widely considered that the Americans have perfected barbequing to a fine art.  Brazilian barbecues, South African braais and Australian barbies may be highly regarded, but when it comes to cooking in the open air the USA holds the top spot.  Apparently three out of four American households cook on a barbeque on average at least five times a month.
 
The world’s largest barbeque was held in Kansas City in 1975 where 5 bulls were roasted over a large pit, over a period of 72 hours.  Kansas City also hosts the annual American Royal Barbeque Competition, where around 500 teams compete to win the American Royal Crown.