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Guest
Guest
It's quite erroneous to assume that simply introducing wood into the cooking process of a piece of meat constitutes as barbecue.
The following methods may produce something that you enjoy eating, selling or entering into cook-offs. But none of them produce classic American barbecue!
Lump Charcoal
Although it is technically hardwood coals, lump charcoal is not going to exactly duplicate the traditional taste imparted by hardwood burned to coals. On the bright side, it is usually made from 100% hardwood. We'll reluctantly label this method "The Best Way to Do It Wrong". However, we feel that many proponents of this fuel tend to exaggerate it's relevance when comparing it to other incorrect fuel sources.
It seems like fairly sound logic to assume that if something isn't being done right, then it's probably being done wrong!
Lump Charcoal with added raw wood
Adding raw wood to lump charcoal in a covered cooker of any size is going to take you completely away from any authentic or traditional taste in your meat.
I don't care how rampantly this technique is used or how often it is recommended -- it isn't going to impart anything close to the correct taste in meat, from a traditional standpoint.
Gas/Electric
Simply put, using gas or electricity, in any capacity, cannot be considered barbecue from a traditional standpoint because neither were available for use in our original barbecue. But if you're going to do it wrong anyway, why not make it easy on yourself?
Gas/Electric with added raw wood
Here we go again. We've sailed around the fruit loop and taken something that was not right to begin with and turned it into something even more obviously wrong. Once the smoke from raw wood is introduced, you've imparted very obvious flaws in both taste and appearance, from an authenticity standpoint.
Live Fire
In an enclosed set-up, this method imparts about the same incorrect flavor as the other methods using raw wood. Uncovered, a live fire will not impart any meaningful smoke flavor or smoke ring into meat. Live fires would have been impractical to use for cooking pigs in early primitive set-ups for a variety of reasons, the most notable being the increased likelihood of grease fires.
Charcoal Briquettes/Liquid Smoke
Both of these are too ridiculous to discuss, but are still commonly used
The following methods may produce something that you enjoy eating, selling or entering into cook-offs. But none of them produce classic American barbecue!
Lump Charcoal
Although it is technically hardwood coals, lump charcoal is not going to exactly duplicate the traditional taste imparted by hardwood burned to coals. On the bright side, it is usually made from 100% hardwood. We'll reluctantly label this method "The Best Way to Do It Wrong". However, we feel that many proponents of this fuel tend to exaggerate it's relevance when comparing it to other incorrect fuel sources.
It seems like fairly sound logic to assume that if something isn't being done right, then it's probably being done wrong!
Lump Charcoal with added raw wood
Adding raw wood to lump charcoal in a covered cooker of any size is going to take you completely away from any authentic or traditional taste in your meat.
I don't care how rampantly this technique is used or how often it is recommended -- it isn't going to impart anything close to the correct taste in meat, from a traditional standpoint.
Gas/Electric
Simply put, using gas or electricity, in any capacity, cannot be considered barbecue from a traditional standpoint because neither were available for use in our original barbecue. But if you're going to do it wrong anyway, why not make it easy on yourself?
Gas/Electric with added raw wood
Here we go again. We've sailed around the fruit loop and taken something that was not right to begin with and turned it into something even more obviously wrong. Once the smoke from raw wood is introduced, you've imparted very obvious flaws in both taste and appearance, from an authenticity standpoint.
Live Fire
In an enclosed set-up, this method imparts about the same incorrect flavor as the other methods using raw wood. Uncovered, a live fire will not impart any meaningful smoke flavor or smoke ring into meat. Live fires would have been impractical to use for cooking pigs in early primitive set-ups for a variety of reasons, the most notable being the increased likelihood of grease fires.
Charcoal Briquettes/Liquid Smoke
Both of these are too ridiculous to discuss, but are still commonly used
