BBQ! (which one?)

[ssullivan]

Great thread. Thanks for the replies so far. I am looking at all the grills mentioned.

Of course, I'm listening very closely to what any of your southern guys (and Aussies) have to say, since you are all the world's experts on grilling.

I like that woodflame grill a lot. Makes even more sense when you have a wood stove. Very interesting. The Cobb is good, but I saw somewhere in the marketing that it has "no more smokey flareups." My whole goal when cooking outdoors is to have as many smokey flareups as possible. ha ha

Waterworldly: I have been using charcoal for 2 years now. The key is to have your grill mounted at the stern so any embers blow off onto the water, not onto the deck. Also, if you have davits, you *must* move the dinghy forward for grilling. I usually tie it off amidships while grilling. I'm not sure I'd ever grill anything underway, due to the possibility of losing my food overboard! I only grill while at anchor. When underway, we mostly eat simple meals and do a lot of reheating of leftovers if possible.

[ssullivan]

Ha ha ha... DefJef... too funny.

Again, sorry for skipping by. I wasn't on vacation and the wife didn't want to spend much time stopping in places. She was pretty keen on getting back, so we could get to work.

[sandy daugherty]

Magma and West Marine have both offered non-gas grills in the past. Both offer mounting systems that do not require a rail, with a bolt on mount for a vertical or horizontal surface. Some can also be mounted on legs to stand anywhere flat and stable. Buy a storage bag that fits, and don't buy a grill too big for your storage space. A critical consideration is the grill rack itself. Carry a small magnet and do not buy a rack that is even the least bit magnetic; it will be a grade lower that 316 stainless, and will rust. Try to get the rack with the thickest rods; they are sturdier and easier to clean. Make sure there is a lanyard between the top and the bottom, and mount it where you can easily throw the whole thing overboard if you have to. Force was an early producer of rectangular grills which are convenient for moving food from a hot side to a warm side, but I don't recall a non-gas version. Every manufacturer has a range of gas grills, which are convenient and possibly safer than charcoal in that they can be turned off. If you use grill rocks you can defeat the propane taste. Red hot rocks provide secondary combustion of the propane and other inert impurities, and infuse the food with carmelized smoky flavor from the drippings. You can still use water soaked shavings for additional seasoning; I like Mesquite wood chips, or Apple chips for Pork, as a break from Hickory. But toss the rocks when the flavors get too heavy and confused.
When the grill gets really coked up, cut a deal with a commercial kitchen cleaning service to have it steam-cleaned. In the meantime, keep the rack heavily oiled when not in use, it reduces the chance of rusting and makes it easier to clean.

FOOD is something I do know about.

[sandy daugherty]

And there's more: If you have a propane stove or oven in the galley, plumb a low pressure line to your grill. In the summer, use the grill for everything from boiling water to baking bread and pies*. The less heat in the cabin, the happier the captain.

*dutch oven, with coals on the lid.

[Cowboy Sailer]

Man, oh man; I sure do miss Texas barbeque! South Africa has some great braii food but slow cooked mesquite smoked brisket is in a class by itself. Carolina has some great pulled pork but it isn't what I grew up with.

[Maren]

Originally Posted by ssullivan

I'm not quite understanding what you are talking about, but I sure wish I did.

It sounds like what we call a "pig roast" where I'm from, where half the town comes by, and a pig rotates on a spit for the whole day over a wood fire. People bring side dishes and you have a pretty good party. Or...

Maybe like the New England Clambake?

Do you have a link to the BBQ you are talking about? I'd sure love to see it...

Insofar as both have to do with the application of heat and a lot of people are fed in one sitting, yes. Other than that … I suppose that depends on where you are from.

Before I start, let me say I have some definite preferences but I realize what I like is not some sort of standard and that there are other aficionados who like a different style. A blameless disagreement amongst qualified judges, as Hume would say. I’ll try not to let my preferences be known.

The main difference between barbecue and grilling is that barbecue is with relatively low heat (compared with grilling) that is usually indirect and/or with liquids to moisten. Grilling for the most part has relatively high heat. Also, with grilling pretty much anything edible is fair game as long as it doesn’t slip through the grate whereas real barbecue means pork. Texas, where beef takes center stage (for obvious reasons) and parts of Kentucky who attempt it with mutton – and I feel I can say this because my wife has people there – are just plain lost. (well, maybe some preferences will end up being known ). It’s like harvesting salmon roe and calling it caviar. Same method - different beast. I like the taste of Texas ‘barbecue’ (by which I mean cooking mostly beef in an open pit over mesquite wood) but it frankly deserves its own moniker, maybe Texacue.

I love to grill but I revere good barbecue. In this area, however I’m the aficionado not the bullfighter. There are literally dozens of variations and hundreds of sauce recipes. The quick break down is:

Heat – gas or wood, what type of wood (e.g., oak/hickory)
The part of the pig – outside brown, white, lean, regular. Most do the whole hog but western NC for example will do mostly dark meat.
How it is served – Sliced, pulled, shredded, chopped
Technique – Aside from temperature, there are fine points like finishing the hog face up or flaming the skin right at the end
Sauces – There are four basic groups.

1. Vinegar and pepper is by fat the oldest
2. Mustard – pretty much only seen in parts of South Carolina. Worth a try.
3. Light tomato – basically vinegar/pepper with ketchup
4. Heavy tomato – This is almost everything you see at a grocery store. Typically this is quite sweet.

What really sets barbecue apart from grilling the time involved. It is not uncommon to see Barbecuemen start the night before or be at the pit or barbecue at 4:30 in the morning for a dinner time serving.

Coleslaw is a very traditional paring with barbecue. This ranges from a delicate chiffonade of cabbage that has been blanched, removing the raw edge and imparting a slightly sweet taste complimented by the sour of vinegar to a more usual paring of raw cabbage and a thick, white, pretty much tasteless cream-based sauce that I feel fine serving to prisoners but not to friends.

Links – you will find many more sites that confuse the two than have it right. It’s like people who call the hulls of a catamaran pontoons. Understand this though, for the people that make their livelihood doing this, there is a very clear distinction.

A Southern Cultural Icon

South Carolina Barbecue Assn.

North Carolina Barbecue Society

A Short History of North Carolina Barbecue

All About Barbecue

[SeaKing]

This thread is making me hungry for a nice BBQ sandwich.....getting closer to lunch time now it is!

[Islandmike]

I lived in Kansas City for a number of years, I learned to smoke meat, BBQ meat and grill meat there. I have had Texas BBQ, Carolina BBQ and Memphis BBQ....KC BBQ is the best. Smoking meat, or cheese or fish, whatever, is an art... I make my own sauce, kind of sweet with a bit of a bite.... While Hickory is good, as well as mesquit and fruit woods, I think white oak is the best - great flavor.. there is nothing better than smoking a big slab of brisket for about 8 hours, and of course it is hot work...need somthing cool and refreshing to drink while you are doing all that hard hot work.... the reward is fantastico....

[dacust]

Originally Posted by Maren

Also, with grilling pretty much anything edible is fair game as long as it doesn’t slip through the grate whereas real barbecue means pork.

I finally gave up on that. I used to say that barbeque is pork. Beef done that way is barbequed beef. Not barbeque. But afterall, the Texans have been calling what they do barbeque for a century or more. So now I just choose to think that they are speaking a different language. And in their language, barbeque means beef. In mine, it means pork. I'm OK with that. I have a harder time with chili. Chili doesn't have beans. If it does, it's "Chili with beans". I'll probably loose that fight, as well.

Barbeque was actually brought here from the Caribbean , called barabicu, where it was usually goat. In the states, it was initially pork. So us southeastern people insisting is should be pork are just as wrong as Texans insisting it is beef. Or maybe we are all right in calling it what we have for centuries.

-dan

[Hud3]

Maren, you amaze me! A barbeque aficionado and expert, knowledgeable of culinary terms (chiffonade), who reads philosophy (David Hume).

What a classy Forum we have here!

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by dacust

I finally gave up on that. I used to say that barbeque is pork. Beef done that way is barbequed beef. Not barbeque. -dan

As I understand it (I’m not a Texan), Barbecue is the act of slow-cooking food in pits over indirect heat, using burning charcoal or wood as the primary heat source; or the food so prepared.
Any other distinctions are purely regional.

[Hud3]

Barbecue is both a verb, and a noun.

The verb is much less controversial than the noun, because of all the modifiers applied to the noun: Texas, North Carolina, vinegar & pepper, tomato, etc. That's where the fierce loyalties emerge, and the debates begin on which is best.

[Wotname]

To cut to the chase (and possibily offend the cooks and chefs among us); for me, the barbecue is best defined as red meat cooked outdoors (preferably without gas or electricity).

Any finer distinctions than that is best left the aficionados (Maren et al) and should be discussed at length with suitable drinks while waiting for the second / third / etc helpings.

Tongue hanging out as I post

[keger]

I now have a real hankering for some NC BBQ (vinegar based of coarse). Check out the Practical Sailor review of grills from last month's issue.

(I will not post the whole thing since it is copyrighted)

"Quibbles aside, these grills will likely outlast the Catalina. Although [FONT='Melior LT Std Italic','serif']Practical Sailor[/FONT] minimizes price and emphasizes durability in selecting the Best Choice, the price gap is great enough here for the Catalina to hold its position as theoverall favorite. It, too, is built for heavy use and has sufficient design advantages to fend off the Aussie challenge. "

Here's what they tested: the Galleymate, Magma & Soverneign nGGQs & Grills.

Personally I liked the very high BTU and wind resistant Ausie grills, but the budget may not allow this luxury.

KEG

[ssullivan]

You guys are BBQ GODS!!!!