What is this mysterious thing known as American barbecue?
I understand that many of you here on Steemit are not American and have never been to the U.S. and have very limited knowledge of what this food known as barbecue, Bar-B-Que, or BBQ is exactly. Here I'm going to try to give a brief history of Bar-B-Que as best it is known and the basic procedure for producing Bar-B-Que.
The first thing to know about Bar-B-Que is, Bar-B-Que is not grilling. Both Bar-B-Que and grilling can be done over charcoal and/or wood fires, however, grilling is done over direct high heat and is typically used for hamburgers, hot dogs, bratwurst, and other fast cooking foods. Bar-B-Que on the other, hand can take many hours depending on the cut of meat or even whole animal in the case of whole-hog Bar-B-Que.
Disclaimer: I am not writing the history of Bar-B-Que that hasn't been previously published by other authors, I have not done this research other than to look up their works for distillation here.
Bar-B-Que seems to be the most uniquely American food there is. There are many different arguments as to where the word Bar-B-Que derived from, but I believe it most likely originated from the native people (as white Europeans and their African slaves) encountered them on the Caribbean Islands who transferred their knowledge of low and slow cooking using indirect heat over long periods of time and wood fires and called it "barbacoa" which was then bastardized into Bar-B-Que as we know it today.
Many of these Europeans and African slaves then continued on and settled and in the case of African slaves forcefully settled in the southern United States and they brought this knowledge of indirect heat, low and slow cooking along with them.
These new settlers also brought with them their hogs, these hogs weren't the pampered corn fed swine of today, often they were allowed to basically run wild in the woods and forage for food on their own. This meant the meat of these animals was not of the top tender quality one would expect to find on grocery shelves today. For the rich white landowners it was most often the slaves who did the cooking but not all whites in the American south were rich land/slave owners either and like most people today had to fend for and cook for themselves and often could not afford the more choice cuts of meat like the rich. Both the slaves and poor whites of the time were therefore left with the less desirable portions of animals such as the ribs, pork bellies (bacon), and internal organs. Both the lesser quality animals of the time and the inferior quality of the cuts of meat these people had to survive on lent themselves very well to the low and slow cooking methods of the Bar-B-Que which breaks down the fat and sinew of the animal making it very tender and delicious.
After the American Civil War and the freeing of the slaves many of these former slaves as well as the poorer whites moved northward and westward in search of a better life, many in the factories of the north and of course they brought the cooking style of the Bar-B-Que with them.
As conditions improved Americans were able to become more choosy in their choice of woods used in cooking in their Bar-B-Ques based upon the desirable flavors various woods impart on the foods being Bar-B-Qued. Here is a pretty extensive list of woods that can be used in smoking meats and other products such as cheeses: http://www.deejayssmokepit.net/Woods.htm
Not only have we become more selective in the woods we use but the basic Bar-B-Que pit has evolved from a hole or trench in the ground into industrially manufactured masterpieces designed to perfect the process from an equipment standpoint. My smoker as seen on the right in this picture has an offset fire chamber on the left with the smoking/cooking chamber on the right giving the indirect heat, in the example to the left, the fire can be built on one side or the other and the meat the opposite side. These are basic family sized wood smokers capable of burning charcoal, wood chips, cut chunks, and smaller sized split logs.
There are big smokers built on trailers that are pulled by a vehicle used for Bar-B-Que competitions, selling concessions at fairs or fests, and catering events such as office parties and wedding receptions.
Lastly, there are permanent installations in restaurants not designed to be moved at all and are primarily for serving guests of the restaurant.
Regardless of the smoker, the wood, or the product being smoked, Bar-B-Que is about the process of low and slow cooking using indirect heat to make what are otherwise considered lesser cuts of meat more desirable and with the intent of adding wood smoke flavor to the foods.
I look forward to exploring the topic of Bar-B-Que further in future posts, we're only scratching the surface here with a little history and basic process.