Grilling/BBQ question

[disneychrista]

BBQ is saucy meat

BBQ’ing is grilling over charcoal

Grilling is propane.

Cookout is a party where one is served meat prepared either by BBQ’ing or grilling. It may or may not be BBQ.

 

[sethschroeder]

Maybe its a Canadian/USA thing or just regional language.

Do you say BBQ, grilling or cookout when referring to cooking on a BBQ.

I only hear BBQ up here. Never hear grilling or cookout.

Memorial Day question for all you Americans!

What are you making, what type of implement is creating the heat, how is the meat suspended in place to cook, and what meats/spices were used?

Its such an open ended question is like do you call it frying or cooking. When I am talking about pan frying a steak in a cast iron skillet.

 

[sethschroeder]

BBQ is saucy meat

So what do you then call:
pork butt, spiced with rub, slow cooked, only combustion is wood and shredded
pork butt, spiced with rub, slow cooked, only combustion is charcoal, and shredded
pork butt, spiced with rub, slow cooked, electric element, smoke only for flavor wood is not heat source, and shredded

None of them have sauce
Now do all of them but with sauce

 

[disneychrista]

So what do you then call:
pork butt, spiced with rub, slow cooked, only combustion is wood and shredded
pork butt, spiced with rub, slow cooked, only combustion is charcoal, and shredded
pork butt, spiced with rub, slow cooked, electric element, smoke only for flavor wood is not heat source, and shredded

None of them have sauce
Now do all of them but with sauce

Wood is smoked

Charcoal is BBQ’ing (verb)

No clue what the last one would be defined as.

All would be BBQ (noun) if sauce is added.

Your definition & view may be different but that is mine.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

All of the above when speaking casually.
But when distinguishing:
barbecue or BBQ means low and slow cooking with smoke
grilling means cooking on a grill over open flame
cookout can mean either

BBQ does involve the presence of smoke. But grilling, if done with smoke say for example over some sort of wood, is in fact barbequing. In fact, it is the precise technique used in the first record of bbq that survives. Although the result wouldn't even resemble the result of our BBQ today.

The attempt to narrow the definition of BBQ to low and slow smoking, mainly at the behest of the south and the competition circuit, is simply incorrect. There are over 200 types of BBQ in this world, and Southern style is just one of them. Grilling is another. And truth be told if you look at how competition BBQ is now, their technique is far more akin to braising than anything else. By their standards, I could make the argument that many of them aren't really BBQing any more. By my looser standards however, yes. Still counts.

Let me put it to you this way. I'm not going to a BBQ competition and telling them they're Braising, not BBQing any time soon. I'm not going to go down and tell the Alabama football team that Dreamland isn't BBQ. I'm not going to go down to Memphis and say their BBQ isn't BBQ. I'm not going to roll into Owensboro and tell them their Mutton stewed in cast iron over open flame isn't BBQ. I'm certainly not going to say Santa Maria Tri tip isn't bbq. I'm not going to say whole pig cooked in a brick pit in the ground isn't BBQ. I'm not going to Korea, and tell them Korean BBQ isn't BBQ. Why? Because I'm partial to leaving all these places with wonderful and wonderfully different types of BBQ alive and I'd like to go back for more.

 

[design_mom]

Growing up (Ohio), it was always grilling (and a cookout was the event). "We're grilling burgers for the cookout." Or "We're cooking out tonight. We're going to grill burgers."

My husband's family (from Missouri) calls it barbecue, no matter what it is. "They're barbecuing burgers at the barbecue." Barbecue can refer to the food, the cooking method, the appliance used to cook, or the event the food is served at: It's all "the barbecue." To me, barbecue means a certain flavor profile, not just "cooked on a grill" (i.e., barbecued chicken and grilled chicken give me different expectations, but his family would just call any of it "barbecued chicken.") I've gotten used to it, but this is one area where I have not adopted their language. (I grew up saying "pop" and they said "soda," and I find myself saying "soda" now.)

 

[amcnj]

When I was younger cookout or barbecue were often used. Now I hear grilling more. But I wouldn’t turn down an invitation to any of the three!

 

[BrianL]

I love their sketches and humor.

I also love the Law & Order one where grandma's cast-iron skillet ended up in the dishwasher!

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

BBQ is a noun, and is slow cooked pulled pork with either a vinegar or tomato-based sauce. If it's slow cooked pulled pork with some other kind of sauce, then I call it 'pulled pork.' When we cook something using the grill, we are 'grilling.' The food we are grilling is whatever the food is - burgers, hot dogs, chicken, ribs, pork tenderloin, etc. If we go to or host a party where the grill is used to cook many of the items, then it's a cook-out.

 

[dvcgirl67]

I'm from NJ and we say we're going to "grill" tonight. A "BBQ" would reference that we're having an event where we going to eat grilled/BBQed food outdoors in a casual setting....or we're going to order from a "BBQ" restaurant. If any of that makes sense....lol.

 

[barkley]

in our house we call it-"cooking'.

during the nicer weather months we eat almost exclusively food that has been cooked on either our big green egg or our propane bbq (depends on what we are cooking). with our egg we can grill, bbq, smoke, roast, bake and use as a cook top (i've not done it but chili is popular to make with it).

 

[tvguy]

Well, we don't use cookout in our family. Grilling and BBQ and pretty much interchangeble.

 

[_19disnA]

we eat almost exclusively food that has been cooked on either our big green egg or our propane bbq (depends on what we are cooking)

See those 'big green eggs' advertised a lot. Do you like it for outdoor cooking? Seems the circular shape would cut down on the amount of usable space for cooking the food. Perhaps it is large enough to not be a problem.

 

[slo]

I’m in the Chicagoland Area and we say….

Going to a cookout
Let’s host a cookout

Let’s grill out for dinner tonight.

You want some BBQ sauce on that chicken?

 

[LoveDaisy]

I’m from CT.

We say grill if you are cooking on propane or charcoal.

Cookout is if you have people over.

BBQ usually refers to the sauce.

I’ve heard a few people say BBQ if you smoke meat for something like pulled pork, but most just say they are using their smoker.

 

[barkley]

See those 'big green eggs' advertised a lot. Do you like it for outdoor cooking? Seems the circular shape would cut down on the amount of usable space for cooking the food. Perhaps it is large enough to not be a problem.

they come in a variety of sizes. there's plenty of surface space but if needed they make an 'eggspander' which creates multiple levels. never found a need for it and we do multiple racks of ribs at a time, large pork roasts and briskets, full butterflied leg of lamb...

we have it on our covered outdoor deck and if it weren't for the subzero temps and feet of snow we get in the winter dh would probably use it year round.

 

[wabbott]

Whether it's a BBQ, cookout, grilling, or kitchen cooking, any event that involves a group meal - family, neighbors, friends, etc - is referred to as a "Gittogether." One word. GIT-to-gether.

 

[Genie+]

If we’re inviting people over we call it a BBQ.

If making dinner for the family, I’ll say grill.

Don’t really use the term cookout.

 

[kyton]

Australians tend to say barbecue as a verb, grilling here tends to mean a part of your oven / stove (I think US call these broilers?). So if you are invited for a barbecue it’s cooking on either a charcoal / gas / wood fire. Low and slow BBQ tends to be described as being cooked in a smoker.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Yes, BBQ is very, very different from grilling or a cookout.

Grilling is what we do on the grill - hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken, fish, vegetables, etc.

BBQ refers to a style of meat that is slow-cooked & often smoked w/ some kind of dry rub and/or sauce.

A cookout is usually a gathering of people - more than just your immediate family. We‘ll either host or attend a cookout where there will be food grilling. There might also be some BBQ & other smoked meats at a cookout.

In our house, over the weekend, on Friday, we grilled hot dogs & brats, &, on Saturday, we grilled chicken breasts. Last night, we grilled hamburgers.

But, today, we’re smoking a pork butt & ribs in the smoker all day long for pulled pork BBQ sandwiches for dinner tonight. (We’re grilling corn to go w/ the BBQ sandwiches.)

And there are southern regional differences to BBQ - St. Louis, Memphis, Carolina, Alabama, Texas… In my area, BBQ is most often pulled meat (pork, beef, or chicken) or something like ribs or brisket w/ a tangy, tomato-based BBQ sauce.

To add more confusion to the conversation, there are three kinds of Carolina BBQ.