When is National Barbecue Month?
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Grilling -is cooking fast, at a high temperature
...any cut of meat or poultry, even vegetables! Grilling is when you place your meat or poultry etc. on the cooking surface of a grill (like a gas-powered grill) and cook away! Sometimes thin sauces or marinades are applied to the food before or during the cooking process to keep the meat moist because grilling fast at a high heat tends to dry out the meat if you don't. Many people use BBQ sauce for grilling and I think this is why everyone gets so confused about what the difference is between grilling and BBQ.
Grilling is also know as DIRECT COOKING - this cooking method involves cooking your food directly over the heat source. Recommended for food that requires short cooking times or to sear and lock in the juices before cooking food indirectly.
For Regional Information about BBQ Sauce visit our BBQ sauce section.
It will give you a full description of the type of sauces that are popular in different areas of the country.
BBQ - is slow cooking for several hours
...any cuts of meat or poultry over say... wood coals....but the meat is not placed right directly over the coals like in grilling. When BBQing, there is usually a can of water somewhere in the grill to keep a constant humidity level in the cooking area. Dry rubs made of various herbs and spices are often applied to the meat or mustard- or tomato-based sauces (depending on where you live). However, many BBQers forgo the rubs and sauces and let the woodsmoke flavor the food. It is not unusual to BBQ meat or poultry for several hours (or even all night!). You can BBQ a really bad cut of meat and it usually results in a tender, delicious treat that practically falls apart as you eat it. BBQ is also know as INDIRECT COOKING - When food is cooked away from the direct heat source with the lid closed. This method works well for delicate foods as well as foods that require longer cooking times.
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BBQ'ing is what's done when you want your company to stay all day and Grilling is what's done when you want your company to eat and go! ~Snickerrrr~
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Barbecue has numerous regional variations
"In many parts of the world. Notably, in the United States, practitioners consider barbecue to include only relatively indirect methods of cooking, with the more direct high-heat methods to be called grilling."
"In British English usage, barbecuing and grilling refer to a fast cooking process directly over high heat, whilst grilling also refers to cooking under a source of direct, high heat--known in the US and Canada as broiling." "In US English usage, however, grilling refers to a fast process over high heat whilst barbecuing refers to a slow process using indirect heat and/or hot smoke." "For example, in a typical US home 'grill', food is cooked on a grate directly over hot charcoal; while in a US 'barbecue', the coals are dispersed to the sides or at significant distance from the grate."
"Alternatively, an apparatus called a smoker with a separate fire box may be used." "Hot smoke is drawn past the meat by convection for very slow cooking." "This is essentially how barbecue is cooked in most US 'barbecue' restaurants, but nevertheless many consider this to be a distinct cooking process called smoking."
"The slower methods of cooking break down the collagen in meat and tenderize tougher cuts for easier eating."
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