BBQ facts

[mccauley]

Hello Straightdope,

I was wondering if anybody out there might be able to help me find some (hopefully) interesting barbeque facts.

I am doing a university project on barbeques and looking around the net have found a few interesting tidbits such as 57% of BBQ’s are used all year round. But was wondering if anybody knew of a place where I could get my hands on, many more, similar facts.

Thanks very much,

Mccauley.

[Gary_T]

Google on “barbeque” (also barbecue, bar-b-cue, etc.) and on “Kansas City Barbeque Society.” Their website is http://www.kcbs.us/

[Murasaki312a]

Also keep in mind when searching that the word “barbeque” can mean pit cooked meat (beef or pork). In my area the best is considered to be Lexington (NC) style barbecue (pork). I would look up “grilling” as well as barbecue.

[Duckster]

Whatever you do, don’t attempt to cook hamburgers on the grill with charcoal and liquid oxygen!

[tcdaniel]

you might try webergrill.com or a charcoal company such as KingstonCharcoal.

depending on how you’re studying this, historically or culturally.
Culturally, you’re gonna find BBQ defined about 2158750 different ways, depending on who you ask and where they’re from.
But for me there ain’t nuthin like the slow-smoked versions.

[Diceman]

*Originally posted by Duckster *
**Whatever you do, don’t attempt to cook hamburgers on the grill with charcoal and liquid oxygen!
**

Dang. I thought that you were talking about that episode of Home Improvement where Tim blasts his barbecue grill into orbit

[cstamets]

*Originally posted by Murasaki312a *
**Also keep in mind when searching that the word “barbeque” can mean pit cooked meat (beef or pork). In my area the best is considered to be Lexington (NC) style barbecue (pork). I would look up “grilling” as well as barbecue. **

Funny you should mention this. Just today, I have sworn off trying the various attempts local places offer as barbecue, or “pulled pork”. There is one place in this city that I have found that does it right, and every other place I’ve tried ranges from borderline-edible-but-not-quite-right to downright nasty.

Went to a place last night that made a valiant attempt, but they must have been watching Emeril too much and gotten carried away. Putting my side of cole slaw on the sandwich helped a little.

I lived in North Carolina for a few years when I was younger. Due to circumstances beyond my control, the only really good memories of being there were of the barbecue. I need to go back for a visit someday.

[kniz]

The World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest has received international Coverage on New Zealand and Japanese television. The WCBCC has also been spotlighted on two Food Network shows - a 30 minute prime-time special hosted by Al Roker and a segment of “Extreme Cuisine.” Other shows which have featured the WCBCC include “Good Morning America,” the “Today Show,” “CBS This Morning,” and “Prime Time Live.” This event has also received national attention in the Smithsonian, New Yorker, USA Today, and the Wall Street Journal. The ultimate award, the honor of “the largest pork barbecue cooking contest in the world” was bestowed on the WCBCC in the 1990 Guinness Book of World Records and remains unchallenged today.

For those of you that are unaware of this fact the WCBCC is held on the banks of the mighty Mississippi, in Memphis, TN.

[critter42]

Here’s the link for the 2003 WCBCC (and the 2002 winners) and all about the Memphis in May festival which the WCBCC grew out of.

critter42

[Gary_T]

Be aware there are three classes of barbeque: competition, restaurant, and backyard. Each has its own criteria, and what is ideal in one is not necessarily ideal in the others.

The statement in the OP implies an interest in backyard barbeque. Depending on the nature of your project, you may wish to limit your research to one class, or you may wish to compare and contrast the three.

[Tuckerfan]

I’d recommed checking out the Barbecue Bible books by Steven Raichlen. They’ve got various bits of information about barbecuing like the ones your looking for, plus other things you might not know (like that Weber started out making bouys and only got into the grill business because one of their employees was a BBQing fanatic who figured out that the design they used for bouys was perfect for keeping the wind off the grill).