# What is barbeque (barbecue(BBQ))? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 3, 2006, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-barbeque-barbecue-bbq/355174 "2006-05-03T00:22:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![slaphead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@slaphead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slaphead)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2006, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-barbeque-barbecue-bbq/355174/41 "2006-05-03T13:38:08Z")
> [@FisherQueen](#): > > Barbecue is meat, slow-cooked in sauce, pulled apart into shreds, and served by itself or on a bun. It can be pork, beef, chicken, goat, or albatross, and the sauce usually includes some combination of tomato, spice, vinegar, and sweet. Yes - this is the correct definition, although I suppose you could forego the sauce if you were so inclined. In the UK, however, it means any foodstuff cooked in any way on any of the devices sold in the [barbecue section of the household outfitters](http://www.homebase.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/HomebaseBrowseCounts?storeId=20001&identifier=7835681&Trail=C%24cip%3D37730%3EC%24cip%3D37546&langId=-1&catalogId=4551). Personally I quite like chicken wings flame-grilled in my mum’s [combined outdoor heater and grill](http://www.homebase.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=20001&langId=-1&catalogId=4551&productId=230402&Trail=C%24cip=37730%3EC%24cip=37546&categoryId=37546), or lamb done on my friends oil-drum-in-a-shopping-trolley, and we call it barbecue for convenience, but it’s not REALLY barbecue. If you can’t eat the meat with nothing but a plastic fork, it’s not the real thing. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2006, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-barbeque-barbecue-bbq/355174/42 "2006-05-03T13:39:05Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > If you ever find yourself in the neighborhood, give Honey 1 (2241 N. Western) a shot… Oh, I’m so there! (My best friend lives behind Belden and Western.) Thanks for the recommendation! ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2006, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-barbeque-barbecue-bbq/355174/43 "2006-05-03T13:46:32Z")
> [@Ogre](#): > > Good lord, no. To a Southerner, every single clause of this post is wildly incorrect. 🙂 To a Northerner too. That’s grilling, steak sauce optional. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2006, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-barbeque-barbecue-bbq/355174/44 "2006-05-03T14:07:44Z")
1 lb. Isaly’s Chip-Chopped Ham luncheon meat 1 bottle BBQ sauce Put both ingredients in crockpot. Heat until warm. Serve on a hamburger bun. In Pittsburgh, this is what passes for barbecue. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2006, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-barbeque-barbecue-bbq/355174/45 "2006-05-03T14:37:34Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > 1 lb. Isaly’s Chip-Chopped Ham luncheon meat > 1 bottle BBQ sauce > > Put both ingredients in crockpot. Heat until warm. Serve on a hamburger bun. > > In Pittsburgh, this is what passes for barbecue. Good Lord! I shouldn’t be surprised, though. You all think a salad should have french fries on it, too. Try using a pork butt and adding 2-3 cups cider vinegar and a stick of butter. Salt & Pepper. I like to add a couple of cloves of minced garlic and a minced onion and red pepper flakes. Slow cook on low for 8-10 hours. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2006, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-barbeque-barbecue-bbq/355174/46 "2006-05-03T14:51:59Z")
Here in South Carolina, a holy war has raged for decades, fiery and unstoppable. I guess we live at the intersection point of the major sauce styles, and it’s like living on an active fault line sometimes. Personally for your barbeque needs I suggest the Little Pig here in town, which has good barbeque but is best in my book because one can get all three kinds there - tomato-based, mustard based, and North Carolina vinegar style. Everybody’s happy. Nobody wants lunch to turn into jihad. Also, their hushpuppies rock, and every vegetable there has some kind of pork in it, I think. Oh, and barbeque here is always pulled pork, unless you ask for “barbeque chicken” or whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Lissla\_Lissar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lissla\_Lissar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissla_Lissar)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2006, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-barbeque-barbecue-bbq/355174/47 "2006-05-03T15:04:05Z")
**Kythereia** , you should either go to the barbeque competition in front of the St. Lawrence Market this June, or get on the College Streetcar to Ossington, and go to Phil’s Real Barbeque. Actually, do both. Phil’s is the only real barbeque place here in Toronto, and they’re pretty good. Order the pulled pork. Also get the beans. Damn, now I’m hungry. And barbeque is meat cooked at a properly low temperature with smoke. Yum. ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2006, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-barbeque-barbecue-bbq/355174/48 "2006-05-03T15:41:51Z")
> [@Lissla Lissar](#): > > And barbeque is meat cooked at a properly low temperature with smoke. Yum. As my link demonstrated, it’s 250-350ºF (about 121-177ºC). ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2006, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-barbeque-barbecue-bbq/355174/49 "2006-05-03T16:03:46Z")
When I was growing up in the Washington, D.C. area, barbeque meant minced roast beef with (mild, sweetish, tomato-based) sauce on it. Now that I live in Kansas City, I’ve learned what **real** barbeque is. It’s a cooking method, and the meat produced by it. As mentioned above, the method is “low and slow” - low heat, slow cooking - preferably using wood (first choice, hickory). Grilling uses high heat, and usually charcoal. Smoking is similar to barbecuing, but with somewhat lower heat and more emphasis on the smoke itself. Barbeque sauce is a condiment. It can be right tasty, but good barbeque doesn’t need it to be more than tasty in its own right. Kansas City is a barbeque hub. The Kansas City Barbeque Society is the sanctioning organization for more than half of the barbeque constests in the U.S… Other major styles/areas of barbeque are Texas, Memphis, and North Carolina. Texas and Memphis aren’t hugely different from Kansas City. Carolina barbeque is more closely associated with its vinegar-based sauce, which is noticeably different from the sauces usually used in other areas (and I believe more often used in cooking), but the meat itself is not that different. My impression is that it’s harder to find good (= real) barbeque in the Northeast and West Coast than in the Midwest and South. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2006, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-barbeque-barbecue-bbq/355174/50 "2006-05-03T16:39:34Z")
> [@Ogre](#): > > I’ll add that, in my neck of the woods (Scottsboro to Decatur, AL,) there is another variant of sauce that is mostly used for chicken, but is also superb on pork…[Alabama white barbecue sauce](http://bbq.about.com/od/barbecuesaucerecipes/r/ble00114.htm). As far as I know, this sauce is unique to this particular hundred-or-so mile swath of Alabama. Oh wow, that looks fabulous and I’m going to try that the next time I do pork on the grill. Yum. Thanks for sharing! ---
**Author:** ![flickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7bcc69/32.png) [@flickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flickster)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2006, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-barbeque-barbecue-bbq/355174/51 "2006-05-03T18:02:21Z")
> [@Snooooopy](#): > > The best barbecue I ever had was a McRib. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![flickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7bcc69/32.png) [@flickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flickster)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2006, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-barbeque-barbecue-bbq/355174/52 "2006-05-03T18:15:51Z")
> [@Nightsong](#): > > Never could get used to the mustard based sauces though. The ones I’ve tried have overwhelmed the meat instead of enhancing the flavor. I’m willing to be persuaded that there is a good mustard-based sauce out there though. [Maurice’s](http://www.mauricesbbq.com/catalog/catalog.asp) is the only one I’ve used over the years. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2006, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-barbeque-barbecue-bbq/355174/53 "2006-05-03T18:37:43Z")
> [@flickster](#): > > :eek: Heh heh. Just foolin’. I figured I was already a heretic, how much more trouble could I get into? “All I said was that this barbecued chicken was good enough for Jehovah!” ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2006, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-barbeque-barbecue-bbq/355174/54 "2006-05-03T19:23:02Z")
> [@flickster](#): > > [Maurice’s](http://www.mauricesbbq.com/catalog/catalog.asp) is the only one I’ve used over the years. Native in the know don’t give Maurice a penny of our money, you know. He’s a very bad man. If you knew and didn’t care, okay, but if you didn’t know, you might want to. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2006, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-barbeque-barbecue-bbq/355174/55 "2006-05-03T19:24:33Z")
Sheesh, _native **s** _. ---
**Author:** ![Godfrey\_Daniels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Godfrey\_Daniels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Godfrey_Daniels)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2006, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-barbeque-barbecue-bbq/355174/56 "2006-05-03T19:26:02Z")
I also grew up in the Memphis area, and I can sort of see **Adhermar’s** point. The epitome of Memphis barbecue has always been the pulled pork sandwich, and Memphis barbecue sauce really is rather distinct in flavor. Try Top’s or Leonard’s (although Leonard’s isn’t what it used to be) to get the idea. It’s really rather difficult to duplicate (I’ve been trying for years) and I’ve yet to find sauce like it outside the Memphis area. Now, ribs have always been part of the Memphis barbecue scene as well, but nowhere approaching the prevalence and popularity of the good ol’ pulled pork sandwich. To address the OP, barbecue is meat, of any kind (preferably pork for me) slow cooked over intensely smoky coals, so that the smoke permeates the meat to add flavor. ---
**Author:** ![Operation\_Ripper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/34f0e0/32.png) [@Operation\_Ripper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Operation_Ripper)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2006, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-barbeque-barbecue-bbq/355174/57 "2006-05-03T19:29:00Z")
> [@Ogre](#): > > Hmmm…let’s see. Multiple relatives living there, hundreds of trips there varying from a day to several weeks over a lifetime. Et cetera. None of which is the point. > > The point is thatis not a description of a style of barbecue found only in Memphis. You either described what you actually meant extremely vaguely, or you’re unaware thatis actually served over a very wide geographical area, including most of Alabama, Tennessee, and Mississippi. Memphis’s _unique_ barbecue style, and one which garners the most attention, is ribs. Dry rubs and wet sauce. 100% correct fellow. ---
**Author:** ![Operation\_Ripper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/34f0e0/32.png) [@Operation\_Ripper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Operation_Ripper)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2006, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-barbeque-barbecue-bbq/355174/58 "2006-05-03T19:30:21Z")
Btw, time for Memphis in May with its BBQ contest! ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2006, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-barbeque-barbecue-bbq/355174/59 "2006-05-03T19:31:09Z")
“BBQ” is what you put on the end of an expletive in World of Warcraft for additional emphasis. E.g.: “I one-shotted him with a pyroblast! WTFPWNBBQ!” ---
**Author:** ![whole\_bean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@whole\_bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whole_bean)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2006, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-barbeque-barbecue-bbq/355174/60 "2006-05-03T21:08:35Z")
> [@Maus Magill](#): > > For the best hushpuppies, go to the Seafood Restaurant at the NC State Farmer’s Market on Lake Wheeler Rd. I think of hushpuppies as an accompanyment to fried seafood, after all, they are the fried seafood meal rolled up and fried sans fish/shrimp/oyster. As a Georgian, I am in the pulled pork camp. Pork simmered in vinegar sauce after having been pulled, served on a fresh steamed white bun with a pickle, side of slaw (which ends up on the sandwich), brunswick stew, maybe some mac n’ chees, fried okra, potato salad (not that German heresy though – something with lots of mayo, some mustard, bacon, onion, celery and dill pickles). I like all kinds of barbeque though – dry, wet, beef, pork, mustard, mollases. Saying one type is “true” barbeque seems silly. It’s like saying Fords are the only “true” cars. I am only acrimonious toward the hamburger=barbeque crowd. That’s like saying Harley-Davidsons are “true” cars. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-barbeque-barbecue-bbq/355174.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-barbeque-barbecue-bbq/355174.md?page=4)