# What IS BBQ? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 14, 2010, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-bbq/539470 "2010-05-14T20:10:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-bbq/539470/61 "2010-05-19T09:28:51Z")
They were both fairly hot smoke methods. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-bbq/539470/62 "2010-05-19T13:12:57Z")
Barbecue sauce is (sadly) what you get at McDonald’s or the store, here in northern Arkansas. Barbecue is slow cooked meat, usually cooked outside. If someone invites you to a barbecue, that just means a party where the food is cooked outside. Chances are you won’t be eating barbecue, unless you know someone with a slow cooker who has had it going for a while before you get there. And, even then, it’s usually called brisket (or whatever cut is being used.) BTW, does anyone else always want to spell it “barbeque”? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-bbq/539470/63 "2010-05-19T14:30:45Z")
Barbecue to me is a method of cooking. It is not a synonym for cook-out or a kind of get-together of people. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-bbq/539470/64 "2010-05-20T06:26:54Z")
> [@devilsknew](#): > > They were both fairly hot smoke methods. > [@devilsknew](#): > > Or Hey, what about Fish? > > Can smoked fish be considered BBQ? > > I had some great smoked Mullet on the roadside in Florida. Just a couple of guys selling whole fresh smoked Mullet filets from their smoker trailer hooked up to their pickup. > > Had some great Pork BBQ from a guy who would pull up the same way on Sundays. Ribs, Sandwiches, and tips- his BBQ was inconsistent however. Some days were better than others depending on who was cooking, he had a young girl fill in for him on some days and it just wasn’t as good… once got an undercooked/undersmoked chicken leg and thigh on her watch… that was definitely not good. His potato salad was just commercial stuff but he made a great “Crazy Beans”-- a bunch of different kinds of beans and sausage and bacon done in a crockpot… A bit pricey, but seems like he always sold out. > > I’m sure all of these weren’t quite above board but it sure was tasty… what do you think about bootleg BBQ? Does its illicit and homebrew nature make it even more tasty? > [@devilsknew](#): > > Look, I don’t want to impugn anyone. Because that young lady in the Tool shirt could have told me to come back in 30-45 minutes for that Chicken quarter, I would have come back or hung out there for a mess of mama’s BBQ, they were out of pork ribs… didn’t feel like a BBQ sandwich… I was actually making small talk about Tool, just shootin’ the shit - Great Band. Instead she was lookin’ to make the sale. Those guys that were smokin’ the mullet were dressed in camo, lookin’ to make some gas money for their boat… they just wanted to go fishin’ again. They were both parked on private property with, I assume, the owner’s consent. > [@devilsknew](#): > > Every perishable thing was iced in a cooler and the meat was kept at temp. Dude. PWD? np ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-bbq/539470/65 "2010-05-21T00:19:49Z")
> [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](#): > > Dude. PWD? np Dude, I’m not parsing what you are trying to say? PWD np? ---
**Author:** ![Perciful](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b38774/32.png) [@Perciful](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Perciful)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-bbq/539470/66 "2010-05-21T23:45:49Z")
BBQ is not popular up here. We had one Smokehouse Restaurant but it went out of business. I don’t like sticky food. Have you ever tried to eat ribs neatly? If they could invent some tongs or something so I could get it to my mouth without getting sticky fingers? I did work with some Kentucky boys that made some mean chicken wings. It took a long time with hot coals and a foil tent over it. He used some kind of special hot barbecue sauce from down south. They were crispy on the outside and tender on the inside and just the right amount of hot. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-bbq/539470/67 "2010-05-22T03:54:44Z")
> [@Perciful](#): > > BBQ is not popular up here. We had one Smokehouse Restaurant but it went out of business. I don’t like sticky food. Have you ever tried to eat ribs neatly? If they could invent some tongs or something so I could get it to my mouth without getting sticky fingers? > > I did work with some Kentucky boys that made some mean chicken wings. It took a long time with hot coals and a foil tent over it. He used some kind of special hot barbecue sauce from down south. They were crispy on the outside and tender on the inside and just the right amount of hot. Ok, first you say you don’t like sticky fingers, then you say how good some tucky chicken wings are? If your lips ain’t glistenin’ then you ain’t listenin’. Some Pitmasters would be offended and feel as if they didn’t make a good BBQ if you didn’t get a sheen on your lips like some wet lip gloss, or sticky collagen fingers. Nigh on a compliment if people are up to their elbows in sweet anointings of pork fat or sauce. You, my friend are missing the whole point of BBQ. Also, kind of a rule of BBQ, you should never wear white if you are eating BBQ. If you come away from a plate of BBQ without a stain on your shirt, then you aren’t trying hard enough! ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-bbq/539470/68 "2010-05-22T04:11:22Z")
> [@devilsknew](#): > > Dude, I’m not parsing what you are trying to say? > > PWD np? Posting While Drunk? no problem Actually, I should apologize for not following your post. ---
**Author:** ![dogbutler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dogbutler/32/428_2.png) [@dogbutler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dogbutler)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-bbq/539470/69 "2010-05-22T04:16:09Z")
Eastern N.C. Barbecue is the One True Faith. The rest of you heathens can be [del]burned at the stake[/del] slow cooked over hardwood and served with vinegar based sauce.😃 ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-bbq/539470/70 "2010-05-22T04:19:57Z")
> [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](#): > > Posting While Drunk? no problem > > Actually, I should apologize for not following your post. Oh, not familiar with those acronymns… just afterthoughts, mostly, that I thought of after my five minute edit window was through. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-bbq/539470/71 "2010-05-22T05:19:56Z")
Mostly, I didn’t want to ruin a good thing… Never know when some food safety crusader from the local Health Department is going to try to clamp down on this kind of homegrown BBQ. I wanted to reassure that although it was bootleg BBQ that it was entirely safe and really good food otherwise if not entirely legal. America is sorely lacking in the vibrant street food scene that seems to thrive with fewer restrictions in other countries and tends to make us corporate drones in food variety. Food Safety is important, but making too much hay and redtape is unnecessarily restrictive to small businessmen and really has no legtimate basis in food safety other than as an absolutist and militant stance. It also makes it really hard for the little guy to compete against the corporate entrenchment of fast food which has supplanted variety and choice in American cuisine. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-bbq/539470/72 "2010-05-22T05:21:47Z")
The best BBQ is produced by an old black man who runs a little shack by the side of the road and is open three days a week. There are no tables, and everything is served on butcher paper. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-bbq/539470/73 "2010-05-22T06:47:45Z")
> [@devilsknew](#): > > Mostly, I didn’t want to ruin a good thing… It also makes it really hard for the little guy to compete against the corporate entrenchment of fast food which has supplanted variety and choice in American cuisine. And in the case of American BBQ, corporate entrenchment and modern “state of the art” techniques and modern food preperation have supplanted the true American Tradition. I see these electric smokers and fancy porcelain eggs and what not, why bother? If you want the art and intuition of BBQ these things just oblierate and obscure the real time honored methods of yore. ---
**Author:** ![missred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/missred/32/14096_2.png) [@missred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missred)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-bbq/539470/74 "2010-05-22T12:05:56Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > The best BBQ is produced by an old black man who runs a little shack by the side of the road and is open three days a week. There are no tables, and everything is served on butcher paper. To quote Roy Blount: “Never eat barbecue in a place where the chairs all match.” Pretty much sums it up. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Perciful](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b38774/32.png) [@Perciful](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Perciful)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-bbq/539470/75 "2010-05-22T13:37:35Z")
> [@devilsknew](#): > > Ok, first you say you don’t like sticky fingers, then you say how good some tucky chicken wings are? If your lips ain’t glistenin’ then you ain’t listenin’. Some Pitmasters would be offended and feel as if they didn’t make a good BBQ if you didn’t get a sheen on your lips like some wet lip gloss, or sticky collagen fingers. Nigh on a compliment if people are up to their elbows in sweet anointings of pork fat or sauce. You, my friend are missing the whole point of BBQ. > > Also, kind of a rule of BBQ, you should never wear white if you are eating BBQ. If you come away from a plate of BBQ without a stain on your shirt, then you aren’t trying hard enough! That is my problem I am not eating good barbecue up here and not ready to get sticky. I need to prepare better and get down and dirty with my BBQ. There is nothing messier then eating lobster and I put a bib on for that. Stay away from white and get messy! Actually the Kentucky boys sauce was kind of thin and hot. It was not really sticky like some BBQ sauces are. It was orangish and it was the best! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-bbq/539470.md?page=3)