I've seen some chatter about BBQ tonight, so I am here to provide you with the definitive thread for all things 'Q. Let's get started...

First, let's define BBQ. It's a large piece of pork, usually a shoulder, cooked slowly over a combination of wood and/or charcoal.

It's not ribs, chicken, brisket or turkey, although those can be smoked and they can also be delicious.

It's definitely not pork that is cooked slowly in an oven or crock pot. That's pulled pork, and it can be delicious, but it is most certainly not BBQ.

BBQ is not a verb used to describe grilling steaks or burgers, either. When people say "I'm going to have people over to BBQ" - what they really mean to say is that "I'm going to have some people over to grill out."

And that is also fine and delicious. But, it's not a BBQ.

So, to have BBQ, you absolutely must have these things...

+ A large chunk of pork, perhaps even a whole pig
+ A fire produced by wood and/or charcoal

So now we need to discuss temperature.

There's a certain rib joint with Tuscaloosa origins. They make delicious pork ribs, but from what I understand they cook their ribs at a relatively high temperature for a relatively short amount of time.

These are grilled ribs. These are not BBQ, even though their delicious.

True BBQ is cooked low and slow over some combination of wood and/or charcoal. I like to cook mine around 225, 250 tops. Anything above 300, you're grilling that meat. Lowwwww and slowwwww is the only way to make BBQ.

What about electric smokers? Well, they don't produce smoke as a direct result of their heat source.

So, they are *really* just smoker-shaped electric cookers. It's the Mark McGwire version of a crock pot. Big, bulky, full of hot air, but still capable of producing awesomeness

What about pellet smokers? Gray area, but I say yes.
They produce smoke as a direct result of their heat source. And that heat source *is* technically wood.

So we'll compare pellet smokers to Robocop. Not completely natural, but still on the right side of the law!

Now, we must discuss sauces. The only thing more likely that Presidential politics to start America's next civil war. But, my answer will likely surprise you.....

I honestly don't care which sauce you put on your meat. If its cooked properly, the sauce should compliment the meat. In order, the flavors you should taste

1. The pork
2. The rub
3. The smoke
(huge gap)
4. The sauce

The sauce ain't the boss, y'all.

I've had GREAT BBQ with tomato, vinegar & mustard-based sauces. I've also had lousy BBQ with the same.

Mine is a tomato-based sauce, equal parts sweet and tangy. I also smoke the sauce with the meat, infusing it w/ some smoke flavor.

One more word on sauces.

My home state, Alabama, has become known for a white sauce brokered by a well-known BBQ joint in the greater Decatur, AL metropolitan area. This sauce is acceptable in small quantities on smoked chicken.

This sauce should not be put on pork. Period.