Q

One of the most important, but misunderstood, parts of life is barbeque. Far too many innocent pieces of meat have been ruined by cooking them on a gas grill over high heat with a thick spicy sauce, yielding a result that is charred on the outside, raw on the inside, and encourages the eaters to pine for tofu because of that lovely burnt sugar/capsacin taste. Let's correct some of these misconceptions.

For starters, not every person with a grill "barbeques" meat. True "Q" is meat which is salted and spiced (sometimes marinaded), but not slathered with sauce while cooking. It is cooked slowly over wood smoke in a smoker or grill like this one. You can easily get started for under $100. The sauce is a balanced, pourable sauce, and the best ones aren't thick, IMO. And the meat? Whatever has a bit of fat on it and is inexpensive. It doesn't need to be ribs.

So get yourself a nice kettle grill or other smoker, a big glass of lemonade or sweet tea, and enjoy an afternoon tending to some chicken, pork, or beef on the grill. Try various styles until you find the one you like best. I've been doing this for 13 years now, and I've yet to find my favorite style. Maybe after another 50, I'll figure it out.