BBQ Season happening

BBQ. What does it mean to you? When I first moved to Missouri, BBQ, to this Chicago kid, meant chicken breasts grilled on a propane grill slathered in a sticky, sweet red sauce. My understanding of BBQ has become altered through my culinary adventures since moving to Kansas City. BBQ meccas = KC, Texas, Memphis, the Carolinas.

Barbequing is cooking a piece of subpar meat using wood powered heat and smoke at a low temp over a long period of time turning the once tough meat tender, juicy and creating "flavorplosions" (yep, I cam up with that) in your mouth. Cooking is done by heating a barbeque cooker (smoker) to 200 to 250 using wood or charcoal which infuses the meat with a smokey flavor that brings out the cave person in all of us. It is a long process, taking anywhere from 4 hours to roughly 22 hours, with a median time of 18 hours. The longest I have cooked something was 18 hours. Cooking "low and slow" breaks down the connective tissue in the meat and melts the fat causing the bbq'ed item to fall apart. BBQ food examples are brisket, pork butt (shoulder), turkey, chicken, sausages, ribs, whole fish and potatoes.

Grilling is cooking food over direct or indirect heat source using charcoal, wood, or anything else flammable on grill. Grilling is quick, convenient, and delicious. Steaks, fish fillets, whole chicken, shrimp, clams, mussels, veggies, fruit, pork chops/tenderloins, and marshmallows.

I like both methods for flavor, but I really enjoy BBQ. What other food is an event and what other food generates such positive reactions.

My smoker is a barrel smoker.

The large part of the smoker is where the meat is placed. The small part on the right is the firebox where wood is combusted. Regional BBQ and wood go hand in hand. Wood used for bbq is based on availability.

Since KC is by the Ozarks, I use Ozark pecan wood from southern MO vendors and apple wood (from Mark W.'s backyard). The wood burning in the firebox is the pecan wood.

When the smoker is in action, I control the heat by controlling the amount of air allowed into the smoker. This is done in two locations. The primary location is an adjustable air vent on the right side of the firebox or by opening or closing the flap on the top of the smoke stack on the left of the smoker. Basically, the heat and smoke flows from left to right going out the top of the smoke stack. This bathes the meat in smoky goodness. The process is long, but yields excellent results. See below.

The pics below are of a brisket which I cooked for 18 hours

The brisket is in a tin after being cooked on the grate for the first half of the process.

The brisket should be covered during the final cooking process as it keeps the brisket moist.

I use a rub whenever I BBQ. A rub is a strong spice blend made of paprika, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, sugar and some extra spices (garlic powder, onion powder, chile powder, cumin, or anything else that sounds good)

Looks like I added some red pepper flakes to this one.

This is the pork butt I made for our float trip. Once the pork is pulled off it is important to pull it when it it hot just because it makes the process easier.
The shoulder/butt develops a nice black crust near the end of the cooking process due to the sugar in the rub used. That outside is nothing but pure flavor. Yum.

This is what the pork looks like when it is pulled. I pull the pork with two large serving forks. This just fell apart. The key is to cook the shoulder to 180 degrees. This melts the collagen and fat making the pork tender and moist. Doesn't get much better than this.