Introducing: The Backlot Barbeque

Barbecue is more than a food. Barbeque is a culture, an art, a way of life. Ok, ok, ok – perhaps I am being a bit extreme. But once you try some of the real stuff (more on this later), you will want to join a barbecue cult. Trust me.

But first, what is BBQ? Who makes it and how? Most do not know the answers to these questions because they have never tried the real stuff. Barbeque is really a cooking method, not an actual food. Beef is a food. Pork is a food. Barbeque is a process. So when you hear barbeque, I want you to think two things: low and slow or cooking under low temperatures for long periods of time. This is barbeque; this is the real stuff.

What has your dad been cooking all these years on the grill, you ask? Well contrary to population belief, food cooked over direct heat is not in fact barbeque. Your dad was simply grilling food. Don’t get me wrong, I love grilled food. However, the process you are using and the product you end up with is not barbeque.

I am from one of the major cities in the Barbeque World - Kansas City, Missouri. In KC, we are known for our BBQ sauce, something you might have known already. KC Masterpiece is the best selling BBQ sauce of all time. However, in places like Memphis, sauce is only an afterthought and not an integral part of the process. Every other Wednesday I will use this forum for these types of BBQ debates, to tell you about the techniques I personally use to barbeque, and where to find some of the real stuff in and around the District.