The Different Ways to Grill

Before we start, a word about nomenclature. The word barbecue means different things to different people, depending on where you live. On the East and West Coasts of the United States and in the Frost Belt and Canada, it describes any sort of live-fire cooking outdoors. In Texas, the South, and parts of the Midwest, it refers to a specific kind of meat that’s slow cooked and heavily smoked, usually via the indirect method. Thus, to a North Carolinian, barbecue means pulled pork; to a Texan, beef brisket. Elsewhere, barbecue may refer to a piece of cooking equipment (the barbecue grill), a social gathering (for example, a church barbecue), or simply a meal outdoors.