seems like it depends on where you live

[cal1956]

15 years ago when I 1st came to Colorado I stayed at a KOA campground for a while and the owners had a sign posted that said BBQ every weekend

 I couldn't wait for the weekend to come but when it came around my mouth was watering for some good BBQ . to say that I was disappointed would be an understatement !!!!!

what they call BBQ was anything cooked on a grill !!!!!

 I talked with a few other campers from other states like Texas . Florida , Ga.  and a couple of others and they too were disappointed , however one camper from Kanas wasn't . it seems that BBQ meant the same in Kanas as it did in Colorado but not so for the others that I talked to .

 the one's  the eastern state's (east of Colorado that is )

seemed to think like I did in that you GRILL a steak , pork chop , hamburger or hot dog and that BBQ meant slow and low cooked with smoke

anyone have any thought's on this ??

 

[noboundaries]

I believe that with the advent of the Internet the distinction was finally made clear to many the difference between grilling and smoking.  When I grew up in CA in the 50s and 60s, BBQ was anything done outside.  When we moved to the South in the late 60s that's when I first started understanding the difference between grilling and smoking.  Still, the line gets blurred.  For example, Santa Maria BBQ out here in CA, a regional favorite and the declared origin of the tri tip cut, is tri tip cooked over an open pit of red oak on a grill that is raised and lowered to control the heat. 

Even smoking has a ton of variations that people use to make distinctions; cold smoking, hot smoking, low n slow, hot n fast, etc.  I'm happy with the distinction between grilling and smoking, even with the blurred lines.   

 

[Bearcarver]

I can't remember thinking anything but Open Grilling being called "BBQ" or "Grilling", and anything done (Cold, Warm, or Hot) in a Smokehouse is called Smoking, be it the ones attached to the back of many of the PA Dutch Butcher Shops in my area, or the various small ones people like us have in their back yards, porches & patios.

I guess I got that idea because those Butcher Shops with Smoke Houses don't Grill or BBQ---They just Smoke things.

Bear

 

[cal1956]

 
I believe that with the advent of the Internet the distinction was finally made clear to many the difference between grilling and smoking.  When I grew up in CA in the 50s and 60s, BBQ was anything done outside.  When we moved to the South in the late 60s that's when I first started understanding the difference between grilling and smoking.  Still, the line gets blurred.  For example, Santa Maria BBQ out here in CA, a regional favorite and the declared origin of the tri tip cut, is tri tip cooked over an open pit of red oak on a grill that is raised and lowered to control the heat. 

Even smoking has a ton of variations that people use to make distinctions; cold smoking, hot smoking, low n slow, hot n fast, etc.  I'm happy with the distinction between grilling and smoking, even with the blurred lines.   

I'm not so sure . I don't think that knothead of an owner is convinced yet that he is grilling and not bbq ..

 

[thegreatmc]

I worked at a hotel in Rapid City, SD that has a free "BBQ" every night during the Sturgis motorcycle rally and it was just hotdogs and hamburgers. I would make sure to tell the guests it was just grilling by the pool but the manager still insists she is doing a BBQ.

 

[okie362]

I worked at a hotel in Rapid City, SD that has a free "BBQ" every night during the Sturgis motorcycle rally and it was just hotdogs and hamburgers. I would make sure to tell the guests it was just grilling by the pool but the manager still insists she is doing a BBQ.

We call that a cookout and in reality it would only be done for a child's birthday party upon request from the child.  Any other event requires the big smokers to be fired and LOTS of beer,

 

[paul6]

At my house it is called dinner since 75 % of are meals are on a grill or smoker !!!!

 

[thegreatmc]

and LOTS of beer,

If you know anything about the rally, you should know beer is aplenty. That's why they started doing it. Have the party at the hotel do that guests weren't riding drunk. It helps a lot, plus it's a ton of fun.

 

[cal1956]

maybe it would help if the grill makers would label them steak /hamburger grills instead of bbq grills ?

 

[bluewhisper]

Growing up in central Ohio, anything grilled was called barbecue. Nobody smoked; smoked meat was a product that you bought.

 

[cal1956]

that's why I started this thread , to get others to tell what they consider bbq in the different parts of the country/world

  as I understand it, barbeque is a cooking method  that can be traced back to the Incas where meat was slow cooked over low  heat

in order to make a tough piece of meat tender

 

[longhair75]

I never really thought about this.  I am new to smoking, but I have been cooking on a char grill for years.  I never thought to refer to it as barbecue. When I call someone with an invite, I just tell them I am grilling some burgers/brats/steaks and come on over.  I guess I don't really use "barbecue" as a term very often.