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Introduction

Barbecue, also known as BBQ , Q , ’que, and yum delicious, is a way of life for the lucky few. I am certainly one. I wrote this book to share my love of this uniquely American cooking technique.

I grew up with barbecue, so for me, it’s a very familiar topic. But even if you’re just starting out, this book is ideal for you. I walk you through the tools, tips, and techniques you need to adopt this wonderful hobby that I chose to make my profession.

The barbecue life is about family and friends and sharing with them your love of cooking and good food. Because this style of cooking takes a long time, it gives you the opportunity to spend time with the people you love. True lovers of the barbecue lifestyle also embrace sharing with others and passing the knowledge they’ve gained along the way to the next generation — which is why I wrote this book. I’m not writing to preach to you about my life experiences and accolades but rather to share with you a world that has brought me great joy in the hopes that it’ll do the same for you.

Barbecue is for everyone, and this book is no different. Barbecue brings together people of all walks of life. Embrace the differences in other people’s barbecue, and discover your own style through trial and error. Your heart will lead you in the right direction. Now get out there and get to smoking!

About This Book

BBQ For Dummies offers my expert take on all things barbecue, from how to find a grill or smoker to the tools you need to methods for preparing the meat to delicious recipes for actually cooking the meat (and some vegetables, too).

In this book, I give you the basics: the temperatures you need to know, the cuts, the cookers, the techniques, and the tools. Use this book as a handy guide to getting started in barbecue. This book is a beginner’s guide, but it also has some topics for the more advanced, so even if you think you know everything there is to know about barbecue, this book is for you!

Cooking barbecue isn’t rocket science, but it can be a personal struggle to be patient when smoking. In fact, being patient may be the hardest part. Don’t let your enthusiasm for what you’re cooking lead you to ruin your cook through lack of patience. If you follow the techniques and temperature guides in this book, you’ll soon find your groove and be the pit star you were meant to be.

I’ve been cooking barbecue for over 35 years. Some things I was taught, and some things I learned on my own. In this book, I pass that knowledge on to you. When you finish with this book, it can still act as a guide for the temperature and techniques that will bring you back to the basics of great barbecue.

Here are a few ground rules relating to the recipes:

 All oven and cooking temperatures are measured in degrees Fahrenheit; flip to Appendix B for information on converting temperatures to Celsius.

 All eggs are large.

 All onions are yellow (unless otherwise noted), but feel free to use Vidalia or white.

 For measuring purposes, dry ingredients are lightly spooned into a standard U.S. measuring cup or spoon and then leveled with a knife. Liquids are measured in glass, standard U.S. measuring cups. Check out Appendix A if you need help converting to metric measurements.

 All sugar is granulated.

 All flour is all-purpose.

 The term lightly browned indicates when the food just begins to change color.

 All herbs are dried unless specified as fresh.

 Lemon and lime juices are freshly squeezed.

 All ground pepper is freshly ground black pepper.

 References to percent daily values or limits on nutrients are based on a daily intake of 2,000 calories.

 Recipes marked with the tomato icon () are vegetarian.

Anything marked with the Technical Stuff icon you can safely ignore. You can also ignore the stories in the sidebars — they’re interesting but not essential to understanding the topic at hand.

Finally, within this book, you may note that some web addresses break across two lines of text. If you’re reading this book in print and want to visit one of these web pages, simply key in the web address exactly as it’s noted in the text, pretending as though the line break doesn’t exist. If you’re reading this as an e-book, you’ve got it easy — just click the web address to be taken directly to the web page.

Foolish Assumptions

My basic assumption about you, the reader: You want to know more than you do about the low-and-slow cooking method that produces mouthwateringly delicious barbecue.

I also assume you’re familiar with cooking in general, but for the purposes of this book, I assume you know very little about cooking barbecue. I also assume that you’re ready and able to develop the patience cooking good barbecue requires — remember, low and sloooow.

Icons Used in This Book

The little images in the margins draw your attention to relevant info. Here are the icons in this book:

Actions that can make your barbecue life a little easier get the Tip icon.

The Remember icon highlights points to keep in mind as you hone your barbecue skills.

In cooking barbecue, you build fires, and fires can be dangerous. Pay attention to text marked with this icon, which tells you what to avoid.

The rare Technical Stuff icon points to information you can skip. The text here explores technicalities that aren’t essential to know.

Beyond the Book

In addition to what you’re reading right now, this product comes with a free access-anywhere Cheat Sheet that includes info on barbecue styles in the United States and barbecue competitions. To get this Cheat Sheet, go to www.dummies.com and type BBQ For Dummies Cheat Sheet in the Search box.

Where to Go from Here

You can read the chapters of this book in any order you like. Each chapter stands alone in giving you the vital information you need for that topic. Feel free to bounce around and explore what particularly interests you at the moment. There is no particular right way to learn this information, but it’s all in here for your quick and easy reference.

If you’re a complete novice and just have an interest in barbecue, start with Chapter 4 on grills and smokers and decide how big or small you want to go. Then browse Chapter 3, the tools section, to make sure that you have what you need to get started.

For the amateur who already has a setup and has started experimenting, you may want to start with meat cuts to get a better understanding of what’s out there to choose from. The new cut you hadn’t heard of or didn’t know how to use may become your new favorite.

Jump around! Look for the areas where you feel you need improvement. The book is not linear — it’s a reference for you to keep near your smoker.

Finally, keep one very important thing in mind: Have fun! Barbecue is meant to bring people together. True members of the barbecue family understand that keeping secrets about methods or having arguments over techniques are counter to the core of barbecue. Enjoy the cook, and work to bring others into the world we love so much!