In the United States, the word "barbecue" has different meanings based on region. The U.S. Department of agriculture defines barbecue as meat cooked with smoke and indirect heat, but there is much more to it than that, did you think this is a cake recipe we are making! There are differences in sauces, marinades, rubs, and even choice of wood fuel. For example at an outdoor barbecue in California might feature grilled tri-tips (a small triangular cut of beef from the bottom sirloin). But a barbecue in Tennessee probably means pulled pork barbecue with sauce. Meats used in barbecue are usually pork, beef, and chicken. Sauces range from mustard to heavy tomato-based to meat marinades.
There are even marked variations in the kind of wood used to smoke the meat. Some of the favorites are oak, walnut, hickory, mesquite, and pecan. Barbecue restaurants everywhere pride themselves on their own particular blend of meat, sauce, and wood. The best barbecue is juicy, tender, full of flavor, and usually messy. But the mess is worth it because few things taste as good as well-prepared barbecue.
There may be no one "standard" way of making barbecue, but whatever method you choose should follow these guidelines for the best results. Buy fresh meat of the highest quality you can find and afford. If you use frozen meat, it will tend to be drier. If you are using a barbecue pit, season and smoke the meat slowly over your choice of wood until a meat thermometer reads 160 degrees Fahrenheit. Sometimes this takes over 12 hours. Check the temperature of each piece of meat as you remove it from the pit. As soon as the thermometer reads 160 degrees, you should remove it from the pit. It will continue to cook for a little longer.
But what if you don't have a pit for making barbecue? Well, with a little ingenuity a standard barbecue grill can make some really good barbecue ribs (baby back ribs or spareribs). You'll get something closer to real pit flavor if you use a charcoal grill. Fortunately, charcoal grills cost very little. The key is you don't want the grill to be too hot when you add the ribs. To keep the temperature low enough for the ribs to cook slowly and not be licked by the flames, you put the coals on one side. With a gas grill, you turn on your back burner, and put the ribs in front. This is how the meat gets cooked indirectly. If you're using a gas grill, you want the temperature to be about 260 degrees Fahrenheit. Set a pot of water on the grill before you shut it to help the meat stay moist. You can do this with a charcoal grill, too.
At a temperature of 260 degrees, spareribs will need about 3 ½ hours to cook, and baby back ribs will need between 2 and 2 ½ hours. During this time, turn the ribs at least twice over and twice back to front to accommodate the uneven heating that is typical in a grill. When the ribs are close to being done, brush all sides with a thin layer of sauce, close the grill, wait five minutes and repeat four or five times.
After you remove the ribs from the grill, put them in a covered dish, or cover with foil and let sit for a few minutes. Then all that's left to do is enjoy the messy deliciousness!