I live in Minnesota. If you aren’t grilling in January, winter wins, and you might as well move to Iowa and let the Canadians have your home. Plus, it lifts spirits in the darkest days.
BBQ, Smoker, Firepit… If it involves flame ANYTIME is the right time (preferably with an ‘adult’ beverage in hand, or if you live in CO with… oh, never mind…).
I know I probably shouldn’t have to ask since Meh is in Dallas, but are we talking real barbecue? In my little corner of the US, grilling and BBQ are two entirely different things.
@LaVikinga
Grilling is for the casual. A BBQ fixation is another level. (TX). People who are into it either have pits or smokers. Both are year-round activities.
The real BBQ people are close to insane - in a good way. Lots of debates about different woods. Lots of trade secrets.
@f00l We have a gas grill, a charcoal grill, and a smoker. Different foods, different applications. BBQ is a day long affair, but if you’re doing a brisket, it’s well worth it.
Speaking of brisket, I think some of the best I’ve had in a long time was at this dive in Dallas. Maple & Motor. Asked for a basket with pieces and ends instead of a sandwich and was pretty tickled they obliged with all of the good stuff.
@LaVikinga
That’s a sandwich and hamburger shop that does a few BBQ sandwiches right?
I don’t know Dallas BBQ that well, but never regret a visit to Sonny Bryan’s. There’s a location very near the place you visited (on Inwood).
In FW, Angelo’s, Cousin’s, or Railhead are serious for starters. There are others.
For the aficionado, all the state takes this seriously, and will fight over it - by lore, the most you-don’t-want-to-leave-this-restaurant-ever places are reputed to be in the Hill Country - the small towns going west from I35, west from the Georgetown/Austin/SanAntonio line for 100-250 miles or so. Fredericksburg is a central point for the BBQ hunt.
Texas Monthly is one arbiter who writes this up, and also the local city mags. Texas Monthly takes this seriously - any other state that claims good BBQ is welcome to a friendly rivalry and a shot at 2nd place.
The rest is googling. Big media usually misses many fine tiny places. In the small towns, hit a gas station or coffee shop or DQ and ask - if they start to swell with pride and they wanna brag for an hour, you have a lucky find.
I’m sure some fortunate bastard somewhere must study this culture at the PhD level.
@SSteve Down here, people take the difference between the two VERY seriously. One grills steaks, burgers & hot dogs. Barbecue requires time, smoke, rub, and love.
@LaVikinga
Here casual people mangle the two words and no one seems to mind.
And it’s fine to do the real BBQ and be decent if relaxed at it, and have a great time.
But if you mention BBQ and the utter even one syllable of self-praise without a self-deprecating disclaimer, it’s on.
if you brag, you are toast - unless you’ve already placed in a few local competitions. Your competition will blow you away from the table and off the map and invite you to permanent exile in OK.
Now, nothing much is bad about OK food, esp steak, tho those thieving bastards do insist on recruiting in Texas for football players so it’s hard to talk nicely about them. But no-one wants to have to go to OK because of a BBQ failure. Such shame.
Texans tend to do more beef than pork, but suit yourself. As for technique and terminology, I yield to the experts. I just know how to find some good places. Sometime I think a car just follows the aroma.
Just yesterday I took to the grill for some hamburgers during lunch and some country boneless pork ribs for dinner. Today we are using the smoker box on the grill to smoke us a Black Friday turkey! The cheapest of all the turkeys.
We have grilled steak outside in a snow storm. Not the preferred method but there is nothing like sizzling hot steak right off the grill in the middle of winter.
Here in the desert, New Year’s is often shorts weather, and the gaming group often grills brats and ribs for our annual New Years Avalon Hill Advanced Civilization game. A true gaming dinosaur, takes 9 or 10 players 9 or 10 hours to really play it. One of my favorite games but we only play it once a year. Attention spans just aren’t what they used to be.
That’s not really a thing we do.
you always forget the ‘never, don’t do it, no how, not me’ answer
Really only has to make it into the 40’s…
And dark is OK.
Whenever I want BBQ
/giphy BBQ
wait- you stop? unless it’s a hurricane- I’m bbq’n year 'round.
with margarita in-hand.
/giphy I grill no matter what the weather’s like
I live in Minnesota. If you aren’t grilling in January, winter wins, and you might as well move to Iowa and let the Canadians have your home. Plus, it lifts spirits in the darkest days.
@simplersimon …of which there are plenty in MN in the winter. I should know, I lived in Int’l Falls long enough…
You all understand that the grill is on fire, right? And that fire is like a basic source of heat?
What a silly survey - isn’t the only answer obvious?
Why would I cook outside when I have a gourmet kitchen and a fully stocked bar inside?
@ThatsHeadly Cuz BBQ ain’t made in no ‘gurmay’ kitchen
@ThatsHeadly
So that you can have a fully stocked gourmet kitchen and bar outside also.
Equipping both kitchens/bars and using them are among the better “first world problems” to resolve.
BBQ, Smoker, Firepit… If it involves flame ANYTIME is the right time (preferably with an ‘adult’ beverage in hand, or if you live in CO with… oh, never mind…).
Somewhere I have a photo of my wife grilling in the snow but I can’t dig it up right this second.
I know I probably shouldn’t have to ask since Meh is in Dallas, but are we talking real barbecue? In my little corner of the US, grilling and BBQ are two entirely different things.
@LaVikinga
Grilling is for the casual. A BBQ fixation is another level. (TX). People who are into it either have pits or smokers. Both are year-round activities.
The real BBQ people are close to insane - in a good way. Lots of debates about different woods. Lots of trade secrets.
http://www.lonestarbarbecue.com/2016-events/
@f00l We have a gas grill, a charcoal grill, and a smoker. Different foods, different applications. BBQ is a day long affair, but if you’re doing a brisket, it’s well worth it.
Speaking of brisket, I think some of the best I’ve had in a long time was at this dive in Dallas. Maple & Motor. Asked for a basket with pieces and ends instead of a sandwich and was pretty tickled they obliged with all of the good stuff.
@LaVikinga Around here we use the terms interchangeably. Sometimes it’s nice to be the recipient of pedantry for a change.
@LaVikinga
That’s a sandwich and hamburger shop that does a few BBQ sandwiches right?
I don’t know Dallas BBQ that well, but never regret a visit to Sonny Bryan’s. There’s a location very near the place you visited (on Inwood).
In FW, Angelo’s, Cousin’s, or Railhead are serious for starters. There are others.
For the aficionado, all the state takes this seriously, and will fight over it - by lore, the most you-don’t-want-to-leave-this-restaurant-ever places are reputed to be in the Hill Country - the small towns going west from I35, west from the Georgetown/Austin/SanAntonio line for 100-250 miles or so. Fredericksburg is a central point for the BBQ hunt.
Texas Monthly is one arbiter who writes this up, and also the local city mags. Texas Monthly takes this seriously - any other state that claims good BBQ is welcome to a friendly rivalry and a shot at 2nd place.
The rest is googling. Big media usually misses many fine tiny places. In the small towns, hit a gas station or coffee shop or DQ and ask - if they start to swell with pride and they wanna brag for an hour, you have a lucky find.
I’m sure some fortunate bastard somewhere must study this culture at the PhD level.
@f00l @LaVikinga One of the best burgers I have had anywhere was at a DFW-area gas station.
@SSteve Down here, people take the difference between the two VERY seriously. One grills steaks, burgers & hot dogs. Barbecue requires time, smoke, rub, and love.
@f00l @G1 Gotta say some of the best food (as well as some of the worst) has been in hole in the wall places usually in the wrong part of town.
@LaVikinga
Here casual people mangle the two words and no one seems to mind.
And it’s fine to do the real BBQ and be decent if relaxed at it, and have a great time.
But if you mention BBQ and the utter even one syllable of self-praise without a self-deprecating disclaimer, it’s on.
if you brag, you are toast - unless you’ve already placed in a few local competitions. Your competition will blow you away from the table and off the map and invite you to permanent exile in OK.
Now, nothing much is bad about OK food, esp steak, tho those thieving bastards do insist on recruiting in Texas for football players so it’s hard to talk nicely about them. But no-one wants to have to go to OK because of a BBQ failure. Such shame.
@f00l About this time tomorrow night, I expect to be pullin’ my pork.
One of these days I just might get it right.
I’ll keep tryin’ until I do, I s’pose.
(am I doing it right?)
@G1
.
Texans tend to do more beef than pork, but suit yourself. As for technique and terminology, I yield to the experts. I just know how to find some good places. Sometime I think a car just follows the aroma.
If you really want some low-down:
http://www.texasmonthly.com/list/the-50-best-bbq-joints-in-the-world/
http://www.texasmonthly.com/category/topics/barbecue/
http://www.texasmonthly.com/food/the-top-25-new-and-improved-bbq-joints-in-texas/
http://www.tmbbq.com/
There are decades of archives on that topic. Can be fun to go they them.
Just yesterday I took to the grill for some hamburgers during lunch and some country boneless pork ribs for dinner. Today we are using the smoker box on the grill to smoke us a Black Friday turkey! The cheapest of all the turkeys.
Never stop, year round rain snow or shine.
Mother nature cannot come in between myself and my burger.
We have grilled steak outside in a snow storm. Not the preferred method but there is nothing like sizzling hot steak right off the grill in the middle of winter.
It never occurred to me people may not grill in the winter.
I use a snow shovel as my first utensil for grilling, at least once a year. Smoker runs year 'round as well.
Here in the desert, New Year’s is often shorts weather, and the gaming group often grills brats and ribs for our annual New Years Avalon Hill Advanced Civilization game. A true gaming dinosaur, takes 9 or 10 players 9 or 10 hours to really play it. One of my favorite games but we only play it once a year. Attention spans just aren’t what they used to be.