Barbecued Pork vs. Pork Barbecue

Well if you're talking colloquial definitions, then you won't find a universal one. If you want the formal definition of the noun then just look at a dictionary :p
 
Growing up in south Arkansas BBQ was pork. Rarely did my folks buy a bbq plate. They didn't bbq but grilled. The best or most expensive bbq was thinly sliced pork served with a spicey, tomato vinegar sauce. You could also buy chopped but it was considered the left overs from the sliced. Most of the fat was sliced from the sliced pork serving only lean meat. The fat was mixed with the chopped.
 
Where you are from and how you are raised is defining your definition. I "grew up" in central California, and BBQ was anything cooked over a pit with charcoal or wood. Burgers, dogs, steaks, brisket, pork, etc. Hot and fast, low and slow, somewhere in between. It was all BBQ. You invited someone over to BBQ and you could expect to eat anything I listed and more.

As I grew older and moved around, I learned that in different regions of the US, BBQ meant different things. Does that mean that what I grew up with wasn't BBQ? No. Does that mean that what I ate in other places like Texas wasn't BBQ? No.

I think the only true definition of BBQ is the act of cooking something, usually outside, over fire fueled by wood or charcoal of some sort.

Your definition may vary...
 
I like to barbecue barbecue on my barbecue at a barbecue.
To clarify my point of view, I have homes in NC and CA and travel everywhere in between judging and tasting "regional" BBQ.
Several good points brought up in this thread. While I understand that in NC, "Barbecue" is pulled or hacked up pork or whole hog period, NC is a very small dot on the big picture of BBQ. In Texas, anything that isn't beef is just a side. In CA, just about anything grilled is called BBQ. Tri Tip is not solely referred to as "BBQ", it's just Tri Tip. The Midwest is all about the sauces , while the south has as many different styles as NC has counties. Some in Memphis will claim that it's all about the dry rubs while just as many will prefer sauce on their meat. So I guess my point, for what it's worth, is I agree with those who say "Barbecue" has many different regional meanings. I also agree, despite my CA upbringing, that proper BBQ is cooked indirectly over low heat and smoke. Regardless of what specific animal it came from.
Just my 2 cents worth
Remain calm and BBQ on...
 
Boshizzle said:
OK, so I'm still needling through the whole definition of barbecue. Yeah, I know, it's futile. But, please bear with me.

Where I come from, pork isn't considered barbecue unless it is pull tender. Around here, pork barbecue is pulled or chopped (we call it minced) and is tender and moist and tasty.

Now, pork barbecue can be cooked either directly over coals at a relatively low temperature or it can be cooked using indirect heat from coals at a relatively low temperature. Relatively low being between 250F to 300F. Of course, smoke from a hardwood or fruit wood is essential.

To me, the distinction between grilled pork and barbecued pork when cooked over direct heat is pretty clear cut. If you cook a pork tenderloin over direct heat from coals until it is a nice medium rare to medium, it's grilled pork. If you cook a pork butt over direct heat from coals until it is pull tender, it's barbecue.

But, when it comes to indirect barbecuing, I think that muddies up the subject. For example, I can cook a pork butt at 275F with indirect heat from coals until it is pull tender and have pork barbecue. But, I can also cook a pork tenderloin using indirect heat from coals and it is done at a medium temperature of doneness and ready to slice.

So, with all that in mind, I am beginning to settle on a distinction between barbecued pork and pork barbecue.

Barbecued pork is cooked using the barbecue method of a relatively low temperature using indirect heat and smoke from hot coals until it is done to at least minimum safe eating temperature which means medium rare to medium to well done and is sliced and it not pull tender.

Pork barbecue, on the other hand, is pork cooked using the barbecue cooking method of relatively low temperature using indirect heat and smoke from coals until it is done to a minimum temperature that allows it to be pulled and tender. Of course, this would also fall into the category of barbecued pork but more specifically pork barbecue because barbecue is always pull tender. Think Venn diagram here.

So, what think, ye, brethren?
Click to expand...


You're SO right! However, what if it's chicken, beef, or worse, something different like salmon? :) No no, not wanting controversy this morning...

Good morning sir! We're still looking for that book.


Hey, you're a researcher type-of-guy, how did the nonsense of low n slow being 220 come to pass?
 
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Boshizzle said:
I disagree. As far as the verb "barbecue" goes, that is well defined and well documented. If there is confusion about that, it's due to ignorance, not regional differences. The noun "barbecue" is where the confusion comes in. There are some people in this country that call grilled hot dogs "barbecue."

Now, I don't know about the UK, and, actually, I don't care as it's outside the scope of my definition. But, in this country, a "barbecue" where hot dogs are served isn't a barbecue and has only become so through ignorant writers and marketers. There is no hot dog barbecue tradition in the U.S. and never has been. The same is true of hamburgers.

So, the real question is "What is barbecue the noun?"
Click to expand...

"There is no hot dog barbecue tradition in the U.S. and never has been. The same is true of hamburgers."

Here is where the problem occurs.........there is the tradition of dawgs & burgers being "barbeque"......not lower heat, indirect, the really good stuff we all know & love, not THE noun you're after, but "A Tradition" just the same......
Not centuries, but decades old, starting just after WWII when the vets came home, bought homes & ended up wanting to DO something with that backyard they now owned......
Now, before propane BBQ's ( noun, the machine itself) became all the rage, there was braziers......open pit, direct heat, sling it on there & hope it didn't burn too bad kinda machines.....the Middle Class then had an 'in' to open fire cooked meat........not just the specialist purveyors from mostly the South.
This was a start of a tradition of many, many more people doing it on their own.......

If you want to place blame on someone for really making this accelerate, call out Geo. Stephens, inventor of
" Covered, damper-controlled cooking.....IF YOU PLEASE !!! "

The Weber.......that really made the faux "burgers & dawgs" tradition skyrocket, he along with contemporaries like Hilton Meigs & a few others made all that available.......to millions of people.......
Sure, it takes (or better yet, steals) the name from the grandfather of the cooking style, imitation being the sincerest form of flattery & all, but in attempting to be helpful, I believe finding where the road farked might help clarify the issue......


Now, it seems unfortunately, I'm a part of the ongoing problem.....

"Now, a brisket cooked to pull tender is barbecued beef and beef barbecue. A tri-tip or bottom round barbecued to medium rare is barbecued beef but we would never call it barbecue."

More than half the time, and being from California, I cook tri-tip to pull tender & while it is barbecued beef and beef barbecue, I call it tri-tip.............


.
 
Brew n Que said:
Ok, let me stir the pot a bit.



So, what you're saying is that a UDS doesn't make proper BBQ since it is a direct low heat methed? :mrgreen:
Click to expand...

Not at all Brew. By indirect I don't necessarily mean an offset cooker. The heat source in a UDS is well below the meat as in almost any vertical smoker. Same as on a "Santa Maria" style grill.
 
1buckie said:
Now, before propane BBQ's ( noun, the machine itself) became all the rage, there was braziers......open pit, direct heat, sling it on there & hope it didn't burn too bad kinda machines.....the Middle Class then had an 'in' to open fire cooked meat........not just the specialist purveyors from mostly the South.
.
Click to expand...

But this is a mis-use of the term. The term for these are grills. This (above) is grilling, not barbecuing... People across the nation have been mis-using the term "We're gonna have a barbecue this weekend" are confusing that with "We're gonna have a cookout this weekend". They're not the same. Just because many people use them as synonyms doesn't mean they're actually interchangable or mean the same thing; they dont.
 
The terms get confusing when you mix in regional differences. Especially the Carolinas where they have a wackadoodle use of "barbecue".

Personally I consider anything cooked over wood or charcoal, whether direct or indirect to be "barbecued" if it was cooked anywhere in the 200F-350F range. Below 200F you're getting into "smoked" territory, and below 100F it's "cold smoked". Above 350F or so you're grilling if cooking with direct heat and roasting if it's indirect (or baking if it's a bread product).

So you can have smoked pork (like bacon or ham), barbecued pork (pulled shoulder, spare ribs, money muscle slices, whole hog, etc.), grilled pork (pork chops), or roasted pork (roasted stuffed tenderloin). Same goes for beef, chicken, lamb, goat, etc.

You can also apply those different techniques to the same piece of meat. Take a pork loin for example. You can salt cure it then put it in your smoker at 160F and you get Canadian bacon. You can put rub on it and put it in your smoker at 250F until it hits an internal temp of 150F and have super delicious, tender barbecued loin slices. You can slice it raw and toss it on the grill at 450F and have grilled pork chops. Or you can butterfly it, stuff it with an herbed bready stuffing, tie it with twine, and roast it indirect at 400F for a stuffed pork roast.
 
Boshizzle said:
So, the real question is "What is barbecue the noun?"
Click to expand...

I've never barbecued a noun. Do you foil it?

:becky:

Around here there are at least two definitions of barbecue as a noun...

1. I am going to a barbecue, meaning a gathering where food is cooked outdoors and is typically held outdoors

2. I am going to eat some barbecue, meaning just about anything with barbecue sauce on it. The general population doesn't make a distinction between grilling and smoking (or barbecuing). They think of anything with barbecue sauce on it as barbecue.

And...

Is it "barbecue" or "barbeque"? :twisted:
 
Lake Dogs said:
But this is a mis-use of the term. The term for these are grills. This (above) is grilling, not barbecuing... People across the nation have been mis-using the term "We're gonna have a barbecue this weekend" are confusing that with "We're gonna have a cookout this weekend". They're not the same. Just because many people use them as synonyms doesn't mean they're actually interchangable or mean the same thing; they dont.
Click to expand...


Agreed, and that's why I brought that up....

How to convince millions of people, a large number of whom have passed away from old age, to change their terminology?
 
There are several regional dialects in the US that all pronounce the word "OIL" differently. Who is correct?
One of the most profound movie lines of all times described what is going on here. Burt Reynolds to Sally Field in Smokey and the Bandit after discussing what is common knowledge in NY vs GA. "It depends a lot on where you're standing at the time as to how dumb you are."
Is it really that important what we call what, as long as it's good?
 
Boshizzle said:
What I am drawing is a distinction between the cooking technique and the product. Barbecued meat vs. barbecue. Both are cooked using the barbecue method but only one is the food called barbecue.

Barbecue = meat that is cooked until pull tender
Barbecued meat = meat that is cooked using the barbecue method regardless of tenderness
Click to expand...


A slightly different description for me...
I use the term 'smoked' for sliced meats; I.E. applewood smoked porkloin, pecan smoked salmon, hickory smoked prime rib... etc.
 
Gore said:
I know what you and I agree with you, but that depends on where I am at the time as these definitions are largely regional. There are no universal definitions. As long as they are clear in your mind, that is most important. If you know the local definitions or those of the group you are talking with, that is even better. :thumb:
Click to expand...

This is the best explanation I've heard to date, I've had a hard time seeing the forest for the trees (of multiple versions of 'correct' explanations). :doh: Barbeque has been around longer than the typical regional explanations. I think a regionalist will not secure world acceptance their particular doctrine is the only correct one -- in fact, I doubt they will secure majority American acceptance their particular doctrine is the only correct one. I'm okay with a region defining barbeque for itself -- which is what appears to the foundation of this argument given the varied interpretations and understandings throughout the globe and time. The wonderful differences in regional barbeque are worth celebrating, I hear entire online forums are dedicated to exactly that! :clap2:

I wonder what resident aliens call barbeque. :bolt:
 
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