Cost
A smoker should be a long term investment. As a general rule, buy the best smoker you can afford and justify. Here are some considerations.

Fuel
If you just don’t have time to maintain a charcoal or wood fire for long burns, consider gas or electric. Smoke is generated by heating shavings or sawdust. You will sacrifice the authentic wood smoke flavor and the feeling of pride and accomplishment derived from managing a fire properly for a long time to produce outstanding barbecue.

Good-One Patio Smoker/Grills are portable and easy to use. Charcoal will give some smoke flavor which may be supplemented by adding chunks of wood during the burn. The cheaper water smokers require a lot of fire tending and are usually modified to improve performance.

The Good-One Smoker/Grill is more expensive but is well built, durable, and controllable, holds temperature for a long time and is assembled and ready to Smoke right off the sales floor. Kettles and barrel smokers can be used but special precautions and techniques are required to maintain the proper temperature and avoid flare-ups.

Capacity
Are you just going to cook for family and a few friends, or have large parties or even do some catering?

Portability
This is how easy it is to move the smoker around, all Good-One Patio models come with 10? pneumatic tire for easy portability.

Metal Thickness and Quality
Check the thickness of the metal construction, also look for Smokers that are welded together not bolted. The Cheaper the smoker the more bolts to hold it together, thus causing heat loss among the bolt joints.

Temperatures and Smoke
Temperature is really what distinguishes Smoking from other forms of cooking with fire. Smoking is a form of smoke cooking but smoke cooking (which includes higher temperatures) is not necessarily barbecuing. You may use a grill to make barbecue but it is not grilling (also a high temperature cooking method). Cold smoking is done at temperatures of less than 120º F.

Actually, there are only two rules in Smoking on Good-One Smoker/Grill barbecues…

1. Low and slow: Long cooking times of four to twenty four hours, depending upon the meat, at temperatures ranging from 200º to 275º F. measured at the meat level allows tough meat to get tender without drying out. 225º to 250º is ideal.

2. Keep your smoke sweet: Stale or acrid smoke results in a strong, bitter and unpleasant flavor.

Keep a small but active fire
Maintain airflow through the smoker. Keep the upper spinner open 1 ½ turns and regulate the fire with the bottom spinners Do not let the fire smolder or starve for air.

Use high quality wood for smoke.

Wood should be well seasoned, only use green wood if you really know what you are doing.

Use only hardwoods for smoke. Hickory, oak and cherry are fine traditional woods and easy for beginners to use. Avoid wood from conifers or needle bearing trees such as pine.

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Most people install barbecue smokers at home because they want to make the food special and nothing else can help in doing this more than a barbecue smoker. When food is cooked in a barbecue smoker, the flavor that gets imparted to the food is nothing less than magical.

So whether it is meat, fish or even vegetables, a barbecue smoker is what will get your guests to smack their lips!

Before purchasing a barbecue smoker there are certain fundamental things that you should know. The way a barbecue smoker works is essentially very similar to that of a barbecue grill, the only difference being that in the former a special closeable lid is used to trap the smoke emanating from the smoker, and it is in this smoke that the food gets cooked.

On the market, you will find two kinds of barbecue smokers namely, a direct barbecue smoker and an indirect one. In a direct barbecue smoker, there is a single unit that holds the charcoal together with scented wood chips.

The food is put inside the smoker where it cooks in the scented smoke and this process lends a different flavor to the food. The indirect barbecue smoker functions much like the direct one but in this case a separate chamber holds the charcoal and wood pieces and the food kept in the grill unit receives the smoke indirectly.

Smokers can again be differentiated between gas and electric barbecue smokers. Whatever features a barbecue smoker is endowed with, it can be used for both personal and commercial purposes. The kind of barbecue that one wants to buy should necessarily depend on the person’s skill in using cooking equipment.

If you are not very conversant with the ways of a barbecue smoker, then, ideally, you should opt for a water smoker. This type of smoker is best suited for home environment and is actually very popular due to its being relatively inexpensive.

Another high point about a water barbecue smoker is that it produces moisture throughout the process of cooking; though getting it to generate heat is difficult. For barbecue experts electric barbecue smokers are just perfect. Though they are more expensive, the advantages of using an electric smoker are many, one of them being, not needing to light a fire.

Using an electric smoker also gives you more peace of mind since you do not have to put much thought to maintain it. The last of the variety of barbecue smokers is the log barbecue smoker. This is created only for the use of the superbly skilled. This smoker manages to impart the true essence of smoke to the food being cooked.

When you buy a barbecue smoker an important thing to be remembered is that the product you are investing in should be fool-proof and that it is your duty to maintain it!

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Since the Stone Age, man has been perfecting the art of cooking using a direct flame. If you were to ask someone about the history of barbecue, you would most likely get a response similar to the statement above. However, that would not be quite right, as there is a fundamental difference between simply cooking with a flame and having a barbecue.

To find the derivation of the word barbeque, we have to go back to the West Indian island of Hispaniola in the seventeenth century to begin the search for this word. The local Arawakan Indians had a method of erecting a frame of wooden sticks over a fire in order to dry meat. In their language, Taino, they called it a barbacta, which Spanish explorers borrowed.

This word seems also to have been applied by Europeans to sleeping platforms raised off the ground to reduce the risk of snakebite, presumably without the fire underneath. That extraordinary seaman William Dampier was the first person to use the word in this variant sense, in his New Voyage round the World of 1699: “And lay there all night, upon our Borbecu’s, or frames of sticks, raised about 3 foot from the ground”.

If you do not add some sauce, to the direct flame method, you are grilling, not having a barbecue. To truly barbecue is to baste and slow cook meat 5 or 6 hours at a low temperature (around 200 degrees), over wood or charcoal.

Today when you think of going to a barbecue, you may conjure up the idea of a hamburger or steak, so big and juicy, it melts in your mouth. Alternatively, perhaps a hot dog grilled to perfection with all the toppings. The phrase barbecue has evolved to mean either the meat served or the social event where the meat served has been specially prepared to represent a Barbecue taste. Regardless of which area of the US you choose as your favorite for barbecue, the barbecue is an American tradition (like for example American fast food culture), handed down from generation to generation.

While there is no question that the barbecue is an American delicacy, there are many different theories as to where its origins lie. The state of Texas, Virginia, the Carolinas, or Georgia, each area has its own definition and history of Barbecue. It may well be that each area has its own rightful claim to the barbecue history.

And there would be no BBQ without a Texas barbecue sauce, which is thick and sweet with a rich tomato flavour. Texas sauce also uses a dry-rub mixture of seasonings, which is applied to the beef, and then the meat is hung over the BBQ to slow cook – barbeque rubs. The southeast barbecue sauce is a thinner sauce, with more of a vinegary taste. Their meat of choice is likely to be pork. The method used here is to use a pit or enclosure to concentrate the cooking heat and smoke around the meat whilst it is being prepared.

Almost every family has their own unique taste and method used to get just the right barbecue. At your next barbecue just casually ask, Do you know the difference between barbecue and grilling? Or, where did the barbecue originate? Of course, it may depend upon the number of drinks you have served as to the answers you get. But the responses are sure to be varied and interesting.

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When barbecuing in your backyard, be sure that you’re 5 to 10 feet away from your house or any material that can potentially catch fire. Also, be sure the grill is stable and is away from children or pets that may bump into it. It would also be a good idea to have a water supply nearby like a garden hose.

Choose a location for your BBQ grill that is away from trees, leaves, brush and overhanging limbs. Do not setup your gill in a high traffic area where someone may accidentally brush up against the hot grill. If you live in an apartment building with a balcony or rooftop or any other outdoor space, be sure to consult with your building administrator (or in some instances, your local fire department) regarding specific restrictions. Generally, using charcoal and gas grills indoors or anywhere above the first story is prohibited so you may want to consider electric grills instead for your barbecuing efforts.

If you live anywhere that football is played, there is a type of BBQ cookout that is almost a religion. That of course is what is known as tailgating. The type of cookers and what is on the grill varies everywhere from propane hotplates to barrel smokers and from hotdogs and sausages to slow cooked BBQ brisket and all types of garden seasonings. Just make sure that you setup away from anything flammable. Start your barbecuing early enough so that your fire is out by the time the game is to begin or is to the point that it can be doused.

Another great place to barbecue is in a campsite. Barbecuing food over a campfire is definitely one of those practical yet cozy things you can do. Just be sure that you are at least 15 feet away from your tent and other camping gears.

Protect yourself by using the correct BBQ utensils such as oven mitts, thongs and a good spatula. Avoid wearing loose clothing while near the grill. This article was about places to grill in the great outdoors, but what if that’s just not possible for you. Stay tuned to the next article which will delve into what you can do in the oven to make the best indoor BBQ.

P.S. Can order takeaway food online be better? Who knows, but even if you resort to it, better know how to do this smartly.

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Competitors come from fifty smaller cookoffs sponsored by the main contest. It even runs a series of training seminars for potential barbeque judges. Good barbeque, they say, is all about being tender, without being too mushy, and being smoky, without being overpowering. Ribs commonly come “wet,” that is, with barbeque sauce of some kind, usually mild and sweet in Memphis and basted on before and after cooking, or “dry,” (m-m-m, bbq dry rubs) with a dry rub of herbs and spices that is applied during or right after cooking. Regardless of which style is favored, the taste of the meat should come through – this is a major difference from something lathered with barbeque sauce and put in the oven for a few hours. In Missouri, there is not one, but two predominant styles of barbeque, both of which favor beef, which is not surprising given the history of both Kansas City and St. Louis as “cattle towns.” They share a tomato-based sauce that is added after cooking, and can be replicate by mixing ketchup, brown sugar, mustard, and Worcestershire sauce. Interestingly, Missouri’s Ozarks are the source of almost half of the charcoal briquettes produced in the United States.

Kansas City, like Memphis, has a large number of barbeque restaurants and hosts several annual competitions. However, it is particularly famous for its sauces, which are thick, rich, tangy, and spicy. The sauce is based on during the last few moments of cooking, and more can be added thereafter. Dry rub, too, is common on Kansas City style barbeque. In St. Louis style barbeque, ribs are the flagship dish. These famous spare ribs are a rack of ribs with the chin bone and brisket bone removed. They are cooked with a sauce that is less vinegary, tangier and thinner than its cross-state equivalent, closer, in fact, to that served in Memphis. Whether sweet or spicy, dry or wet, slow cooked or grilled over an open flame, barbeque is one of the most diverse of all American foods, and one to which many cities lay claim.

Surely you can easily order takeaway online with a great BBQ, but nothing will change it to be better than one done within the reach of your mouthwater.

Each has its own unique character, so get some bread and crackers, or some Cole slaw, or BBQ beans, (all traditional barbeque side dishes) and give them a try. The most important is to understand that barbeque rubs beauty is limited by the imagination only.

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