American barbecue and smoked meat is a cooking method using live fire and smoke; in US cuisine, meat is roasted or smoked over wood or charcoal at low temperatures for several hours.
2 articles, 1 video, 1 book · about 32 min of reading and viewing
Smoking cooks using smoke around 116 to 138 °C (240 to 280 °F) and takes longer than grilling. At low temperatures used for smoking, meat takes several hours to reach the desired internal temperature. Taíno people roasted meat on a wooden framework resting on sticks above a fire, and the flames and smoke enveloped the meat, giving it a certain flavor. Spaniards called the framework a barbacoa, linking the Taíno practice to the word behind barbecue. Kansas City barbecue is known for slow-smoked meats, including pork, beef, chicken, turkey, lamb, sausage, and sometimes fish, seasoned with a dry rub and served with a thick, sweet, tomato-based sauce made from brown sugar, molasses, and tomatoes.
Across the Deep South, large smokers cook meat indirectly over long periods using local woods. Indirect cooking means a firebox is fed small amounts of wood regularly, and heat and smoke pass into the chamber where the meat sits; the methods stay largely the same, generally.
Chef and owner Shuai Wang combines Chinatown-style dishes inspired by Flushing, New York, with Carolina-style barbecue and smoke at his North Charleston restaurant. The video relates to American barbecue by showing a Chinese-influenced take on smoked meat.
Meathead by Meathead Goldwyn focuses on understanding how fire interacts with food in barbecuing and grilling, explaining why that science matters for succulent results.
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