What is the correct spelling of “barbecue”?

Barbecue, barbique, barbeque, Bar-B-Cue, Bar-B-Que, Bar-B-Q, BBQ, Cue and just plain Q…take your pick, everyone has their favorite spelling, and none are certain!

Noah Webster's dictionary insists that the one and only correct spelling is barbecue.  But, as former US president, Andrew Jackson, noted, "It's a damned poor mind that can think of only one way to spell a word."

World’s Oldest BBQ?

In 2009, archaeological excavations at a 31,000 year old site in the Czech Republic discovered a cooking pit with the remains of 2 Mammoths along with other animal remains.  Archaeology magazine (Sept/Oct 2009)

So what is authentic barbecue, anyway?

The United States Department of Agriculture says "barbecue is any meat cooked by the direct action of heat resulting from the burning of hardwood or the hot coals for a sufficient period to assume the 'usual characteristics' including the formation of a brown crust and a weight loss of at least thirty percent."

Barbecue cannot be cooked in a pot, in the oven, by boiling or steaming, or with heat from gas or electricity.  Restaurant chains (like Tony Romas) do not cook barbecue, instead, they bake or steam their meat. Their ribs might be moist and tender, but they do not have the taste of real wood-smoked barbecue.  

What's the difference between barbequing and grilling?

Barbecue is really the opposite of grilling.  It is a slow, indirect, low-heat method of cooking that uses smoldering wood to simultaneously smoke and cook the food at temperatures between 180 and 250 degrees Fahrenheit.  

Examples of cuts of meat that are good for barbecue are the tougher, larger and less expensive cuts, such as brisket, pork shoulder, ribs or even the whole damn pig.  Smoldering wood generates smoke that gives barbecue its wonderful sweet and smoky flavor.

 
Where does the pork BUTT come from? 

Despite the name, pork butt does not come from the rear end of the hog--it is cut from the shoulder.  The pork shoulder weighs 12-18 pounds and consists of two portions: the butt, which is the upper portion of the shoulder, and the picnic, which is the lower portion.