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BBQ And Grilling 101: A Guide To Better Live Fire Cooking (2 Recipes, 8 Pages, 18 Articles)

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Your quest to create amazing BBQ and grilling begins here!

If you are new to BBQ and grilling or simply want to step up your outdoor cooking game, start here. These articles and basic recipes give you a solid foundation on BBQ and grilling equipment, ingredients, and techniques.

By using the guideposts below, you’ll learn about thermodynamics (how heat moves through your cooker and your food), how to turn your grill into a smoker with the 2-zone method, how to control temperature, why it is critical to use a digital thermometer (don’t worry – they’re cheap), the fascinating science of meat, how smoke ends up flavoring your food, our top recipes, tips and tricks, and so much more!

homer simpson barbecue

What Is Barbecue?

By:

Meathead, BBQ Hall of Famer

Barbecue is a hotly debated topic. Read here about a new definition of BBQ that is distinct from its legal definition. This new definition includes explanations of grilling, smoking and other terms, as well as a brief history of barbecue around the world
bookshelf

Cooking And Barbecue Glossary

By:

Meathead, BBQ Hall of Famer

Here is an A to Z glossary of barbecue and cooking terms. Some might call it "jargon," which is the specialized language that people of like mind use to communicate. Either way, get to know these terms, use them, and you'll be on your way to becoming a barbecue insider.
amazing ribs defined hero image

Amazing Ribs Defined: Kissed By Smoke, Hugged By Sauce, Licked By Fire

By:

Meathead, BBQ Hall of Famer

What are amazing ribs? When I judge barbecue, here's what I look for: Appearance, scent, pork flavor, seasonings, smoke, sauce, texture, and balance.
types of fat in a steak

Basic Meat Science For Cooks

By:

Meathead, BBQ Hall of Famer

What is meat and how does cooking alter it? Discover the science of what meat is made of, including water, fat, protein, connective tissue, salt, and other minerals. And find out what happens when meat meets heat.

Grill And Smoker Setup And Firing Up (1 Page, 18 Articles)

By:

Meathead, BBQ Hall of Famer

What's the best way to set up your grill and smoker? The secret is to have temperature control, and for grills, that almost always means using a 2-zone setup. For smokers, the secret is to get a small hot fire that makes clean "blue" smoke rather that billowy white smoke.
2 zone setup

2 Zone Grilling Setup: How Best To Control Temperatures On A Grill

By:

Meathead, BBQ Hall of Famer

Improve your recipes and make the best BBQ possible with this one essential concept: temperature control. The secret? 2 zone grilling setup, a.k.a. an indirect grilling setup!
grilling presa

The Thermodynamics of Cooking and How Different Cooking Methods Work

By:

Meathead, BBQ Hall of Famer

Learn about thermodynamics: the basis of all cooking! Find out how heat transference works by conduction, convection, radiation, induction, and infrared heat in your grill, bbq, and smoker.

The Top Mouthwatering Recipes From The AmazingRibs.com Team (32 Recipes, 2 Articles)

By:

Dave Joachim

Here's a list of the AmazingRibs.com top 15 recipes of the year, the best and most visited ones on our site, including ribs, brisket, pulled pork, pastrami, spice rubs, and other BBQ favorites.
rib cooking temperature timeline

Are My Ribs Ready Yet?

By:

Meathead, BBQ Hall of Famer

There are several techniques to tell when your ribs are ready: bend, twist, peek-a-boo, taste, toothpick, popup, and thermometer test. Since ribs come in so many different weights and thicknesses, knowing when they are done is an inexact science but here are some guidelines and techniques that will help make it easier.

Food Health And Safety: What You Are Doing Right And Wrong (12 Articles)

By:

Meathead, BBQ Hall of Famer

Hundreds of thousands of Americans alone are sickened every year by their food, and some even die. Thousands more are hurt by knives, wire brush bristles stuck to meat, burns and other hazards around the grill. Here's an overview of the hazards and how to reduce the risk
Amazingribs.com temperature magnet

Award Winning Food Temperature Guide And What You Need To Know About Food Safety

By:

Meathead, BBQ Hall of Famer

We all strive to create tender, juicy, and flavorful meat, but we also want it safe. Monitoring the internal temperature is the best way to have the best of both worlds. Here's the ultimate guide to understanding proper cooking temperatures and food safety to ensure that your meat is cooked perfectly every time.

AmazingRibs.com's Pitmaster Club is the world's largest BBQ and grilling forum, providing paid members with access to flame-war-free discussions with over 16,000 like-minded outdoor cooks. Enjoy recipes, techniques, product reviews, interviews with top pros, monthly giveaways, and more!

How to Buy the Best In-Food And In-Cooker Thermometer

By:

Bill McGrath

An in-food/in-cooker thermometer should be a part of every chef's tool collection. It displays the temperatures of the food(s) and the cooker simultaneously and is much more reliable than the dial thermometer that comes with most grills. Here's what to look for and how to buy the best in-food/in-cooker thermometer.
termometer comparisons

Thermometers: How They Work, How To Select Them, and How To Use Them

By:

Meathead, BBQ Hall of Famer

How to use our comprehensive buying guide and reviews of thermometers for barbecue, for cooking, for food, for the oven, for the grill and for the smoker.

How To Buy A Grill (5 Articles)

By:

Meathead, BBQ Hall of Famer

Grills are not created equally. Before you sink any money into a grill check out this article. It could save you from buying a lemon and make sure your grill meets your needs.

How To Buy A Smoker: Take This When You Shop (1 Page, 5 Articles)

By:

Meathead, BBQ Hall of Famer

A good dedicated smoker will make ribs, brisket and pulled pork that rivals most restaurants. There are many choices: gas, charcoal, wood and wood pellets. Before you go shopping click here and print out our article on How To Buy a Smoker.
bread grilling

How to Calibrate Your Grill or Smoker with Dry Runs

By:

Meathead, BBQ Hall of Famer

Calibrate your cooker. There is often dust and grease under the hood from the factory on new grills and smokers. Here's how to prepare your cooker with a dry run so you can control its temperature when it's showtime.
smokers and grills

BBQ Gear Guide: The Best Smokers And Grills To Buy Today

By:

Clint Cantwell, Champion Pitmaster

Picking the right smoker or grill for your personal needs can be a difficult task, with countless brands, styles, and prices to sort through. To help you find the best smoker grill to buy, we have compiled an elite list of top rated AmazingRibs.com gold and platinum medal winners.
burning charcoal

Charcoal Grills Grills: Buying Guide, Reviews, And Ratings

By:

Meathead, BBQ Hall of Famer

A comprehensive review and buyer's guide of almost all the wood burning and charcoal grills available from experts, with ratings.

Charcoal Grillin’ Starter Kit

By:

Dave Joachim

New to charcoal grilling? Here's everything you need from the best grill and charcoal to tongs and a reliable thermometer.
photo of the weber calibration

Using the Vents to Control Temperature on Charcoal and Wood Burning Grills and Smokers

By:

Meathead, BBQ Hall of Famer

Here's how to use the two vents to control temperature in a charcoal or wood grill or smoker.
Gas Smoker

Gas Smokers: A Buying Guide And Reviews

By:

Meathead, BBQ Hall of Famer

Ratings, reviews, and recommendations on how to shop for gas fired barbecue smokers. These are simple smokers that produce good flavor, on a modest budget.
komodo kamado

Buying Guide To Kamado, Ceramic, Egg Smokers And Grills

By:

Meathead, BBQ Hall of Famer

The kamado, ceramic, egg grill, smoker, and oven is a fast growing category with more and more choices every year. Here are reviews and ratings of them all.
Camp Chef Woodwind

Pellet Smokers And Grills: Buying Guide, Ratings, And Reviews

By:

Meathead, BBQ Hall of Famer

Ratings, reviews, and recommendations on what to look for and what to buy when shopping for pellet barbecue smokers and grills.
Weber Genesis EPX-35

Gas Grills: Buying Guide, Reviews, And Ratings

By:

Meathead, BBQ Hall of Famer

Here's how gas grills work and what to look for when you go shopping.
man burning wood in a burn barrel

What You Need to Know About Wood, Smoke, And Combustion

By:

Meathead, BBQ Hall of Famer

Learn all about wood smoke and how it adds flavor to BBQ. Find out whether you should be using wood chunks, chips, pellets, logs, or sawdust in your cooker. Discover the truth behind the claim that different woods have different flavors.
Grilled steak

Recipe Secrets Revealed For Grilled Steaks That Put The Best Restaurants To Shame

By:

Meathead, BBQ Hall of Famer

Create grilled steaks as good or better than they do in the best expensive steakhouses with this comprehensive how-to and recipe. From selecting the right cut and beef grade to smoking and searing on the grill, you'll be grilling up mouthwatering steaks for your family and guests in no time!
pulled pork sandwich with sauce

An Easy BBQ Pulled Pork Recipe With Mouthwatering Results

By:

Meathead, BBQ Hall of Famer

This easy pulled pork recipe skips the slow cooker to create authentic low-and-slow smoked pulled pork on a smoker or grill. With smoke woven through the moist meat, bits of seasoned crust, and a gentle splash of BBQ sauce, pulled pork is perfect for your next backyard cookout.

Published On: 7/1/2019 Last Modified: 11/29/2022

 

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