BBQ Is Social

I may not like "people", but I care deeply for my friends. And I like to cook. And there is no such things, from what I have seen, as a small amount of barbecue. A small pork shoulder is 8 pounds. A small brisket is still a few pounds of meat.  And who in their right mind would just want one rib?

So most of the things you would smoke come in large quantities. So what do you do with all of that food? You could have pork shoulder every meal for a week and a half. Or, better yet, you can invite some friends over.

There are two main reasons why barbecue, more than most methods of cooking, are conducive to social gatherings

1. As stated above, prime barbecue food involves mass quantities. It's not uncommon for me to have over 20 pounds of meat in the smoker at any one time.
2. The cooking method is about as close to set it and forget it as you can get. Load up the fuel, light it, put the meat on when the fire is ready, then come back in 3 to 12 hours (depending on what you are cooking) when it is done.

Most days when I'm cooking for friends it goes something like this:

1. Get up early and start the fire.
2. Fire is ready, put the meat on.
3. Go take a nap for an hour or two.
4. Get up again and clean the house, get the other food ready, run out to forget the 3 things that everybody always seems to forget when they are having guests over.
5. Guests come over. Do whatever it is you do with your guests that is fun.
6. Pull food off the smoker.
7. Eat.
8. Go do more fun stuff.
9. Eat some more.
10. Guests leave.
11. Look at the pile of dishes and say screw it, they aren't going anywhere, I'll clean them tomorrow.

As much as I love grilling, grilling takes time away from your guests because you have to be there tending the food. Other than removing the food from the fire and pulling the pork, cutting the brisket, etc. the time away from your guests is minimal. Hell, a nap is usually part of the cooking process!

I love having my friends over. I love that they enjoy what I cook. And I love that I can hang out with them while the meal is being prepared. It doesn't get any better than that!

Simple Is Good

One of the greatest appeals to me about barbecue is its simplicity. I have, for as long as I can remember, been a fan of simple. I still am. When it comes to cooking, it is harder to get simpler than barbecue. You need a hunk of meat, some spices, a heat source, a cooking vessel and some time. If you want the opposite of this, find the steps for properly doing a long, brown braise. Don't get me wrong, I would willingly sit down and eat a large plate of braised meat. I'll even from time to time go through the time and effort to cook like this. I like to cook. A lot. But it's this sort of thing that intimidates people that say "I don't know how to cook". So let's talk for a few minutes about the things that simple buys you, in addition to some delicious food.

• Simple is easy to learn. Most people like to feel a sense of accomplishment when they undertake something. This feeling provides positive reinforcement and will often spur further learning.
• Simple is easy to teach. I like to share what I learn if I think other people can make use of it. I like doing things with my kids. I like seeing others succeed. I've always found the best measure of whether I really know something is if I can teach it to others.
• Simple is repeatable. How many times have you sat down to a fancy meal at a restaurant, enjoyed it thoroughly and then tried to recreate it at home, only to be sorely disappointed? Or maybe you made something once that came out fantastic, but have been unable to repeat the experience? My own personal experience with this is an orange sauce I made years and years ago for a homemade orange beef. The sauce was great. I don't know what the hell I did, though, because I've been unable to recreate that particular sauce since.
• Simple is usually economical. The ingredients for simple things tend to be cheap. The materials used are often few and easily available. And there is usually little waste. On the surface simple and complex dishes may appear similar in cost, but if you total up all the effort required from purchase to prep to cooking to cleanup, simple will almost always be a win here, as well.

So to sum it up, simple is cheap, easy and you can get consistently good results. To me it doesn't get much better than that.

Tinker Builder Smoker Guy

One trait that Americans have shared throughout their history is the desire to innovate. To take what is available and to make it better. To mold the land and materials around you into something that is your own. To look at a garbage can and say, "I bet I can cook my dinner in there".

Barbecue not only allows, but strongly encourages, you to tinker. Do a google search for famous barbecue rigs and see what you come up with. Not only big rigs like 18 wheelers, but a wide variety of contraptions that have been built in the never ending quest to quench the unquenchable desire for smokey, meaty goodness.

Another fun one to google is build your own smoker. You will see plans and materials that would fit almost any budget, from the humble upright drum smoker to behemoths that might be able to hold an entire cow. You can even go really old school and just use a shovel, some wood and a pile of rocks. Yes, to do barbecue right you need nothing more than a hole in the ground, some things you can find in your backyard and time. Can you say Luau?

Even recipes put on display a culture the values tinkering and tweaking. How many ways, really, can you mix up ketchup, vinegar, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder and perhaps a handful of other spices? Hundreds of ways apparently, judging by the number of recipes one can find for barbecue sauce. And some people would rather do time for murder than willingly part with their particular concoction of paprika, salt, cumin, brown sugar, onion powder, garlic powder and crushed red pepper.

So if you have a desire to build and a love for meat, give barbecue a try if you haven't already. You will be joining a large group of folks that value hard work, creativity, innovation and self-reliance. You will also get some tasty grub out of it and possibly and handful of hungry and appreciative friends to share a delicious meal.

Build it, and they will come.