A rose by any other name? There can be two separate methods or they may be blended at times. Have you ever smoked a couple of steaks, some nice thick burgers, or pork chops for a while then grilled them. It’s not uncommon for me at all. I’ve served burgers with a nice smoke ring. Someone even said “these are still pink”. Get some smoke flavor indirect then grill. When I hear someone referring to grilling as bbq I just smile and go on. It’s kind of like referring to the Dallas Cowboys as a football team.
-
-
Growing up on the Delmarva peninsula, BBQ was chicken sold at road side stands in Sussex County.
Picture the large pits with grates with dozens of half chickens all cooking at one time and mopped with BBQ sauce. I miss those daysComment
-
Quit tryin to educate peeps quite awhile ago, maybe bout year 2 or 3 of bein here in the Pit. Agree with Henrik, they cook outside and that's cool. You could tell them the technical differnce and their eyes will roll back and their minds will shut off and you will have wasted use of yer vocal cords and air.Comment
-
Im of the cookout group. Never went to a “bbq” growing up. Nor around “smoked food” events. Hotdogs, brats, burger’s on sandbars, that was my experience.Comment
-
I was going to weigh in here with the True Texas Take, but then I remembered that our senior United States Senator cooked brisket in the oven....then did it again a few years later.
So I got nothin'.
Comment
-
I think as someone noted the terms are regional. I think it was Sid P who noted that low and slow and grilling were all lumped together as BBQ. I could be mistaken, but it seems to me that regions that are more oriented to grilling lump the terms together and the regions more oriented to low and slow make the distinction. I started out doing low and slow and trend to call it BBQ while I feel like I am learning to grill and keep it in the separate catagory of grilling. Others start out grilling and are now learning to do low and slow.Comment
-
I go to a BBQ, I cook on a Grill.
Sometimes I go to a Grill, But I don’t cook on a BBQ.
If I’m late for dinner I get grilled.
That’s all I got after staring out the window for 5 minutes, I take my seat and have a plate of BBQ now, Thank You!Comment
-
I think the terms are regional, and I am closely aligned with what realdocBBQ said above.
I consider BBQ to be low and slow. Grilling is hot and fast. Some folks around here (Huntsville Alabama) - mostly ones NOT from the south - will throw out "having a BBQ" to mean hotdogs and hamburgers, and I'm not going to correct them. But to me, that is not a BBQ - it is a COOKOUT.
Growing up in Georgia, and now with more than half my 60 years being in Alabama, we would call eating outside with grilled food - hot dogs, hamburgers, steaks, chicken - a "cookout". If I got an invitation to eat burgers and hotdogs, or saw an announcement in a church bulletin - it would say "We are having a cookout".
However, a "bbq" is an entirely different thing (or at least used to be) from a cookout, and would typically involve a whole hog over a pit or on a trailer smoker, or otherwise involved smoking something. In college I helped throw a BBQ for about 100 people in my friends backyard, where the entire college department of the church showed up for a whole hog BBQ. 2 of the guys acquired the hog, had it butchered, and got the trailer smoker, and about 7-8 of us spent 24 hours or so getting ready for the BBQ, and smoking that hog on the big smoker. It was a blast, but about all I remember was one crazy dude who wanted the ears and the tail...Last edited by jfmorris; June 19, 2026, 09:53 AM.Comment
-
For me grilling is not smoking and BBQing is smoking not grilling.Comment
-
I think I need a smoke after reading all this... 🤷♂️Comment
-
Barbecue is low and slow. Grilling is hot and fast. When I was younger I’d debate and educate (sounds better than argue). Now that I’m older I just live my life. It’s too short to argue about minutia like this
…I just silently judge people now. 🤣😎🤣Comment
-
Trial exercise:
Your good buddy owes you 25 dollars. He sends you a text, he's on his way over to clear his debt. When he gets to your place you hold out your hand and he drops you a quarter and says "we're even". You protest; "hey this is only 25 cents!". He looks at your with surprise, and maybe a bit of disdain. He replies; "dollars, cents, so what? they're both money so they mean the same thing." How's that language is fluid, words can mean what you want them to workin' for ya?Comment
-
To me, BBQ is low & slow with smoke. Grilling is hot & fast.
Also to me, BBQ is the food not the device. It irks me when someone says they got a new BBQ or are going to use the BBQ. I don't say anything of course, it just quietly irks me.Comment
. Actually, I have used Tel-Tru thermometers and they are usually very accurate. If they call it barbecue, that must be right!
Comment