Odds and Ends   Fire and Smoke From the time man walked out of his cave and saw fire, he has been using it and the smoke it produces, to cook and cure the food he eats. However you spell it -- Bar-B-Que, Barbecue, Barbeque, or BBQ, it all means good food cooked low and slow. In the 50's -- Americans were reintroduced to the idea of cooking again over an open flame in their own backyards. They called this barbeque - but in fact it was usually grilling - offering up steaks, hamburgers, and the unfortunate hot dog or sausage to the fiery inferno contained within a three-legged aluminum bowl. True barbeque was still the specialty of the poorer peoples of the Southern and Mid-Eastern States. However, as we in America became more a mobile nation, we took the foods we found in one part of the nation, and brought it with us wherever we went - we wanted the comfort of the food we knew and liked. And Barbeque was one of those comfort foods.    Grilling vs. BBQ There is much confusion today as to just exactly what is BBQ.  As mentioned above, there are basically two differences between the two. Grilling -- Grilling is the process of cooking over a DIRECT heat source -- be it gas, wood, electricity, or briquets/charcoal without anything between that which is being cooked and the heat source (with the exception of a grate/rack/or basket to prevent the food from falling directly into or on the heat source. Food cooked this way is usually cooked in a short period of time - or else it usually becomes overcooked and/or burnt. Examples of foods that are grilled are Steaks, Hot Dogs/Sausages, Hamburgers, Chicken, Fish, Vegetables, and Marshmallows. Check out Bobby Flay for Grilling expertise. Barbeque/BBQ/Bar-B-Que -- BBQ is the process of SLOW cooking a food INDIRECTLY from the heat source over a long period of time, usually utilizing smoke as a flavoring agent and preservative. The food very seldom burns in the same manner as grilling, but can become dry and overcooked if not done properly. Examples of foods that are barbequed include poorer cuts of meat such as brisket, pork shoulders, ribs, hocks/shanks as well as chicken, sausages, and fish. Wet or Dry - To Sauce or Not to Sauce  I provide for my customers the best of all possible BBQ or Grilling situations - I can make it Texas style with a tomato based sauce, a sweeter Kansas City style if that is perferred or add a little Memphis spice. Of course there is the vinager/mustard based sauces of the Carolinas for your enjoyment as well. I even have the ability to go Tropical with island sweet and sour or teriyaki sauces based on pineapple and mango for character and eastern sweetness. I prep my meats with a personnal variety of spice blends as dry rubs and then allow them to 'work on the meat' for 12-24 hours under refrigeration. The meat juices blend with the rub producing a paste like marinade which adds a deep flavoring to the product. I cook my meats just this way - serving the sauces on the side so the full flavor of the product is there to be enjoyed. For those wishing their meats wet - I will gladly sauce them up just before serving. Smoke Gets In Your Eyes -- and Food I am able to burn most any type of wood in my unit to give the right 'type' of smoke to the foods being prepared. These include oak, walnut, pecan, hickory, cherry, plum, apple, mesquite, alder, and almond and are used individually or in combination to achieve the flavors I try to develop in my meats. I can put a 'heavy smoke' or a 'light touch' to any item depending on your tastes and requests.