At AJ's Fine Foods you'll find we are more than the products and delicacies in our aisles. The critical component of the AJ's experience lies in the spirit and expertise of our team members. Here you'll find your opportunity to ask questions and have our culinary experts share their knowledge with you.
What's the difference between barbeque and grilling?
Although the words are often interchanged, there are some inherent differences between barbeque and grilling. Grilling refers to the use of direct heat to cook foods that are thin and tender enough to enable simply browning on its sides to cook as desired. Barbeque infers indirect heat to more slowly cook roasts, bone-in poultry, pork ribs and any other food of sufficient size and/or toughness that requires cooking for hours. Both processes often include the use of wood to infuse smoke into foods. Wood chips are used for grilling and barbequing smaller items (like bone-in chicken quarters) whereas larger chunks better serve long-term smoking.
Most wood sold for smoking will benefit from at least 30 minutes soaking before use. Water is just fine, but beer, wine and fruit juices can add an interesting depth of flavor and aroma. If using a charcoal grill, simply sprinkle the soaked wood chips over the briquettes once they are covered with gray ash. Maintain your grill/smoker at a steady 225°F. for hot smoking; it may be necessary to start more briquettes elsewhere and transfer them to the smoker once they are gray throughout the cooking process to maintain the correct temperature during slow-cooking.
Gas grills are difficult to regulate to a sufficiently low temperature for proper smoking - they start at 300°F. However, with a little experimentation, using a cast-iron smoker box (sold at some hardware and specialty barbeque stores or improvise one) placed directly over one of the burners turned to the lowest temperature, usually provides good results.
