Barbecuing Vs Smoking Vs Grilling - What Is The Difference?

A BBQ is a very versatile item and there are three common cooking methods you can use all on one grill. These are; barbecuing, smoking and grilling. Each method will give your food a different outcome and taste.

In short, grilling means to cook over a fire, hot and fast. Barbecuing refers to cooking over a low flame and much slower, and smoking means to also cook low and slow, whilst also using the smoke produced by the barbecue to cook the food.

What Is Barbecuing?

Barbecuing is the best method for cooking large cuts of meat such as pork shoulders, beef briskets, whole chickens, turkeys and ribs. This is because these types of meats tend to be tougher, and need the low, slow heat of a barbecue in order to get them soft and tender. The best barbecue chefs pride themselves on a very long cooking time to get the tenderest, most flavourful meat.

Barbecuing is often done using indirect heat, meaning the meat is not directly over the flames as it cooks like it would be if you were to grill your food. Charcoal or wood are commonly used as the heat source when barbecuing.

How to Barbecue Food

First of all, you need to decide whether you will be using a charcoal or gas barbecue to cook your food. Each has their own benefits and will give off slightly different flavours. Charcoal barbecues such as the Master-Touch GBS Premium will take slightly longer to get to the right temperature, as you will have to wait for the coals to cool down before cooking your food. However, charcoal leaves a lovely smokey flavour on your food.

On the other hand, gas barbecues such as the Weber Genesis range give the user better control over temperature.

The best temperature for barbecuing food using this method is between 100 and 150°C. Place your food on the grill, but not directly over the flames, moving it to the edges of the grill. This is referred to as the indirect cooking method.

Place the barbecue lid down so that the heat is trapped. This not only controls the temperature but also ensures smoke circulates inside the grill and infuses into your food, enhancing that barbecue flavour.

With temperatures so low, cooking a big piece of meat will take several hours. The trick is maintaining that temperature for the duration of the cooking, if you’re using coal, it is worth replacing the coals throughout the process to ensure the temperature is maintained.

Advantages of barbecuing food include being able to get the optimum juiciness from your meat where the meat will be soft, moist and break apart when barbecued at the right temperature for the optimum amount of time. In terms of disadvantages of this process of cooking, by nature, this is much more time consuming than simply grilling food and barbecuing with charcoal is weather dependent.

Top tip : Rather than cutting into your meat to check that it's done, use a meat thermometer such as the Weber iGrill. It is the most accurate way to tell if your food is cooked. Simply download the app, tell the iGrill what you're cooking and how you'd like it cooked. The iGrill does the rest, tracking the progress of your food in real time and will notify you when it's done - meaning you can spend more time with your guests whilst cooking to perfection.

What Is Smoking Meat?

There is a true art and science behind smoking your meat on the barbecue. Similar to how barbecuing involves using indirect heat, the smoking method steers away from using a direct flame to cook your food. Rather, you use hot charcoal and slow burning hardwood. The aromatic wood smoke encapsulates the meat and soaks into the fat, cooking it to perfection.

Smoking adds flavour and improves the appearance of meat through the Maillard reaction. The Maillard reaction refers to lots of small, simultaneous chemical reactions that occur when proteins and sugars in and on your food are transformed by heat, producing new flavours, aromas, and colours.Smoking adds flavour and improves the appearance of meat through the Maillard reaction. The Maillard reaction refers to lots of small, simultaneous chemical reactions that occur when proteins and sugars in and on your food are transformed by heat, producing new flavours, aromas, and colours.

How to Smoke Food

Smoking can be achieved by using a charcoal barbecue, a gas barbecue, a wood pellet grill or even a Weber Smokey Mountain. Wood chips are burnt to release smoke, the meat is then placed away from the flame and is cooked indirectly, whilst being infused by the smoke.

Many people wonder ‘what is the best wood for smoking meat?’. The answer depends on what meat you are using and the flavours you want to achieve. Using different types of wood chips create different flavours, for example, Beech wood chips match perfectly with fish and poultry, or try whiskey wood chips for adding flavour to chops and beef tenderloin.

Advantages of using the smoking method to cook your food is the undeniable flavours you can create that can’t quite be matched by using the other methods. Similar to barbecuing food, this process takes much longer than simply grilling and it is not unusual for some recipes to call for cooking times of 24 hours. Out of all three methods, this is definitely the trickiest to master - but it can be done with just a little bit of practice.

Top Tip : It is best to have two accurate thermometers for smoking, one inside the smoker in the area where the meat sits to tell you the smoker temperature, and one meat thermometer placed in the meat to tell you the internal temperature of what you are smoking.

Food to smoke

- Salmon
For a smoky piece of salmon with a kick, we recommend our smoked pepper salmon recipe, made with a beautiful marinade and served with potatoes and dill salsa

- Ham
Have a go at making Apple wood smoked ham - smoked on the barbecue for two hours for a family favourite that everyone can enjoy.

- Chicken
The melt-in-your-mouth quality of these slow-cooked smoked chicken wings with hoisin glaze goes seamlessly with their smoky Asian flavours. For top-notch texture, never allow the temperature of your barbecue or smoker to go over 150°C.

What Is Grilling?

In sum, all three methods have their purpose. For soft, larger portions of meat, barbecuing is a great way to cook and create a beautiful texture. If you’re cooking smaller cuts of meat such as burgers and sausages and want those grill marks, grilling is likely the best option. Finally, if you have the time to spare and want to go one step further in your culinary journey - smoking is a way you can impress friends and family and achieve unmatched flavour.