Are You Grilling or Barbequing?

While the terms “grilling” and “barbequing” are often used on an interchangeable basis, about the only similarities between the two cooking styles is that they both involve the cooking of meat in the outdoors. The determination of whether you will be grilling or barbequing starts by defining the cooking style.

Grilling, in terms of sheer numbers, is the more popular and simpler cooking style between the two, being a common sight at beach cookouts, parties, and other events. Grilling recipes are as varied as the people that prepare meat in this fashion with an almost limitless number of rubs, sauces, marinades, and spices that combine with the carmelization of naturally-occurring sugars in the meat to provide a wide range of tastes.
 
If you are grilling:

• You are cooking with high heat temperatures that run in the vicinity of 500 to 600 degrees.

• The meat you are cooking is being directly heated by burning coals or a gas flame.

• Your cooking time is relatively short.

• You are probably cooking higher quality steaks, hamburgers, chicken or hot dogs

Barbequing is completely different from grilling in that the process takes longer and requires some expertise to deliver a successful meal. Most of the meat’s flavor is derived from the smoke that emanates from the embers of selected types of wood.



If you are barbequing:

• You are cooking with lower temperatures ranging from 180 to 250 degrees

• Your meat is not in direct contact with the heating source

• You are cooking cuts of meat that benefit from longer cooking times such as ribs, shoulders, etc.

While the terms are often interchanged, grilling and barbequing are completely different styles of cooking. If you happen to be a person who enjoys cooking with both styles, the Primo ceramic grill is designed to allow grilling on one half while meats placed on the other side of a divider receive the indirect heat of the barbequing process. The grill can also be converted to a full grill or barbeque, depending on the size of the meal and the method of preparation.