BBQ - in Europe?

[Army Mom]

No one else is thinking of Hyacinth's "indoor outdoor luxury BBQ with finger food buffet"?

[LTrew]

In my experience everyone in England does cookouts and grills outside, but wouldn't know proper bbq if it bit them

I'd still call cookouts and grilling bbq though, so it is confusing!

Growing up in America, there was a distinction between throwing some hamburgers and hotdogs on the grill and having proper bbq, smoked brisket or pork or ribs or whatever. 

Either way, the structure is different.  In England I've had my in-laws version of a bbq and more casual beach bbqs with friends.  My in-laws normally do burgers, sausages and chicken wings served with green salad, garlic bread, and maybe some boiled potatoes or a really light potato salad.  No buns, no sauces.  It is good, but it took a lot of getting used to for me.

Casual beach bbqs I've been to have been burgers and sausages cooked on disposable grills, buns and sauce, but pretty much no side dishes or anything involving plates and cutlery, possibly with a side serving of food poisoning.  Everyone brings their own meat and they always forget that it takes half an hour the for the disposable grill to heat up.  Half the time the grills flip over in the sand or you drop something.  Still good fun

Growing up there were different levels of bbq-
cheapo burgers and hot dogs- this is the bare minimum, served with buns and condiments and maybe side dishes, but maybe not.  Easy thing to do for a camping trip or something casual,  can also be a free thing you could find in a grocery store parking lot or a park or church community event, may include pot luck sides depending on what sort of event it is.

burgers, hot dogs, chicken, brats, steaks, kebabs - it all branches out and side dishes include potato salad, baked beans, salad, chips, veggies, coleslaw, roasted corn on the cob, etc.  There is a huge variety and you can run all the way to fancy fancy, more what people do at home when they have a bit of planning time or are having people over for dinner

proper smoked bbq - top of the food chain for sure! Properly smoked meat, (and of course debate over how to do it properly and what sort of sauce is acceptable!) baked beans, coleslaw, corn bread, greens... mmmm.

[Kitty Hawk]

Germany -- it's called grilling here and it goes on all summer, as long as the weather allows. Pork chops, chicken breasts, bratwurst.

The meats other than wurst are virtually never grilled with a sauce.  They may be marinated or seasoned, but a sauce is highly unusual.  But then they are frequently served with sauce, a variety of bottles on the table.  (Which drives me nuts, since I have seasoned the meat so that it is fine as is!)

Many people still have charcoal grills, other have gas grills.  My husband finally bought a huge gas grill this summer and absolutely loves it.

[Nibsey]

In my experience everyone in England does cookouts and grills outside, but wouldn't know proper bbq if it bit them

I'd still call cookouts and grilling bbq though, so it is confusing!

snip

Ok I feel the need to defend my neighbours.  I lived in Australia so I know how a proper cookout is meant to look. However those things take preparation, and with the weather being as unpredictable as it is in this region of the world, every barbarcue I've ever been to have been a spur of the moment thing, you're lucky if you even have time to marinate the meat.

But there is no excuse for not knowing it takes at least  30 mins for the disposal grills to heat up as it says so on the instructions. 

[LTrew]

I've had some good bbqs here, there is nothing wrong with a good cookout! I was talking about real barbecue though - meat that has been smoked and cooked long and slow and definitely not commonly seen in the UK!

 Last year I got a little smoke box for my gas grill and did some proper barbecue... mmm, pulled pork, brisket, chicken...

[bigozzy]

I've had some good bbqs here, there is nothing wrong with a good cookout! I was talking about real barbecue though - meat that has been smoked and cooked long and slow and definitely not commonly seen in the UK!

 Last year I got a little smoke box for my gas grill and did some proper barbecue... mmm, pulled pork, brisket, chicken...

But that would be your cultural interpretation of 'real' barbecue.

[LTrew]

Of course, I'm not being serious or saying that other types of bbq are rubbish!  I was just being a bit tongue in cheek as what compromises real "real" barbecue is a subject of debate in the states.  Every region has its own speciality, beef or pork, what goes in the dry rub, the type of sauce and how much of it should be used... it never ends and trying them all is a delight!

[Thipu1]

Here in the US we do have the 'indoor-outdoor' barbecue. 

When I was a child we had neighbors who loved grilled steaks to the extent that they would use the barbecue in January.  We would see the Dad out there during a light snowstorm and watch as he ran the meat back inside. 

A slight aside on commercial barbecue in Europe.  The last time I was in Paris, it was interesting to see how popular Korean barbecue was. 

[katcheya]

When I was a child we had neighbors who loved grilled steaks to the extent that they would use the barbecue in January.  We would see the Dad out there during a light snowstorm and watch as he ran the meat back inside. 

I live in Canada, and firmly believe that grilling outdoors is a 24/7/365 thing!  Not everyone believes so, however.  My boyfriend thought I was joking when I suggested grilling burgers for Christmas dinner (it was just the two of us.)  While he was upstairs fiddling around with something, thinking I was making dinner, I was actually outside digging out our bbq.  He was quite surprised to see me outside, firing up the grill in -20C weather!

He's very fond of what he calls "Winter Burgers" now!   

[jenny_islander]

I think we're running into the "separated by a common language" thing again.

Generally (it's always more complicated than that), the South and Midwest consider "barbecue" to be a particular class of food that is usually, but not always, prepared outdoors.  This may be meat cooked slowly over smoke and rubbed with a mix of seasonings OR meat cooked slowly in a pot with a sauce.  In either case the meat should be fall-apart tender.  In the rest of the U.S., a barbecue is any meal cooked outdoors or the grill it is cooked on.  This type of meal is also called a cookout.  If there is no grill, it's a picnic.  More or less.  Sorta kinda.

[katycoo]

I've had some good bbqs here, there is nothing wrong with a good cookout! I was talking about real barbecue though - meat that has been smoked and cooked long and slow and definitely not commonly seen in the UK!

 Last year I got a little smoke box for my gas grill and did some proper barbecue... mmm, pulled pork, brisket, chicken...

See - I do not cal that BBQing.  I call that slow cooking.

[holly firestorm]

I think we're running into the "separated by a common language" thing again.

Generally (it's always more complicated than that), the South and Midwest consider "barbecue" to be a particular class of food that is usually, but not always, prepared outdoors.  This may be meat cooked slowly over smoke and rubbed with a mix of seasonings OR meat cooked slowly in a pot with a sauce.  In either case the meat should be fall-apart tender.  In the rest of the U.S., a barbecue is any meal cooked outdoors or the grill it is cooked on.  This type of meal is also called a cookout.  If there is no grill, it's a picnic.  More or less.  Sorta kinda.

What Jenny said.  Basically, not all BBQ's are cookouts and not all cookouts are BBQ's.  I think the sauce or dry rub has a lot to do with it.  Clambakes are also cookouts and have very little in common with a traditional BBQ.

[Larrabee]

Of course, I'm not being serious or saying that other types of bbq are rubbish!  I was just being a bit tongue in cheek as what compromises real "real" barbecue is a subject of debate in the states.  Every region has its own speciality, beef or pork, what goes in the dry rub, the type of sauce and how much of it should be used... it never ends and trying them all is a delight!

I'm a Brit, I'll admit it.  English barbecues are generally a bit rubbish.  Its their very rubbishness that defines them to be honest.

It rains a lot here, so on a rare Sunday in July when the sun peeps through the clouds for a few hours we get completely over-excited and dash to the supermarkets to buy burgers, sausages and charcoal. 

Most of us only have really cheap barbecues/grills that sit in sheds and garages 11.5 months of the year getting damp so it takes ages to even light the thing usually, by the time its actually going we're all starving so we put the meat on even though we know its too early.  At this point it usually starts raining again so one poor soul stands outside trying to get the meat vaguely warm while everybody else retreats inside and has a sandwich. 

The only successful barbecues I've been to in this country are by either professionals or serious amateur enthusiasts who have brick built giant barbecue pits and an array of tools that don't have black bits burned on to them.  They still aren't as nice as just cooking the food on the normal oven/grill.

[zoidberg]

Of course, I'm not being serious or saying that other types of bbq are rubbish!  I was just being a bit tongue in cheek as what compromises real "real" barbecue is a subject of debate in the states.  Every region has its own speciality, beef or pork, what goes in the dry rub, the type of sauce and how much of it should be used... it never ends and trying them all is a delight!

I'm a Brit, I'll admit it.  English barbecues are generally a bit rubbish.  Its their very rubbishness that defines them to be honest.

It rains a lot here, so on a rare Sunday in July when the sun peeps through the clouds for a few hours we get completely over-excited and dash to the supermarkets to buy burgers, sausages and charcoal. 

Most of us only have really cheap barbecues/grills that sit in sheds and garages 11.5 months of the year getting damp so it takes ages to even light the thing usually, by the time its actually going we're all starving so we put the meat on even though we know its too early.  At this point it usually starts raining again so one poor soul stands outside trying to get the meat vaguely warm while everybody else retreats inside and has a sandwich. 

The only successful barbecues I've been to in this country are by either professionals or serious amateur enthusiasts who have brick built giant barbecue pits and an array of tools that don't have black bits burned on to them.  They still aren't as nice as just cooking the food on the normal oven/grill.

Aahh, Larrabee, your post and everything about it is so very British and reading it makes me miss being in the UK, even though I haven't been there since Summer of 2000. I just... I think I love you!

[Larrabee]

Of course, I'm not being serious or saying that other types of bbq are rubbish!  I was just being a bit tongue in cheek as what compromises real "real" barbecue is a subject of debate in the states.  Every region has its own speciality, beef or pork, what goes in the dry rub, the type of sauce and how much of it should be used... it never ends and trying them all is a delight!

I'm a Brit, I'll admit it.  English barbecues are generally a bit rubbish.  Its their very rubbishness that defines them to be honest.

It rains a lot here, so on a rare Sunday in July when the sun peeps through the clouds for a few hours we get completely over-excited and dash to the supermarkets to buy burgers, sausages and charcoal. 

Most of us only have really cheap barbecues/grills that sit in sheds and garages 11.5 months of the year getting damp so it takes ages to even light the thing usually, by the time its actually going we're all starving so we put the meat on even though we know its too early.  At this point it usually starts raining again so one poor soul stands outside trying to get the meat vaguely warm while everybody else retreats inside and has a sandwich. 

The only successful barbecues I've been to in this country are by either professionals or serious amateur enthusiasts who have brick built giant barbecue pits and an array of tools that don't have black bits burned on to them.  They still aren't as nice as just cooking the food on the normal oven/grill.

Aahh, Larrabee, your post and everything about it is so very British and reading it makes me miss being in the UK, even though I haven't been there since Summer of 2000. I just... I think I love you!

Aw, thanks nischi!