Barbecue, a cooking technique as old as time and rooted in American culture, is an art form all its own.
The smoky, caramelized taste of perfectly grilled meat — ribs, brisket, or even chicken — makes mouths water. But the art of barbecue goes beyond just cooking meat.
It’s the process, tools, and patience that create those unforgettable flavours. Each step requires precision and expertise, from choosing the right wood to seasoning with the perfect rub. And for those who have mastered the art, there’s nothing quite like seeing the satisfied grin on someone’s face after the first bite. And while we may not live in Texas or the Carolinas, here in Atlantic Canada, we have our own crew of experts and pitmasters dedicated to low and slow barbecue.
“I was born and raised in Lunenburg County, but then I married a Texan who introduced me to Texas-style barbecue,” says Luke Acker, owner of FireWorks Texas BBQ in Mahone Bay, N.S. “When I found out I needed an offset smoker to cook on and create the unique taste of Texas barbecue, I built one for myself. After a dozen briskets, a few racks of ribs, and a couple pork butts later, I figured it out, and soon after that, we started a food truck.”
Acker figured out the art of low and slow that we associate with places deemed kings of barbecue, like Texas, Kansas, Memphis, and the Carolinas.
“There are a few essential elements when it comes to barbecue,” explains Acker. “Patience, fire management and control, keeping a consistent temperature, and importantly, keeping your fire burning clean.” Smoke flavours the meat, but an excessive amount will impart acridity.
The best way to achieve a clean burn is using dry, well-seasoned wood. For Texas-style barbecue, particularly beef brisket and pork ribs, rubs are important and sauces secondary. FireWorks slow cooks its signature meats for 12 to 18 hours, seasoning it with Acker’s house-made Rowdy Red Rub. And like all Texans know, the sides are almost as important as the meat, so Acker suggests dill slaw, green bean casserole, and apple pie smoked beans, with peach crisp for dessert.
In Memphis, pork rules, with wet ribs in a sweet tomatoey sauce. In the Carolinas, whole hog barbecue is king, with a tomato-vinegar sauce in North Carolina and a mustard-based sauce in South Carolina. Kansas City serves up burnt ends and fatty brisket nuggets smoked over hickory.
But regardless of style, it takes effort and the luxury of time to cook authentic barbecue. The lore surrounding “backyard barbecues” revolves around leisurely weekends spent indulging in slow-cooked meals.
When it comes to low and slow cooking, the temperature gradually diminishes as it moves from the exterior to the interior portions of the meat. The role of the heat source, whether it be wood, gas, or charcoal, is not to directly cook the inner part of the meat. Instead, it works on heating up the outer surface, which transfers heat to the inside for thorough cooking. You get a more uniformly cooked dish by maintaining a low and steady temperature throughout an extended cooking period.
“Barbecue cannot be rushed. It is low and slow that makes barbecue special,” says Chef Bill Pratt, owner of Upstreet BBQ Brewhouse in Dartmouth, N.S., which went out of business shortly after this article published. “While some people say you can only use hickory wood, we use local maple and birch at Upstreet BBQ because we don’t grow hickory in Eastern Canada.”
Upstreet slowly cooked its briskets at 96C (205F) for 12 to 14 hours and then let them rest, which is an equally important part of the process. The meat needs time to reabsorb all the juices.
“The biggest mistake for home barbecuers is lack of time,” Pratt says. “People want to simply turn on the propane barbecue, cook a steak, chicken breast, or burger, and eat within 30 minutes. Barbecue is a ceremony. It starts with building the firebase, then getting it at a temperature that you can slow-cook your meat for a minimum of three hours and and then letting it rest properly. When we run out of barbecue that day, we are out. It’s not like you can throw another steak or rack of ribs on the barbecue.”
Pratt emphasizes that starting with the best product yields the best dish. “At Upstreet, we use real wood and real smokers for cooking our ribs, briskets, and pulled pork,” he says. “Our chicken is brined overnight in the beer we brew in our brewery restaurant, and then slow-roasted so that it is moist and juicy. The wood at the front entrance is more than just there for show. We actually cook with it in our smokers. “
Despite the misconception that barbecue is an iconic American cuisine, particularly associated with the South, it originated in the Caribbean. The Taíno Indigenous people developed the cooking method, which used a raised wooden platform to slowly cook animals, which they called “barabicu.” By the mid-1500s, Spanish colonizers adopted the technique, renamed it “barbacoa,” and brought it to mainland North America.
“I’ve always had a passion for cooking and grilling. At 14, I bought my first hibachi-style charcoal grill,” says Corey Richard, pitmaster and owner of Beer Daddy BBQ in Hampton, N.B. “After I was married, I started getting into low and slow Southern-style barbecuing and got my first custom wood-burning smoker, named Betty after my grandmother.”
In 2021, Richard lost his job of almost 17 years. With lots of support from his family and community, he opened Beer Daddy BBQ, first as a food truck and later in a shared space with Gridiron Brewing.
“If you’re passionate about your work, it will show in your final product,” he says.
Barbecue recipes