Dave Bugg wrote:
%----------

"Barbecuing is cooking by using indirect heat or low-level direct
radiant heat at lower temperatures and longer cooking times."

If taken at face value then that would mean an oven can cook bbq.

And a gas fired barbecue grill and smoker, set up for indirect heat, is
virtually the same thing, and that is considered barbecue as well, so I
guess that means you can barbecue in your indoor oven. Does that mean gas
ovens only, because the definition doesn't say fire, it says heat?

I've had the NC versions of pulled pork where no wood was used, only
charcoal, and I found it fell into the category of flavoring by sauce rather
than the cooking method. I am one of those who finds it very bland, but
again, its within the definition used here, and that is just my personal
preference. There was a time when I would have argued that it was not true
barbecue without the wood until I learned more about the many ways flavor
gets into, and out of, all kinds of foods.

There's also the element of smoke seasoning created directly by the food
whenever the heat source is directly below. As long as it doesn't flame on
due to excessive melting fat or a poorly managed fire, one of the reasons a
charcoal grilled steak, or even a gas grilled steak tastes better than one
cooked in an oven broiler is that the juicy drippings fall into the fire or
heat rails, and vaporize and smoke, rising back up around the meat.

There's one area where I don't give any quarter when it comes to the
definition of barbecue, and that is liquid smoke. Putting barbecue sauce and
liquid smoke on some meat, wrapping it in foil, and then slow cooking over
any sort of device is not barbecue, its sacrilege.

-- Also --

"[Why is my barbecued chicken pink? Is it still raw?]"

I always liked that one because chicken meat is not that color before its
cooked, but when people see the color of well smoked barbecued chicken meat
they think its raw.

MartyB in KC