BKahuna wrote:

For me, barbecue is meat that is cooked for an extended period of
time and at lower temperature using wood or wood products like lump
charcoal.

Slow cooking is the key. I do not however subscribe to the notion that
the addition of smoke makes every single meat recipe better. I treat
smoke like I would any other recipe ingredient. Most of the time I do
like the addition of smoke but not always.

Kind of reminds me of the making of fine wines. For centuries the
addition of charred oak in aging wines was considered a major quality of
a finer wine. Today many of the better winemakers have found that it is
easy to make a smokey/oak wine but it masks many of the finer flavor
nuances that would otherwise be notable. While not a perfect analogy, I
find some similarities with BBQ. Too many BBQ restaurants (at least
here) have way oversmoked meats on their menus for my taste.