American Barbecue - How to Properly Make American Style Barbecue?

What is American Barbecue?

Despite the name, American barbecue does not necessarily have to take place right from Kentucky. This type of grill refers only to models typically used there — that is, mainly aluminum (or other material) grills with a lid and grate for cooking meat.

Today you can find three versions of American barbecue: gas, electric or charcoal. And what are the differences, advantages and disadvantages between them? We'll tell you further.

Types of American Barbecue

The main feature of an American gas barbecue model is that it is built-in or mounted on the countertop. This is explained by the fact that a barbecue requires a constant source of gas supply, which in this case is provided by a pipeline directly connected to the kitchen or leisure area where it's installed.

The model is usually more expensive than others and has the disadvantage of not being able to be moved from one place to another. Another issue often highlighted in this barbecue model is the lack of characteristic smoky flavor. On the other hand, it hardly produces smoke, which allows using it even inside apartments. A gas grill also has the advantage of maintaining a constant temperature and heat, preventing meat from drying out or undercooking.

American electric barbecue works very similarly to a gas model, with the difference being that its power source is electricity. In this sense, this model also needs a fixed working point and is usually installed built-in or on furniture surfaces. Due to their large size, most American electric grills cannot be moved around, except for countertop models, but even these are usually only transported indoors, making them difficult to carry in a car.

Another drawback of electric barbecue is that it does not impart the smoky flavor to food like gas grills do. As an advantage, electric barbecue is the safest model among all except for those without a smoke feature; it also produces no smoke, making it perfect for closed spaces or apartment balconies without a designated barbecue setup.

American charcoal grill is the most traditional and well-known model of all. It was this type that popularized the concept of American barbecue here. This kind of grill is usually small, portable with wheels and easily transportable. Many of them have a round shape, as often seen on American barbecues.

One of the major advantages of this type of barbecue is the ability to move it from one place to another, which is very convenient for those who often go camping or to clubs. American charcoal barbecue perfectly suits people who value the smoky taste of barbecue, since coal burning is the main source of smoke formation and thus the distinctive flavor of grilled food.

However, speaking about smoke, it should be mentioned that one of the major drawbacks of American gas barbecue is its significant smoke emission compared to other models.