Korean barbeque is one of the tastiest things on earth, however turning a slab of meat into thinly sliced blankets of perfection is no easy task. Well actually, it is.

Whether you’re looking to make bulgogi, a classic Korean barbeque dish, or simply slice brisket or pork belly very thin, the trick is to freeze the meat for a few hours. It may sound crazy to freeze a fresh piece of meat, but without a deli slicer at home it’s your only option.

Once the slab of meat cools down and firms up, take a very sharp knife and run it over your knife steel a few times, then you’re good to go. Cut slices to your liking.

In the photo above, we took a 4 lb. slab of rib-eye and sliced it about 1/4 of an inch thick, then marinated it overnight in a mixture of soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, honey, garlic, green onions, grated Asian pear, and a dash of gochujang (Korean red pepper paste).

Cooking delicious barbeque requires passion and dedication, which is what the BBQ bug is all about. Slowly smoking a piece of meat for hours, or what feels like years, is no walk in the park. But, in the end, it’s worth the wait.

If your friends and family think you’re a little crazy, don’t worry about it. Once they try your food you’ll be forgiven.

If you are on a mission to cook absolutely the best steak ever, there are two things you need: fat and heat.

When it comes to steaks, the better the cut, the more fat it has. We’re not talking about tough, leathery “silver skin” on the outside, but fine marbling within the steak. A prime steak will have far more marbling then a choice steak, but not nearly as much as specialty cattle breeds like Wagyu. Keep in mind Wagyu is typically classified as prime, though it’s the crème de la crème, so to speak.

Now here’s the kicker: You can buy the highest quality steak on the market, but without intense heat you’ll be disappointed. Extremely high temperatures are needed to quickly and effectively melt marbleized fat, thus producing a tender, juicy and flavorful steak. This is why the best steakhouses in the world use broilers in excess of 800 degrees Fahrenheit. In fact, some cook their steaks at a searing 1,800 degrees.

To grill a prime steak, the first step is to use the right fuel for the job. Hardwood lump charcoal is what many pitmasters prefer because it not only burns very hot, but imparts an authentic barbeque flavor. Wood chunks or chips can be added for a more smoky taste.

Once your grill is up to temperature, slap on your steaks and let the party begin. Don’t be afraid of small flare-ups, they just add to the festivities.

Using the right amount of heat with quality meat is a recipe for success, which will pay off in the end. Give it a try!

Shrimp are one of the quickest and easiest things to cook on the grill, and are perfect for barbeques since most of the preparation can be done in advance.

The first step to cooking shrimp on the grill is to clean and devein them. Make an incision along the back of each shrimp, then remove the black, hair-like trail. It won’t kill you, but it’s not something you necessarily want to eat.

When grilling shrimp it’s a good idea to skewer them, especially when cooking for multiple people. Skewers allow shrimp to be easily flipped, and prevent any tasty morsels from falling into the fire. We suggest bamboo skewers, rosemary stems, or slivers of sugar cane.

After shrimp are cleaned and skewered, they’re ready for a flavor bath. Marinate them for a few hours with whatever you wish, and don’t be scared to experiment. Here are a few of our favorite marinades for shrimp:
1) Olive oil, garlic, parsley, lemon juice
2) Soy sauce, orange juice, garlic, ginger, chile peppers
3) Teriyaki sauce
4) Olive oil, BBQ rub

After your shrimp skewers have had time to relax in a marinade, get your grill going. You don’t want the temperature too hot, and you don’t want it too low. The goal is to flame-kiss your skewers without overcooking or burning the shrimp, which will make them tough. To impart more flavor during the cooking process, you can baste the skewers.

Give the shrimp a few minutes per side, and once they turn pink they’re ready to serve. Timing depends on a variety of factors, including: the size of shrimp you use, type of charcoal, distance between coals and grill grate, etc.

Whether you’re hosting a barbeque or attending one, there are going to be certain dishes that stand out from the crowd. Food that’s so irresistible you must go back for more.

This year, what were your absolute favorite BBQ dishes? We’d love to hear! Share your thoughts on our Facebook page or connect with us on Twitter.

Meat Quality
When it comes selecting a brisket at your local grocery store or butcher shop, you don’t want to cheap out. Look for a cut that’s either choice or prime, preferably prime, and ensure it has a good amount of marbling. A higher quality piece of meat with more marbling will produce a much better final product, which your friends and family will love.

Temperature
Throughout the United States, pitmasters cook briskets in a plethora of ways and at different temperatures, though the good old “low and slow” method is the safest. Cooking a brisket at 225-250 degrees will allow time for all of the connective tissue to break down, then flavor and add moisture to the meat. Some cooks will smoke a brisket for 4-5 hours then wrap it in foil and toss it in the oven, but purists go for the gold.

Moisture
The biggest problem home cooks have is smoking a brisket without drying it out. Choosing a high quality piece of meat is the first step, and the second involves adding moisture throughout the cooking process. This is done with a baste or “mop,” and can be applied with a spray bottle.

Give the above tips a try and let us know how your brisket turns out. We’d love to see photos and connect on Facebook or Twitter.

When cooking meat low and slow, especially during very long cooks, it has a tendency to dry out and toughen up. To prevent this, most pitmasters use a baste or “mop” to add moisture, but unfortunately using a brush or other utensil to apply the mop is risky business. They have a tendency to mess up the delicate bark you’ve worked so hard to form.

To quickly and easily baste meat, there’s one tool every BBQ fanatic must have: a spray bottle. And aside from adding moisture, spray bottles have a variety of other uses.

For one, not only is moisture added, but flavor is too. Apple cider vinegar, fruit juice, soy sauce, beer, and a plethora of other liquids can be mixed, then applied, with a spray bottle. For example, a mixture of water, apple cider vinegar and apple juice is awesome for ribs and pork shoulders.

Secondly, to provide consistent heat, spray bottles are excellent for taming unruly fires. If smoking wood flares up and temperatures get out of control, give the fire a few squirts with your trusty spray bottle. Your food will thank you.

When looking to purchase a spray bottle, try to find one that’s heavy duty and dishwasher safe. Being able to toss the bottle in the dishwasher makes cleanup a breeze.

Here is a little tour of the most popular and famous regional BBQ sauces found in America today:

Kansas City BBQ Sauce
When you think about traditional BBQ sauce, Kansas City style is the first thing that comes to mind. This is the typical reddish-brown tomato-based sauce that we are used to seeing in supermarkets and on hot summer days at our friend’s afternoon BBQs. This type of BBQ sauce is more a garnish than a marinade. It is thick, sweet and flavorful, and makes a great addition to a smoked chicken or pulled pork sandwich. Because of its thickness it doesn’t penetrate the meat during grilling, so it is more traditionally used as a dipping or finishing sauce as the meat is cooking and once it has been grilled.

Texas BBQ Sauce
Texas BBQ sauce is heavily influenced by our neighbors to the south, and because of this the Texas style includes more traditional Mexican ingredients like onions, fresh chiles and chile powder, and peppers. Texas BBQ has inspired a few different styles from the more Southern BBQ style of the major urban centers to the “cowboy style” — mesquite-smoked BBQ of the countryside.

Always independent, the Lone Star State added its own spin by enhancing the sauce with actual meat drippings to add extra richness and smoke flavor. Be careful though! If you get bottled Texas sauce the meat drippings aren’t included, so for the real authentic stuff grab your cowboy boots, your 10-gallon hat and plan a road trip!

Carolina BBQ Sauce
Carolina barbecue is usually pork served a number of different ways: pulled, shredded and occasionally sliced. It is often dry rubbed before going on the grill and mopped with a sharp vinegar-based sauce as it’s cooking. This type of sauce combines a tangy vinegar taste with a hint of sweet balanced by savory. It goes great with chicken as well as pork.
The Carolina style is usually split up into 3 distinct categories: Northwestern, Northeastern, and Southern.

California
California BBQ originated from Native American techniques of digging BBQ pits, and it has expanded to fit the eclectic and diverse tastes that make California unique. By far, California is best known for their Santa Maria style of BBQ, which uses more direct heat when compared to other styles of BBQ. Santa Maria barbeque is all about simplicity, and very light sauces are used. Typically they contain garlic, herbs, pepper and some sort of acid, such as vinegar or citrus juice.

We hope this article has been helpful, and we encourage you to explore a variety of sauces in the future. Or, even better, offer guests a BBQ sauce bar where they can choose from a plethora of sauces to see what they like best.

Polynesian Sea Farers were some of the first people to populate the islands in the early 300s BC. They found an abundance of seafood and shellfish but it became important for them to supplement that diet with a more stable and practical food. So in response to the need for that stability they introduced the sweet potato, the yam, and the taro plant, which is the major ingredient in the traditional Hawaiian dish Poi. Until the 1700s the culture brought by these early explorers reigned supreme and central to that was the noble art of BBQ.

Traditionally Hawaiian feasts, called aha‘aina, took place during ritualistic and religious activity and were meant to mark special occasions. The meat prepared was generally pig or dog, and the animal was roasted in an authentic earth oven. This oven, or imu, utilized superheated rocks and steam to slowly and evenly cook large quantities of meat that would feed the tribe for days.

Hawaiian Cuisine took a drastic change with the introduction of European foods brought by explorers and colonists who made their way to the islands in the late 1700s. Domesticated animals like cattle, and more traditionally European fruits and vegetables like pumpkin, squash, and melon found a home in the island culture. Interestingly enough, pineapple, a food often associated with Hawaiian culture was not part of traditional Hawaiian cuisine. It was introduced in 1813 by a Spanish botanist named Don Francisco de Paula Marin. It was made popular during American colonization of Hawaii, along with the advent of sugarcane. These are the two crops that Hawaii would become the most well know for, and would also spark the next addition to the diverse Hawaiian cuisine we are familiar with today.

The plantations sparked a need for cheap labor, which inspired a large and diverse immigrant population to flock to Hawaii. Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Filipino, and Portuguese immigrants all brought the flavors of their native dishes to contribute to the flowering Hawaiian culture.

In today’s world, Hawaiian BBQ reigns supreme as an amalgamation of authentic cultures from around the world. And what could be better than a slab of roast pork cooked to perfection in the traditional imu with a fresh bowl of poke, a side of poi and a cold Mai Tai to wash it all down.

To cook the most delicious and juiciest steak, there are two things you need: fat and heat.

First and foremost, not all fat is created equal. The small specks of white fat running within the meat that resemble small cracks in a window are referred to as marbling, whereas the tough outer skin of a tenderloin and other cuts is called silver skin. The goal is select a steak with good marbling, which will end up dissolving when heat is applied. Typically speaking, the better the cut of meat, the more marbling it has (e.g. Kobe beef).

Secondly, a critical part of grilling the best steak is having enough heat. The goal is to cook steaks over very hot coals to melt marbleized fat and provide a much juicier final product. The best steakhouses in the world use broilers with temperatures in excess of 1800ºF, and to achieve similar results on a grill you need the right fuel for the job.

To create the highest pit temperature for cooking steaks, hardwood lump charcoal combined with wood (apple, hickory, etc.) is your best bet. Hardwood lump charcoal burns very hot, especially the larger pieces, and the addition of wood improves flavor and raises pit temperature. Plus, who doesn’t like a flame-kissed steak?

The next time you’re preparing to cook steaks on the grill, remember this article and share you’re experience with us on Twitter! @FrontierBBQ