Барбекю

The term barbecue is applied to the devices associated with live-fire cooking methods, the broader cuisines these methods produce, and the meals or gatherings at which this style of food is cooked and served. The regional variations of barbecue can be categorized into methods using direct or indirect heating.

Techniques

Smoking, the original technique, cooks food with smoke at around 116-138 °C (240-280 °F) over longer cooking times. Grilling applies direct, dry heat, usually from a fire hotter than 260 °C (500 °F), for a few minutes. In American English, grilling is a fast process over high heat, while barbecuing is a slow process using indirect heat or hot smoke. In British usage, barbecuing is a fast cooking process done directly over high heat.

Smoke Chemistry

Guaiacol is a phenolic compound containing a methoxy functional group. It is a common product of the pyrolysis of wood. It is present in wood smoke, where it results from the pyrolysis of lignin. Syringol is a phenol with methoxy groups in the flanking (2 and 6) positions. Syringol is a main component of wood smoke. In food preparation by smoking, syringol is the main chemical responsible for the smoky aroma, while guaiacol contributes mainly to taste. Pyrolysis of lignin from gymnosperms gives more guaiacol. Pyrolysis of lignin derived from sinapyl alcohol affords syringol. Guaiacol also contributes to the flavor of many substances such as whiskey and roasted coffee.

Smoke Flavorings and Tars

Liquid smoke is a water-soluble yellow to red liquid used as a flavoring to substitute for cooking with wood smoke. The condensed products from the destructive distillation of wood are called liquid smoke or pyroligneous acid. Artificial liquid or solid smoke flavorings also contain syringol and guaiacol. Cade oil is the essential oil obtained through destructive distillation of the wood of Juniperus oxycedrus, a juniper native across the Mediterranean region. Cade oil is used in some cosmetics and traditional skin treatment drugs, as well as incense. Birch bark tar is a substance synthesized by dry distillation of birch tree bark. It is mainly composed of triterpenoid compounds of the lupane and oleanane family.

Browning

The Maillard reaction is a chemical reaction between amino acids and reducing sugars that creates melanoidins, the compounds that give browned food its distinctive flavor. It is responsible for many colors and flavors in foods, including the browning of various meats when seared or grilled. Caramelization is a different process from Maillard browning, namely the pyrolysis of certain sugars.

Explore all seven extraits in the Discovery Set.