Glossary
BBQ and smoking glossary
Bark, the stall, the Texas crutch, snake method, point and flat. The words you meet in smoking recipes, explained in plain British English.
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3-2-1 ribs
A rib timing pattern from American recipes: three hours unwrapped, two wrapped, one unwrapped to set the glaze. A starting point for spare ribs, not a law; loin ribs usually need less.
Smoked ribs, UK style →A
Against the grain
Slicing across the direction the muscle fibres run, so each slice has short fibres and eats tender. On brisket the grain changes direction between the flat and the point.
Trimming and slicing brisket →B
Baby back ribs
The US name for pork loin ribs, also called back ribs: the shorter, leaner ribs from the top of the rib cage. They cook faster than spare ribs.
Smoked ribs, UK style →Barding
Laying fat, usually streaky bacon, over lean meat such as pheasant or venison so the breast or joint doesn't dry out while it cooks. Take it off near the end to colour the skin.
Smoked pheasant →Bark
The dark, chewy crust that forms on smoked meat as rub, fat and smoke dry and set on the surface. It needs airflow and time, which is why wrapping too early softens it.
Bark and smoke ring →Bend test
Lifting a rack of ribs from one end with tongs. If the surface cracks and the rack sags into a curve, it's ready.
Smoked ribs, UK style →Briquettes
Compressed charcoal pieces of even size. They burn more predictably than lumpwood, which makes them the usual choice for a snake or minion setup.
Charcoal for smoking →Brisket flat
The leaner, thinner muscle of a whole brisket. Easier to find in UK supermarkets, quicker to dry out.
UK vs US BBQ cuts →Brisket point
The fattier, thicker muscle that sits on top of the flat. Forgiving to smoke and the source of burnt ends.
UK vs US BBQ cuts →Bullet smoker
A tall vertical charcoal smoker, usually with a water pan between the fire and the food. Compact, steady and a good first dedicated smoker.
Bullet smokers explained →Burnt ends
Cubes of brisket point returned to the smoker with sauce until sticky. Originally the trimmed edges; now cooked on purpose.
Pork belly burnt ends →Butcher paper
Unwaxed, uncoated food-grade paper used to wrap meat through the stall. It breathes more than foil, so the bark stays firmer.
Foil vs butcher paper →C
Carryover cooking
The rise in internal temperature after meat comes off the heat, as the hot outside keeps warming the middle. Larger joints carry over more.
Resting smoked meat →Chimney starter
A metal cylinder for lighting charcoal with newspaper or a firelighter underneath. No lighter fluid, so no chemical taste.
Charcoal for smoking →Chuck
Beef from the shoulder. Well marbled and full of connective tissue, which makes it the usual choice for pulled beef. UK butchers may sell it as braising steak or blade.
Smoked pulled beef →Cold smoking
Flavouring food with smoke while keeping it cool, so it doesn't cook. Used for cheese, salmon and bacon, and it carries real food-safety rules.
Cold smoking at home →Collagen
The connective tissue in hard-working cuts such as brisket and shoulder. It is tough at ordinary roasting temperatures and slowly turns to gelatine over hours of low heat, which is what makes those cuts soft.
BBQ temperature chart →Cook rate
Roughly how many hours a cut takes per kilogram at a given smoker temperature. A planning figure only: thickness and weather move it.
Smoking time planner →D
Dampers
Another word for vents. The intake (bottom) feeds air to the fire; the exhaust (top) lets smoke out.
Thin blue smoke →Dry brine
Salting meat hours or a day ahead and leaving it uncovered in the fridge. Seasons deeper and dries the skin, which helps poultry crisp.
Brine calculator →E
Equilibrium brine
A brine measured as a percentage of the combined weight of meat and water, so the meat can't end up too salty however long it sits.
Brine calculator →F
Fat cap
The layer of fat on one side of a brisket, pork shoulder or similar joint. Usually trimmed to an even thickness, not removed, so it bastes the meat and protects it from the heat.
Trimming and slicing brisket →Firebox
The side chamber of an offset smoker where the fire burns. Heat and smoke travel from it across the cooking chamber to the chimney.
Offset smokers explained →H
Hanging
Leaving game, and some beef, to rest in a cool, controlled place for days before butchering. It tenderises the meat and deepens the flavour. Ask the butcher how long game has been hung.
Smoked venison →Hot and fast
Smoking at a higher temperature than classic low and slow to shorten the cook. Works well for brisket and shoulder if you keep an eye on the bark.
Smoker temperature control →I
Instant-read thermometer
A handheld probe that gives a reading in a few seconds. For spot checks in several places, not for leaving in the meat.
BBQ meat thermometers →J
Jacob's ladder
The UK butcher's name for beef short ribs cut across the bones. The American 'dino rib' is a similar cut left long.
UK vs US BBQ cuts →K
Kamado
A thick-walled ceramic (or insulated steel) egg-shaped cooker. Holds heat very well and uses little charcoal, but heavy and slow to cool down if overshot.
Kamado smokers explained →Kosher salt
A coarse, flaky salt common in American recipes. It is lighter by volume than fine table salt, so a cup of one is not a cup of the other. Weigh salt rather than converting cups.
US recipe translator →L
Lead shot
Small pellets that can remain in wild game birds and some venison. Check the meat as you carve and warn people at the table; the FSA has advice for people who eat a lot of lead-shot game.
Smoked pheasant →Leave-in probe
A thermometer probe that stays in the meat through the cook, wired or wireless, so you can watch the temperature without lifting the lid.
BBQ meat thermometers →Low and slow
Cooking at a low smoker temperature for a long time so tough, collagen-rich cuts turn tender. The heart of BBQ smoking.
How to use a smoker →Lumpwood charcoal
Charcoal in its natural, irregular pieces. Lights fast and burns hot and clean, but less evenly than briquettes. Plenty of British-made bags around.
Charcoal for smoking →M
Minion method
Lighting a few coals and placing them on top of a pile of unlit charcoal, so the fire spreads slowly downward and lasts for hours.
The charcoal snake method →Mop
A thin, vinegary liquid brushed or sprayed on during a cook. Adds flavour and slows surface drying; also cools the surface, which slows the cook.
Pulled pork smoking time →O
Offset smoker
A horizontal smoker with the firebox to one side. The traditional Texas design: lots of space and real wood flavour, but it needs tending.
Offset smokers explained →P
Packer brisket
The US name for a whole, untrimmed brisket with both the point and flat attached. In the UK you will usually need to order one from a butcher.
Brisket smoking time →Pellet grill
A smoker that feeds compressed wood pellets into a fire pot with an electric auger and fan, controlled by a thermostat. Needs mains power.
Pellet grills explained →Pellicle
The thin, tacky skin that forms on cured fish, or other food, left uncovered in the fridge or a breeze. Smoke sticks to it, so it is an important step before smoking salmon.
Hot-smoked salmon →Picnic shoulder
The US name for the lower, hand end of the pork shoulder. Often sold with the skin on in the UK. Good for pulled pork, though a little less marbled than the blade end.
UK vs US BBQ cuts →Pink butcher paper
Peach or pink-coloured butcher paper, popular for wrapping brisket. The colour is just the paper; what matters is that it's unwaxed and food-safe.
Foil vs butcher paper →Plate setter
A ceramic or steel heat deflector that sits between the fire and the grate in a kamado, turning it from a grill into a smoker.
Kamado smokers explained →Pork butt
The US name, also Boston butt, for the upper, blade end of the pork shoulder. Nothing to do with the back end of the pig. The classic cut for pulled pork.
Pulled pork smoking time →Probe tender
When a probe slides into the meat with almost no resistance, like going into soft butter. The real sign a brisket or shoulder is done.
Brisket smoking time →Pulled pork
Pork shoulder smoked until the connective tissue breaks down enough to pull apart with forks or hands.
Pulled pork smoking time →R
Rendering
Fat slowly melting out of meat as it cooks. On a smoker it keeps big cuts moist and crisps skin on poultry and pork belly. Too little heat and fat stays rubbery.
BBQ temperature chart →Resting
Leaving meat wrapped after cooking so juices settle and the texture relaxes. For big cuts, an hour or more in a cool box is common.
Resting smoked meat →Reverse flow
An offset design with a baffle plate that sends heat under the food to the far end, then back over it to a chimney near the firebox. Evens out hot spots.
Offset smokers explained →Rolled joint
A boned cut, often brisket, rolled up and tied with string or netting. Smoke it, then braise it covered: the inside of the roll never sees smoke and the trimmed outside dries quickly.
Rolled brisket joint →Rub
A dry seasoning mix rubbed onto meat before smoking. Usually salt, pepper and sugar plus spices. Salt does most of the work.
BBQ rub ratios →S
Silverskin
The tough, shiny membrane on cuts such as venison loin, pork tenderloin and beef. It doesn't render, so trim it off with a thin knife before cooking.
Smoked venison →Smoke ring
A pink band just under the surface of smoked meat, caused by gases from the fire reacting with the meat. Looks great; tells you very little about flavour.
Bark and smoke ring →Snake method
Arranging unlit briquettes in a curved line around the edge of a kettle, lighting one end, so it burns slowly along the snake for hours.
The charcoal snake method →Spatchcock
Cutting out a bird's backbone and pressing it flat. It cooks faster and more evenly and gets more skin facing the heat, so it crisps better.
Smoked whole chicken →Spritz
Spraying meat with apple juice, cider vinegar or water during the cook to keep the surface from drying too fast.
Bark and smoke ring →St. Louis cut
Spare ribs trimmed square by removing the rib tips and cartilage. Ask a UK butcher for spare ribs trimmed square.
Smoked ribs, UK style →T
Texas crutch
Wrapping meat in foil or paper partway through the cook to push it through the stall faster and hold in moisture.
Foil vs butcher paper →The stall
The hours-long pause in rising internal temperature on big cuts, caused by moisture evaporating from the surface and cooling the meat. Normal. Annoying. Survivable.
The stall explained →Thin blue smoke
The faint, almost invisible smoke of a clean-burning fire. Thick white billowing smoke usually means a smouldering, starved fire and bitter food.
Thin blue smoke →Two-zone setup
Coals on one side of the grill, food on the other. The basic way to cook indirectly, and to smoke, on any kettle BBQ.
Smoking on a kettle BBQ →U
Ugly drum smoker
A homemade vertical smoker built from a steel drum. Cheap and effective if the drum is new and unlined; never use a drum that held chemicals.
Bullet smokers explained →W
Water pan
A tray of water between the fire and the food. It soaks up heat, steadies the temperature and adds humidity.
Bullet smokers explained →Wet brine
Soaking meat in salted (often sweetened) water before cooking. Adds seasoning and moisture, especially to poultry and pork chops.
Brine calculator →Wood chips
Small shavings of smoking wood. Burn quickly; best in electric smokers and smoke boxes rather than on a charcoal fire.
Smoking wood in the UK →Wood chunks
Fist-sized pieces of smoking wood. Smoulder slowly on charcoal and suit kettles, kamados and bullets.
Smoking wood in the UK →