• Low, Slow and Indirect
• Fire
• The Smoker
• The Meat

Low, Slow and Indirect

At the heart of it all, BBQ is about low temperatures (250°F - 275°F), applied via indirect heat, and held steady for hours. Any way which you can apply this heat, and there are many, will produce BBQ. Now, like anything else, there are millions of ways to accomplish this, and we have our opinions here at MakerBBQ but anything can work.

Fire

While there are many ways to create heat, our preferred way is via a wood fire. You should research and use woods native to your region. Why? Sustainability, cost, and much more. We at MakerBBQ use Oak as our primary wood. We may mix into this other woods like Mesquite, Pecan, Hickory or even Fruit Woods such as Apple, Peach, or Cherry.

Why Oak? It has a mild flavor, and relatively light smokey-ness. Other woods can be mixed in to add more flavor, but Oak is the source of heat.

The Smoker

At MakerBBQ we have two types of smokers, one is an Offset smoker, the other is a Vertical smoker. If you’re starting out, Vertical smokers are the best entry class smoker you can get. They are relatively cheap new, can usually be picked up on Craigslist for even less, and are easier to use. How are they easier to use?

Two reasons, physics and fire. Physics favors the vertical nature of the smoker, heat rises. There is a much lower level of inefficiency in the amount of heat generated vs. heat received by the food. The second reason verticals are easier is fire. Most verticals don’t have an all wood fire, they use a charcoal fire to generate the heat, but with wood blocks for generating the smoke. In an offset, that is running all wood, you have to manage your heat vs smoke ratio.

That said we prefer wood fires, and so we tend to use Offset Smokers for larger and longer cooks. Since we own both, we wouldn’t use the vertical for brisket.
An offset smoker has two chambers, a fire box and a cook box. The fire box has a fire, which produces smoke, which travels into the cook box and that indirect heat raises the temperature of the cook box.

The Meat

The meat can be anything you want. Brisket, Tri-Tip, Chicken, Pork Ribs, Beef Ribs, Rib Roast, or the like. My suggestion, if you are new, is to start with Chicken. Why? Because it cooks quickly, and the meat is cheap. Brisket, the height of good Texas BBQ, is awesome but with a cook time of about 1 hour per pound, it can be 12-14 hours of cook time. By comparison Chicken can cook in about 2 hours.