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Barbecue is meat cooked slowly by wood or charcoal heat and smoke - but no US authority defines it by temperature. The one federal rule, 9 CFR 319.80, regulates fuel and yield. Plus the primary-source attestations showing the word originally named a rack, not a recipe.
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USDA says 1 pound of whole turkey per guest. Find your crowd from 4 to 30 guests, with leftover sizes, a breast-only option and the day to start thawing.
Read the articlePractical grilling technique: fire management, two-zone setups, cleaning and the small habits that fix most backyard problems.
Pull it at about 128°F for medium-rare and let it rest to 130°F to 135°F, or take it to USDA’s 160°F for venison. One doneness table, a five-step reverse sear, and the thawing and chronic wasting disease facts that go with it.
Tailgate food ideas for the smoker and grill: what to cook on site, what to bring hot, and the USDA rules for keeping it safe.
A practical guide to using pork belly trimmings — render to lard, fry cracklins, blend into burger fat, build sausage, smoke mini burnt ends, and 4 more ways to use every last scrap of fat and trim.
Run your grill to 500°F for burn-off, keep ash and grease under control, and season your grates so every cook runs clean and steady.
A repeatable brisket workflow from trim to slice, so the result comes from the process rather than from luck on the day.
Pork loin and pork tenderloin both cook to 145°F with a three-minute rest. What differs is the oven: 350°F for a loin, 425–450°F for a tenderloin. Every temperature here is cited to USDA, FSIS, the CFR or a land-grant Extension service, with dates.
Twenty-seven kamado grills compared on published specs, same-day prices and the warranty fine print — including which brands cover the gasket, which void coverage if you skip registration, and why none of them transfer to a second owner.
How long to marinate every cut, with an evidence grade on each recommendation, plus why marinade barely penetrates and what sugar does on a hot grill.
Dry brining, done by weight. Salt density by brand, the 71 percent error nobody flags, USDA own two-day protocol, how far salt actually travels, and how to spot a pre-brined bird.
Two-zone setup, vent control, and the 150-degree disagreement over what medium-high heat means, plus the charcoal safety data every other guide skips.
Where to put the probe on every cut, the USDA safe-temperature chart, and the altitude-corrected boiling-point table FSIS tells you to go find somewhere else. In Denver, calibrating to 212F builds in a permanent 9.6-degree undercook.
Barbecue is meat cooked slowly by wood or charcoal heat and smoke – but no US authority defines it by temperature. The one federal rule, 9 CFR 319.80, regulates fuel and yield. Plus the primary-source attestations showing the word originally named a rack, not a recipe.
