Last week we took a family vacation on the OBX, a thin ridge of left-over sand dunes off the east coast. It was so much fun relaxing and playing in the beach environment. Flip flops, “strangely” colored buildings, grit in your teeth, sea gulls, hanging out in the pool, eating crab cakes, swimming in the ocean, and playing in God’s big sandbox.

Another highlight was cooking some good food at the house. (As well as solidifying my hatred for lighter fluid and falling more in love with my electric charcoal lighter. 😎 ) I cooked a couple pans of Cheesy Squealin’s, a meatloaf, and two sausage fatties.

One morning my wife and I took a beach walk to enjoy the sunrise together. The walk—uh, I mean the sunrise, was just stunning. (Short video clip at the bottom of this post.)

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There is so much more to barbecue than grilling. And (for the sake of mankind!) there is more to it than drowning oven-cooked meat in barbecue sauce. In fact, there is more to it than barbecued meat or the many other foods you can grill or smoke.

If you don’t know what I am talking about, it’s high time to learn the basics of real barbecue. While I love grilling and eating grilled burgers and chicken, that’s less than half of “the story”. A more wonderful part of barbecue is cooking “low and slow” with a moderate amount of smoke. The slow cooking process keeps the meat from drying out before it’s done and the smoke gives it indescribable flavor.

But it gets even better. The experience itself is a big part of barbecue—cooking outdoors, sitting around the fire eating, having a party with family and friends. Even if you cook barbecue commercially for a living, these experiences are an important part of the barbecue tradition.

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I have been tempted to rename the Meadow Creek Pig Roaster series, because it confuses some people who don’t know how they work. For instance, a common question goes something like this: Can a Meadow Creek Pig Roaster cook low and slow? The answer is yes, you absolutely can.

Meadow Creek has been building pig roasters since 1980. They were first designed to cook a whole pig, and they certainly do a great job cooking pigs. There is really no easier way to roast a pig than on a Meadow Creek Pig Roaster.

However, they are also a fantastic choice for about any kind of meat you want to cook low and slow. The PR60 and PR72 have lots of room and they make it easy to crank out barbecue perfection. Or you can add a grill pan and grill tons of burgers and steaks. So these cookers are extremely versatile.

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Do you possess an iPad and a craving for great barbecue? We are just “bursting with flavor” to spread the word about StoryQue, our monthly barbecue magazine on iPad’s Newsstand.

It’s been a lot of fun working with the pros on this project. Contributors for this magazine include Jeff Phillips, Michael Pitre from Heaven Made Products, Bill Anderson from the Chatham Artillery BBQ Team, Hot Grill on Grill Action from BBQ Revolution, the folks from National Barbecue Association, and more. We have been amazed how eager and helpful these guys are to be involved.

StoryQue is filled with recipes, tips, reviews, business stories, and other sizzle that will have you drooling in no time. Based on the response of current contributors, I expect we’ll have a few more writers on board very soon.

Last week, we published the second issue and Jeff Phillips from Smoking-Meat.com is on the cover. In this issue, he tells his story about how he got started smoking meat and cooking outdoors. (You’ve probably heard of him through his online community or delicious email newsletter.) He’s even created a recipe called “Pig Pops” especially for this issue of StoryQue.

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This spring we took a family vacation in my beloved Smoky Mountains for 5 nights. We had a lot of good times in the beautiful cabin where we stayed. A few of my highlights were eating picnics and hiking in a thunderstorm with soggy shoes.

Me being the barbecue dude, I took a variety of meats and my barbecue supplies. Upon arrival, I realized the only grill we have is one of those cool park grills. Hmm. This is really great for smoking those hens I brought.

Turns out, you can do a lot of cool stuff with a park grill and I want to show you how I used them to cook a few meals including a smoked meatloaf. 🙂

Here is a slideshow video I made from our trip:

I won’t get into the bears, amazing trails, and magnificent waterfalls right now, but I want to tell you a little about the fun time I had cooking. The most interesting part was fiddling with my converted park grill smoker.

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In the last two months I’ve shared some tips on cooking for a crowd. I’d like to wrap up this three part series today with a discussion on keeping records. I suspect that most people don’t keep records. (I am just trying to get into the habit myself.) But you need to try it and see how easy it really is. This one trick can dramatically boost your confidence for future events PLUS eliminate frustration when you’re trying to go by memory and can’t remember half of what you did three months ago.

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