Interested in learning how to barbecue well but unsure of where to start? Here is our beginner’s guide to BBQ and smoking techniques in 2025.
Barbecuing and offset smoking are time-honored traditions often associated with the United States (I’m looking at you, Texas) that bring out a real depth of flavor in meat and other ingredients by applying fire and smoke.
Some of my fondest memories are of family barbeques with paper plates, burgers, and half-burnt, blackened sausages. Other families will have incredible BBQ recipes, handed down through generations, that persist to this day.
But if you’re interested in learning how to barbecue and you’re a beginner, where do you start?
This guide introduces beginners to the essentials of barbecuing techniques, with more guides planned for the future.
Read on: The Complete Guide to Smokers and Grills: How to Pick the Right One for Your Next BBQ
Understanding The Differences Between Barbecue and Offset Smoking
Barbecuing can be used to describe cooking over flames or cooking food slowly over indirect heat.
Depending on your locale, BBQ may be used as an umbrella term to describe various forms of outdoor cooking that utilize heat, or it may be associated with a specific method of cooking.
Offset smoking, sometimes also known as indirect cooking or indirect BBQ, is typically associated with grilling and cooking using equipment that includes a separate smoking box or firebox, which allows smoke to be controlled and to penetrate food slowly.
There are countless ways to barbecue. It’s not an exact art (indeed, that’s half of the fun), and techniques can include fast or slow grilling and smoking, applying rubs, wrapping and unwrapping, and more.
Let’s jump into some of the most well-known barbecue techniques.
Popular Barbeque Methods
Barbequing low and slow
- Focused on cooking food gently with time to break down collagen and fat
- Heat: Wood pellets, charcoal, gas
- Temperatures: Varies, 180°F+
- Time: Varies, several hours to days
- Example foods: Brisket, pork ribs, pork shoulder, chicken wings
Smoking
- Focused on cooking food gently with a lot of smoke and time to break down collagen, imparting smoky flavor
- Heat: Wood pellets, charcoal, gas
- Temperatures: Varies, 180°F+
- Time: Varies, several hours to days
- Example foods: Brisket, pork ribs, pork shoulder, chicken wings
Roasting
- Focused on cooking food gently with indirect heat. A rotisserie may be used.
- Heat: Wood pellets, charcoal, gas
- Temperatures: Varies, 225°F+
- Time: Several hours+
- Example foods: Whole chicken, duck, geese
Cold smoking
- Focused on imparting smoke into food without applying heat, a water pan may also be used to regulate temperature
- Heat: Wood chips
- Temperatures: Cold
- Time: Often between one and four hours
- Example foods: Cheese, fish, meat products, salt, butter, garlic
Grilling, direct cooking
- Focused on quickly cooking food with direct fire and heat
- Heat: Wood chips
- Temperatures: 375f – 500f+
- Time: Minutes
- Example foods: Burgers, sausages, steak
Pit Barbeque
- Focused on cooking larger cuts of meat, often by cooking in pits underground
- Heat: Coals
- Temperatures: Low
- Time: 4 – 24 hours
- Example foods: Pigs (hog), beef rib (whole)
On coals
- Rapid cooking directly over coals
- Heat: Coal, wood chunks
- Temperatures: High
- Time: Minutes
- Example foods: Steak
Other interesting methods from around the world
Braai: Braai is a South African term used to describe a social gathering. Food is cooked using wood and/or charcoal, and you’ll often find items such as boerewors sausage, steak, chicken, and braai-broodjie sandwiches.
Hibachi: A hibachi is a type of Japanese grill, typically with charcoal, often found at home indoors or in ‘salarymen’ bars and restaurants across the country. Skewered meat, including yakitori, is a popular food item to cook.
Korean BBQ: This is when you cook your own food at the table, including thinly-sliced meats and vegetables. There may also be a hotpot, sauces, and wraps.
Additional resources:
–The Best BBQ TikTok Accounts to Follow in 2025
–The Best BBQ Instagram accounts to follow in 2025
–The best books for BBQ and grilling
Barbeque and smoking FAQs
