Welcome to, The Practical BBQ'r!

[piedmont]

I learned about BBQ as a child watching men selling BBQ on a street
corner or in a back alley. They cooked in homemade cookers fabricated
from 55 gallon drums. On occasion we walked through the cool summer
evening to the nearest Q-Master to purchase Saturday BBQ.

Where I came from, the word, 'barbecue' was always printed out on a
cardboard sign as, BBQ or Bar-B-Q, never barbecue. Barbecue was too
formal or perhaps simply too long to print out! All we cared about
was when we saw those little signs. We knew it wouldn't be long before
that wonderful aroma grabbed our noses and got our mouths a watering.

It went like this, there usually was a short line of neighbors
standing in front of the cooker. As each customer ordered, the drum
lid was raised and the selections were displayed. You could see what
was cooking and a small pot filled with the man's spicy secret mop.
What was ready to sell was carefully wrapped in minutely wrinkled
aluminum foil.

The selection wasn't complicated, sausage, ribs and chicken. You made
your selections, which were then wrapped in foil with a splash of the
mop and away you went, carefully holding your hot and aromatic
package!

After that a family member often cooked chicken on an upright,
rectangle cooker with an adjustable coal pan not unlike the Hasty Bake
of today. Then I discovered a Special Interest Group (SIG) named
Alt.Food.Barbecue and learned there was a world of knowledge freely
given which opened a whole new world of bbq to me.

Anyway, welcome to the new, The Practical BBQ'r! discussion group.
Recent formed to provide a place to discuss bbq cooked using log,
coals from logs and briquettes. As well as making a homemade cooker,
modifying store bought cookers. Tips, tricks, techniques and recipes
about bbq.

I formed this discussion group after seeing that there were no non-
commercial bbq forums, and those that were are filled with gross and
massive amounts of off topic as well as trolls and persistent
flaming. It will be moderated to control all of the above.

So welcome and hopefully folks will join and the discussions and
questions will grow!