TIL my cousin thinks BBQ means burning everything on high heat

We had a family cookout last month, and my cousin volunteered to handle the ribs. He fired up the grill to max, tossed on the meat, and walked away for an hour. When we checked, the ribs were black on the outside and raw inside, with smoke pouring out like a tire fire. He insisted that's how you get a good char, quoting some TV chef who loves 'high heat searing'. I had to show him how to set up for low and slow, using indirect heat. He kept arguing that real BBQ is fast and fiery, which had everyone laughing. In the end, we ordered pizza and let his 'creation' cool off for the trash. Now he's banned from grill duty until he watches a few basic videos.

4 comments

4 Comments

ruby8751mo ago

Isn't this why so many hobbies get ruined by skipping to the advanced tricks first?

morgan_king368d ago

Mary said it's just food, not a life skill test... but grilling wrong can actually be a safety thing. If you leave a flaming grill unattended for an hour, that's how you start a real fire or make everyone sick with raw meat. Letting someone try again after burning burgers is one thing, but walking away from a max heat grill is a different level of risk. It's less about the ruined ribs and more about showing you understand the basic responsibility.

blake7921mo ago

Honestly @mary_nelson71, but where do you draw the line between a simple mess up and not knowing the basic idea? Like if someone thinks bbq is just cremating food, is that still just a learning moment?

mary_nelson711mo ago

Everyone messes up grilling sometimes, it's not that deep. Ruby875 has a point about skipping steps, but banning someone over burnt ribs seems a bit much. My brother once turned burgers into charcoal briquettes and we still let him near the grill, he just needed to learn. It's just food, not a life skill test.