I would like to start of by trying to differentiate between the words Grilling and Barbecuing. Grilling is having someone over for lunch or dinner on the 4th of July or Labor Day or just simply having friends over for fellowship and some good food cooked on a the grill. There is also tailgating at ballgames and races, cheering on our favorite teams or drivers. This has become the number one pass time in America surpassing baseball. Barbecuing has become a much used term for grilling.

There have been several theories where the word barbecue came from. The most likely one came from the Caribbean Indian practice of cooking meat on lattices over slow burning scraps of wood and bones. The Spanish explorers called the lattices barbacoa. The English interpreted this a barbecue.

No matter where the term came from, today "true barbecuing" is done by slow cooking and smoking meat for long periods of time. I have been grilling during all four seasons all of my adult like but I only attempted barbecuing about 4 years ago.

I bought a small restaurant which had been in my wife's family for about 35 years. The menu had probably not changed much since the time the restaurant was purchased by my now father-in-law 35 years ago. We were in a textile oriented town and the business was very dependant of the mill trade that had kept it going for so long. Wouldn't you know that once I purchased and started running the restaurant, the mills started to close.

I am in North Carolina where pork barbecue is one of the basic food groups. This is when we decided to start serving barbecue so I decided to learn to cook it myself and buy the meat when the grocery stores had it on sale for $.99/pound. I searched the internet for weeks and found an unlimited amount of ways to cook the pork barbecue. Both time and temperature varied over a wide expanse according to where you were looking. Meat preparation and rubs varied greatly. There were a large number of grill and smoker recommendations. This is when I decided that the only way to find out what I liked best was to start out on my own and follow my own instincts. This is exactly what I did and so I wanted to tell you what worked best for me.

The search for the correct cooker or smoker was about as tedious as the search for cooking method. There is everything from professional touring cookers to smokers at ShoppersChoice.com. There is free shipping on select grills!. I settled on a "home made" barrel cooker from a man that builds them in Denver Colorado. I had already promised to cook for a church function and everyone wanted me to serve Southern Style pulled pork barbecue.

Due to the inclement weather in Denver, delivery of my new grill was delayed but I still had to cook for the church. I had to make other arrangements.

This is where I would like to tell you what has worked best for me and maybe in some way will be of some assistance to you. A lot of the selections are tuned for individual taste so this is just a start that can be adjusted your specifics in order for you to obtain the finished product that you are looking for.

My goal was the Eastern North Carolina style hickory smoked pulled pork barbecue. With some slight adjustments, my results have been very satisfying to me and a lot of other peoples taste.

Due to the inclement weather in Denver, I started looking at Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse and decide to try a Char-Griller Super Pro for several reasons. First, the price was very attractive and second, if it didn't work well as a smoker as purchased, a separate smoker box could be added to it for a small amount of money and with little work.

The inclement weather in Denver must have been "Heaven sent" because the Char-Griller has worked out perfectly for my needs. The concept of indirect heat has worked great with the amount of meat that I usually cook each time.

The griller is about the size of a 35 gallon barrel and the top overlaps the bottom portion for a minimal amount of heat and smoke loss. The smoke stack is adjustable and can be almost closed for very little heat loss. The vent is on the lower opposite side bottom and is fully adjustable for the correct amount of air intake. I also use this vent to shake the charcoal grate to clean the charred portion off of the briquette. You can reach through the vent with a stick or rod to do this.

The grilling surface is 4 removable cast iron grates that measure 6.75 wide. It is very easy to use 3 of the grates for 4 Boston Butts and leave the 4th one out to add the charcoal to the vent end. This allows you to grill with indirect heat and does not burn or dry the meat out. This is ideal for my needs. The 4 butts are a total of 30 - 40 pounds of uncooked meat.

If the butts are frozen, let them thaw before preparing them for the griller. If they are not frozen but are in the refrigerator talk them out several hours before preparing them to go on the griller. My preparation is a very simple rub of cooking oil, seasoning ( I use Emeril's Southwest Seasoning), a small amount of Worcestershire sauce, and crushed black pepper. The small amount of cooking oil simple holds the seasoning on to the meat and does not hurt the flavor. I rub all of this very thoroughly to penetrate the crevices of the meat. It is best if you have time to let this set for about an hour before placing the meat on the grill. Spray the grill with cooking oil before it gets hot.

I have found that regular Kingsford charcoal works great and produces a good flavor along with the baste and Hickory Chunks. (Do not use self lighting charcoal) I first tried the natural wood chunk charcoal bit did not like the results any better. They seemed to ash as bad or worse than regular Kingsford charcoal. If you want to use it or try it the Harris Teeter stores in our area carry the wood charcoal from The Original Charcoal Company from Charlotte, NC. This is also the company that bags the Hickory wood chunks.

I recommend that you buy the chunks from Food Lion and not the chips from somewhere else. (Food Lion is the only place that I have found the chunks.) The chips burn up to fast and produce very little smoke. I soak the chunks in water for at least 1 hour before placing in the griller.

I place the fatty side of the butts down on the grill for about hour just to seal off some of the drippings before the inside layers of the meat get hot. After the first hour, I turn the meat over with fatty side up and baste with the following.

The baste that I use is very simple and is made of 2 cups each of white distilled vinegar and apple cider vinegar, 2 tablespoons of the Southwest Seasoning, and one table spoon of the crushed black pepper. The baste is better if it is made up 1 day ahead of time and kept in the refrigerator.

After the first, I baste close to every 2 hours. Try to coordinate your basting and adding charcoal so that you open the griller as little as possible.

Once the first charcoal gets white all over, set the stack with very little opening (about 1/8 of a inch). Set the air intake to about 1/3 opening. The heat should hold between 225 and 250 degrees F for a long time. If it starts to cool, below 225, shake the charcoal rack through the vent hole and be sure that the air flow is not restricted to bad. If it is, clean out with a piece of wood or metal.

Start the charcoal in a charcoal chimney so that it will be ready to add to the griller, (use paper to light the charcoal and not starter) This does not allow the griller to cool while the charcoal is starting. Add the charcoal without leaving the griller open to long. Once you have done this several times, you will feel more comfortable and know the griller better. Do not start the charcoal in the chimney to soon or it will burn to much before you use it.

The 4 butts cook for 10 to 12 hours depending on their size and whether the weather is cold or hot. The griller should stay between 225 and 240 most of the time or if it drops lower for any period of time, this time will have to be extended. The charcoal consumption is between 1 and 2 of the largest Kingsford bags sold at Sam's Club. You can adjust the time if you cook less than 3 butts.

This works for me and I hope that it will be of help to someone else.