If "Do I look fat in this?" is the most dangerous question to answer when asked by the love of your life, what would be the most dangerous question to answer if asked by your barbecue star?

Clue #1 – Has nothing to do with body image.
Clue #2 – Has everything to do with self-image
Clue #3 – Seems completely harmless to answer

Oh, what could it be … Give up?

The most dangerous question to answer is ….

“What’s Barbecue?”

Why is this such a dangerous question? Because if you don’t actually know the answer, you might THINK you know and answer something like, “Barbecue is when you grill burgers on your backyard barbecue.”

(Loud buzzer) Wrong.

Now you’ve done it. You’ve just upset Old Smoky and now he’s set to rip you a new nugget of knowledge. Dare to use words like “grill” and “burgers” while talking about barbecuing in the presence of a barbecue guru, and you are done for. You might as well answer “Do I look fat in this?” with “Yeah, actually. You could lose a few,” and do yourself in quick.

Here’s the million dollar answer that’ll save you (and your) face: Barbecue is cooking meat low and slow. Remember those three sweet words, “Low and Slow.” That’s the phrase that’ll save your hide and your pride. What exactly does “low and slow” mean? Low and slow means to cook meat over an open fire set up for low heat for a long, long, time enough to play a round of golf, wash the car, dog or clean out the garage, long kind of time.

Barbecue is building the perfect fire and setting the conditions just right to get the perfect low cooking temperature (200-300 degrees F, depending on the cut of meat). Barbecue is stoking that fire from dawn until dusk when your perfectly marinated, mopped and basted piece of meat begins to fall right off its bones. Now that’s barbecue.

So the next time you find yourself cornered by a barbecue pro, self-professed or otherwise, and that most dangerous question gets asked, you’ll know how to answer: Barbecue is cooking meat low and slow.

(You’re all on your own for the other question!)

Happy grillin'!

Dusty Patterson learned so much from Randy Pryor's book "Barbecue Secrets Revealed"! How to Barbecue Like A Barbarian And Grill Like a Grand Chef!" that he convinced Randy to let him spread the word! For killer BBQ recipes, tips and tricks, sign up for their free newsletter at Barbecue-Secrets.com

Source: www.isnare.com