The assistant general manager at Ruth’s Chris Steak House in Chicago, Illinois, Eric Scofield has been in the restaurant industry for nearly two decades. An avid cook himself, Eric Scofield enjoys smoking meats when he’s not busy at the Chicago restaurant.
Often times, people refer to smoking, grilling, and barbecuing meats as if they are synonymous terms, when in fact they are three different techniques. Grilling cooks meat at high heat for a few minutes. Temperatures for grilling are often between 400 and 500 degrees Fahrenheit. This is because grilling seeks to seal in the juices of a piece of meat by rapidly charring the surface. Tender meats are generally better for grilling.
Meanwhile, barbecuing meat is done at a much lower temperature of between 190 and 300 degrees. Most meats are barbecued for a few hours, and the technique is best-suited for larger pieces of meat from animals with tough muscle tissue. Normally, barbecuing is reserved for pork. It makes meat much more tender and allows it to come away from the bone with minimal effort.
Finally, there is smoking. Smoking can take anywhere from one hour to two weeks and relies on indirect heat to cook the meat. Generally taking place at temperatures between 52 and 140 degrees, smoking requires a good deal of patience. There are two basic types of smoking: cold smoking, which is good for chicken, salmon, or sausage; and hot smoking, which is good for ham and ribs. Cold smoking is done between 68 and 86 degrees, and hot smoking is between 126 and 176 degrees.
