SALT LAKE CITY — America has fallen in love with barbecuing and it’s not just the burgers and dogs we cook in our back yard, but the classic cuts of barbecue, like pork ribs, beef brisket and pulled pork.

While these cuts have always been a staple of local dining in the barbecue belt that stretches from California to the Carolinas, now the rest of the country is waking up to classic barbecue. As Americans pull out their grills for another season of outdoor cooking, many of them are looking for ways to create those same great smoky sweet flavors in their own backyards.

Though some people may not be ready to commit to an 18 hour smoke of a pork shoulder, there are some simple things you can do to make foods on the grill taste more like the classic barbecue of the south. Here are the top four secrets to creating your own great barbecue.

Secret #1 — Smoke

Barbecue is a different cooking method than “grilling.” Grilling is cooking over direct heat, while barbecue is cooking over indirect heat, in the presence of smoke that gives the food its distinct flavor. By adding smoke to even the plain burgers and hot dogs of the average cook out, you will notice an exponential step up in the flavor and the accolades you gain.

While most barbecue pit masters rely on wood fires or dedicated smokers to achieve this flavor, the backyard enthusiast can do the same thing with something as simple as tin foil and a bag of wood chips. Barbecue wood chips are usually found on the store shelf right next to where the charcoal is sold.

Wood chips come in several flavors. Cherry, apple, mesquite and hickory are some the most popular, but there are others as well. Of all of the woods available, however, hickory seems to be the flavor that most people associate with classic barbecue.

By wrapping one or two cups of wood chips in a piece of tinfoil and creating a few holes in it with a pen, you can create a smoker packet. When placed on the grill or the baffles below, it will heat up and produce some great smoke that makes everything taste better. For a new treat, try smoking a pizza.

If this smoking technique works well for you, you can purchase a metal “smoker box” and save on the tinfoil.

Secret #2 - Rubs

The next secret to great barbecue is to start using a rub. Rubs are mixtures of dry spices that add flavor and in some cases, seal the meat to keep it moist while cooking over long periods of time.

Rubs are applied thick onto big cuts like pork shoulder and thinner on smaller cuts like ribs and chicken. While there are many commercial varieties available, I prefer to make my own, both for taste and economic reasons. Our barbecue team has a spicy “Red Rub” for strong meats and a more subtle “White Rub” for chicken and fish.

Stores that sell bulk spices often sell shaker bottles that work well for home made rubs. If you are cooking chicken, take the skin off before adding the rub. This is also great on vegetable roasts of cut up onions, carrots, zucchini, yellow squash, and mushrooms. Tossing the vegetables in a little olive oil first can help the rub stick.

Secret #3 — Temperature

If want to try cooking some of the classic barbecue cuts like ribs, shoulder or brisket, remember that without cooking them hot enough or for long enough, they will be very tough. The solution is knowing what’s going on inside while they cook.

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While pork and beef are considered “done” at 140 degrees Fahrenheit, the tenderizing process actually begins at 160 degrees Fahrenheit, and the internal temperatures must be kept there long enough for the meat to become tender. While many cooks are satisfied to get the meat “done,” it can be quite another thing to have it tender.

Ribs take about four hours total, but brisket and pork shoulders can take 12 to 14 hours to cook. If you don’t hit those internal temperatures, you may still have a tough piece of meat. A meat thermometer is a critical barbecue tool.

Secret 4 — Moisture

This last tip is not so much a secret as a solution to a problem. Many barbecuers start their grills hot to sear and seal the meat, then drop the temperature to around 175 to 250 degrees to finish the long slow cook. One of the challenges of this method is to keep the outside of the meat from turning into jerky, while getting the inside hot enough for long enough to be tender.

This is done two ways; first by applying a mop, and second by wrapping your meat in tin foil to protect it from burning once it's a good color. A mop is a thin solution that is applied to meats to keep them moist during cooking. While many smokers have water pans in them to help with this, mops are the sure fire method. A spray bottle is the perfect tool for this.

After the outside is seared, spray down the meat every 20 minutes or so to keep it moist and make sure it doesn’t look like a meteorite. When the outside is a nice, rich brown and the smoke has been on it, wrap it in tinfoil and keep it on the grill or oven until it is tender.

Of all the techniques and methods I have found over the years of cooking barbecue, these four have made the biggest difference in my backyard cooking.

Quinn Orr is the author of "Where There's Smoke, There's Barbecue." He lives in Farmington, Utah with his family and four barbecues. For more great barbecue ideas, visit his website teachmebbq.com.

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