Modern Marvels/BBQ Tech

BBQ Tech
Season 13, Episode 20
Airdate	June 28, 2006
Written by
Directed by
← 3x19 Money	3x21 → American Eats Special
Modern Marvels — Season Thirteen

BBQ Tech is the twentieth episode of the thirteenth season of Modern Marvels.

Barbecue dates back to to the indigenous people of the West Indies. From there it spread throughout the Americas. Today barbecue is an American tradition and the ingenuity of its proponents has lead to the diversifying of different regional and personal styles.

Notes

• Contestants at barbecue events build customs grills to suit their preferred style of cooking.
• Although cooking meat dates back tens of thousands of years, it is unknown of their method can be called barbecue. Barbecue differs from grilling in that it is done slowly on low temperature.
• The Spanish came across natives in the West Indies cooking meat over a "barbacot". This might be the source of the name barbecue.
• Carolinas have a tradition of barbecuing hogs. It dates back to the earliest colonies. In the Southwest, barbecuing is associated with cattle.
• Kansas City was one of the earliest cities to develop a barbecue culture. Today it has more than ninety barbecue restaurants.
• Backyard grilling became popular after World War II.
• The most popular fuels for barbecue grilling includes wood, wood pellets, charcoal, and propane gas.
• Charcoal is developed by burning wood until it is almost pure carbon. Lump charcoal is made from pure wood. However the most popular type used in barbecuing is the briquette (invented by Henry Ford).
• At the Kingsford plant, an average of 16 million bags of briquette are manufactured each year.
• Gas grill sales now have taken over those of charcoal grills.
• TEC is a company that manufactures infrared grills; a type of electromagnetic radiation. According to the company, this creates less moisture loss and less shrinkage in the meat.
• Like the meat, the sauces used also varies by region. In the Carolinas they prefer mustard and vinegars. In the Southwest they use barbecue sauce and hot sauces.
• There are now barbecue equipment stores and mail-order barbecue due to the popularity of grilling and barbecuing.

Quotes

• Kansas City's American Royal Barbecue contest is one of the largest cook-offs in the world. Many of the judges eat more than seven pounds of meat in just over 24 hours to determine the winner.
• The hotness of peppers is measured in Scoville units. Jalapeños average 4,000 Scovilles, while habañeros can reach 350,000.
• According to the Hearth, Patio, and Barbecue Association, 81 percent of American households own a grill, and 65 percent of those grills are fueled by propane.