Yes dear, I love the black crusty part. |
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About Barbecuing In this case, barbecuing (as opposed to grilling) refers to cooking meat at low temperatures for a long time until it is tender. Often, this involves using the inexpensive, tougher cuts that are very difficult to turn into a delicious fork-tender meal. There is a wonderful alchemy to barbecuing. Everyone starts with roughly the same piece of meat, but somehow no two barbecues taste the same. They experiment with different rubs and preparations, cooking temperatures and times, charcoals and woods all in their quest for the perfect brisket. Before we started researching this, we thought brisket was just something our grandmother used to make. Boy, were we wrong! It seems that a well-prepared brisket is the pinnacle of fine dining. Seriously, it's really interesting to listen to them talk about the different techniques and recipes they use. 
Find out about Barbecuing You can find out what they're up to without much effort. The following resources should help. Imagine the fun of finally understanding what they're talking about! Ask your Barbecuer They talk about barbecuing as art, but there's a good portion of science to it too. They know all the different cuts of meat and how they behave. They read reviews of different brands of charcoal. They know how different woods affect flavor. It's likely your barbecuer has strong preferences regarding particular cuts of meat and cooking methods. Ask them to tell you why. You'll hear about marbling and smoking times, rubs and mops, marinades and most of all, the tremendous patience to cook meat for four to sixteen hours. Ask them what a smoke ring is and why they happen. Ask them how much salt should be in the rub. This crowd isn't flipping store-bought burgers. They know what they're doing and it's both fascinating and fun! Read Up The BBQ Mailing List has an excellent FAQ full of information about what barbecuers do and how they do it. While they would read it to find out how to barbecue, a sponsor can learn a lot about what a barbecuer needs and wants.
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Gift Ideas This is an enthusiam with lots of consumables. They use things up. Therefore, there are plenty of opportunities to be nice to your barbecuer.
Gift Certificates Smokers, starters, racks, etc. There are all sorts of things they want that you just can't pick out for them. Anyway, picking out their own new toys is half the fun. Gift certificates for places that are loaded with things they want are a great way to do something nice for your barbecuer. Gift certificates start at $25. They are available in many denominations and are delivered by email. The link above is for the $25 gift certificate, but other amounts are available. Gift certificates are delivered by postal mail. We like Sears Gift Cards because they never expire. Sears is widely available and they carry popular brands like Weber. If in doubt, Amazon is a good fallback. They have almost everything.
Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice Barbecuers like to make their own mixtures of spices (rubs), sauces, mops, brines and marinades. Most of the ingredients for these can be found at any good grocery store. A box or basket with a selection of supplies is a great gift for your barbecuer. If you see a barbecue recipe that looks good to you, print it out and tuck it in the basket along with the non-meat ingredients needed to prepare it. Spices Kosher salt, table salt, paprika, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, cayenne pepper, chili powder, oregano, sage, sugar (white or brown), bay leaves, thyme, basil, coriander seed, dry mustard, and Lawry's are common choices, but most spices are within the realm of possibility. If you want to go above and beyond the grocery store, try one of these dedicated spice suppliers. Penzey's has a nicely laid out, easy-to-use site offering a variety of premade blends and rubs, as well as individual standard and specialty spices. If you don't feel like selecting individual spices, you can choose from a variety of nice gift boxes. They also offer gift certificates, if you just can't decide. Other Ingredients There's plenty you can add to a gift basket besides spices. Try: ketchup, Dijon mustard, yellow mustard, molasses, tomato sauce, tomato puree, corn syrup, lemon juice, white vinegar, cider vinegar, worcestershire sauce, liquid smoke, honey and any kind of hot sauce. If you want to add specialty hot sauces (or gift certificates for hot sauces), try one of these hot sauce sites.
Books
Keeping the Fires Burning Chimney Starter Chimney starters are a popular and inexpensive barbecue tool. They are available from big box stores, but most barbecuers prefer the higher quality ones like the Weber line carried by Sears. Weber Chimney Starter at Sears Lightning Nuggets Starter fluid makes the barbecue taste nasty. Therefore, your barbecuer needs something else to get the fire started. Lightning nuggets do a nice job without making a mess or adding an unpleasant taste to the food. Wood If you are a woodworker, you have a wonderful opportunity to be nice to your barbecuer. Save your hardwood scraps for them. If you get ahold of oak, hickory, cherry, apple, pecan - anything but softwood, cut it into chunks and give it to them to use for smoking. Ask them what size they want the chunks before cutting it up.
Tools and Stuff Everyday Stuff Your barbecuer needs a bunch of standard items. Reclosable plastic bags, neoprene gloves, brushes, long forks, tongs, etc. Rather than get them a package of low quality tools because they say "Barbecue Set" on them, consider a gift certificate to one of the "marts" or a box store like Lowe's or Home Depot. These are readily available and they will always need something there. This lets your barbecuer pick out whatever they need at the moment and to take advantage of those occasions when good barbecue tools become available. Barbecue Tools If you want to give barbecue tools, one of gift certificates listed in the Gift Certificates section is probably your best bet. However, if you really want to give it a try, they mainly need grill brushes, tongs and forks. For all of the above, you want heavy and long-handled. If the tools look ridiculously oversized to you, they are probably the right ones. Thermometers Again, they do want these, but don't try to pick for them. Thermometers can be anything from simple spikes to wireless transmitters that set of an alarm when they get to temperature. Their thermometer needs also vary based on their setup. Take the gift certificate route or find out which one they want. If you do try to buy your barbecuer a thermometer without their input, get one with numbers. Don't get the kind that just say Low/Ideal/High. Cooler A large insulated cooler is a great gift for a barbecuer. Consider one of the one with a handle and/or wheels. Meat (and beverages) are heavy. Aprons Those "Kiss The Cook" aprons are cute and all, but these folks have a big messy job to do. Get them some heavyweight butcher's aprons with pockets. These can be had at uniform and restaurant supply places. A quick internet search will find a number of places to get good parons in your choice of colors for under $9.00. Feeling Generous? If you're feeling generous, high quality cookware and utensils and knives can be expensive, but it's likely your barbecuer has their eye on some. If you want to get them a bit closer to their dream saucepans, a Williams-Sonoma gift certificate is cash to spend in paradise. Williams-Sonoma Gift Certificate
Sign 'Em Up A membership to a barbecue society gets them event calendars, newsletters full of barbecue tips and recipes, and the opportunity to get together (or compete) with a whole lot of people who love to barbecue. Your barbecuer gets a lot of bang for your buck with a gift like this, and you get to support a group dedicated to increasing the practice of your barbecuer's favorite activity. This list of barbecue societies is by no means comprehensive. If none of these are for your area, look around a bit. Barbecuers are everywhere! Greater Omaha Barbecue Society If you want to give them the newsletter without actually signing them up for an organization, National Barbecue News is a super choice.
Barbecue Tour It shouldn't come as a surprise that they like barbecue. Make your next vacation a barbecue tour. Pick an area and take your barbecuer on a tour to sample the various offerings of the local barbecue places. It might take a bit of detective work to find the barbecue places in any particular area, but the hunt is half the fun. Make sure you bring a notebook to record where you went and what you and your barbecuer think of the food at each place so they can report back to their barbecuer friends. Here are a few lists to get you started: Barbecue News Restaurant Finder G.A.S. Barbecue Restaurant Reviews Florida Barbecue Association List of Florida Barbecue Joints |
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