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Q. What is the difference between broiling, grilling and barbecuing? — “Tex,” Little Chute

A. This is a very frequent question among many of those who use a grill. Broiling by definition is “a dry-heat cooking method in which foods are cooked by heat radiating from a source located above the cooking surface.” The definition of grilling is “a dry-heat cooking method in which foods are cooked by heat radiating from a source located below the cooking surface.” Most broiling and grilling is done directly utilizing moderate to high heat, and they are basically the same thing with the only difference being the location of the heat source. One advantage to grilling over broiling is the juices from the meat drip onto the heat source and return to flavor the meat as steam and smoke. Barbecuing is a cooking method that is almost always done with very moist, indirect heat at low to medium temperatures and is commonly referred to as “low and slow.” This low temperature long-term cooking method allows the infusion of different varieties of smoke to permeate the meat in concert with various rubs, mops and sauces as part of the flavoring process. The real key to barbecue is the high moisture environment which helps the meat become more tender and palatable as it breaks down the connective tissue collagen into gelatin which is soft and pleasing to the palate.