What is the difference between a barbecue and a grill party?

Answer 1

Barbecue is a particular recipe for cooking meats. The exact recipe varies by region in the US, but in most areas it involves long, slow indirect cooking and smoking with a hardwood or charcoal fire with a specialized spice rub and/or vinegar-based tomato or mustard sauce of some kind. The meat comes out very spicy, juicy and tender, so this method of cooking was originally designed by early American pioneers to make use of tougher cuts of meats. In common usage, barbecue sometimes means a party where barbecued meat is served.

Grilling is just a method of cooking anything. You cook food... any kind of food... right over high direct heat on a grill, usually an outdoors charcoal grill but not always (outdoor and indoor gas grills are popular too). It can be meat, seafood, veggies, even fruits, and doesn't involve any particular recipe or sauce. A grill party usually just means that everyone brings something to cook on the grill. You see all kinds of interesting things.

Of course, illiterate mutts that we are, Americans often confuse the two and use the terms interchangeably. Go figure.

Answer 2

Location,Location, Location

Answer 3

If you were here in the UK you'd be asking that too. Fogjazz has the correct answer below and I've seen it on TV - it's an American differentiation. Over here we don't get enough hot weather to spend time deliberating over such issues. For us, if you're cooking outside over flames, it's a barbecue and if it's inside over flames, you've got a gas hob or your kitchen is on fire.

Answer 4

In Texas, BBQ infers Beef Brisket, whereas any kind of meat could be grilled.

Answer 5

a grill party is cooking more than just you traditional bar-be-que items. have fun