Oooh, hot topic this one......Over the last year, I've found that quite often "If you're NOT a barbecuer you THINK you are, and if you ARE a barbecuer you know that the other guy is a GRILLER." (really, it's not that confusing). The problem is, where I grew up, anything you cooked outside was called Barbecue (I now know that I was GRILLING all those years). Most contemporary yuppie-types will also adhere to that interpretation. In fact, the mass media continues to have "sales on GAS Barbecues", or "Beach Barbecue parties", or tips on "Barbecueing Steak" (eewwww, don't do that to a good steak)....even my favorite GRILLING book has the word BARBECUE in the title (*sigh). What's the diff, you ask? LOTS, I say. Let's look at some definitions and examples:
Grilling - Traditionally, searing lean cuts of meat directly over an open flame, at temperatures of 400-1200 degrees, for 2-15 minutes. Some examples would be burgers, steaks, hot dogs, sausages, chicken breasts, etc. Flavor comes from the burning of juices as they drip into the coals.
Cooking devices include:
Barbecueing - Traditionally, slow cooking fatty or tough pieces of meat indirectly over heated coals, at temperatures of 180-260 degrees, for 5-18 hours. Some examples would be ribs, brisket, pork shoulder, whole chickens, whole turkeys, whole hogs, etc. Flavor comes from woodsmoke as it passes over the food.
Cooking devices will include:
Now for the crossover, you CAN make food that is BARBECUED on your GRILL, but you won't be GRILLING it......and it won't quite be real BARBECUE (but pretty close). Plus, it'll be a pain to do since your cooker wasn't made for it, AND you'll be losing a lot of cooking area since HALF of your grill will be unavailable to put food on. (see Barbecueing on a Kettle Grill: *coming soon*)
If you're cooking on a Kamado or BGE, the jury's still out on that one, but see my friend AlanZ for support.
If your cooker involves an ELECTRIC heating element, I'm sorry but you have an OVEN!!! (Try alt.food.cakes) *chuckling* I couldn't help it.