[Spareribs]

A bit of a strange story that was not supposed to be a bbq but kind of happened by accident: When I was around 8 years old, my dad had to get rid of a bunch of tree branches in the back yard so he burned them in a metal barrel and it was an all day long process. Towards the end of the day, there was smoldering embers burning so on a whim, he wrapped a chicken thigh loosely with foil and placed it on the smoldering ashes. Since it was in a barrel, a lot of the smoke from the branches got into the meat like how a BBQ smoker works.  After about an hour or so, he took it out. I took one bite and I was in heaven. 
 
I'll never forget that incredible savory smokey flavor and the juiciness of the chicken. It was a kind of flavor that you normally don't find in restaurants or in the kitchen since the natural smoke permitted the meat. Unfortunately, after that only one bite, my friend grabbed that chicken thigh from me and ate the rest fast because it was so amazing in flavor. I'll never forget that incredible taste and it was only one bite. Fortunately I can now recreate it on my barbecue smoker using wood chips and charcoal to recreate a similar experience.
 
I think what was special about that experience is that it was similar to how barbecue got started hundreds of thousands of years ago when early cavemen discovered it. It was probably a similar experience where trees were burning and there was a dead animal placed on the fire and by accident, cave men discovered something of a revelation. The barbecue.

 

[billybob_jcv]

I grew-up in a family of BBQ-challenged people. Not only were we from California - where BBQ equals grilling over bad-smelling charcoal "briquets" - but my parents believed that "medium-well plus" was the only acceptable way to cook meat. It was really a shame, because since I also grew-up on a farm with livestock, we always had a freezer full of excellent meat. My parents always asked the butcher to cut that poor animal into thinner steaks so that they "would cook better". I didn't really appreciate how badly my father treated that meat until 20 years later when I met my wife. Her family was exactly the opposite - her father was a BBQ Master - and his specialty was cooking one of the only BBQ items that California can be proud of: Tri-Tip. He mixed his own recipe of dry-rub that was phenomenal, and he cooked exclusively over oak on a large grill that he had made himself. It was a revelation! There was no sticky-sweet bottled BBQ sauce trying to cover up the overdone meat - and the perfectly cooked medium-to-medium-rare meat also had that perfect bark of crusty char.

I had no choice except to marry his daughter...

 

[Riza Hawkeye]

BBQ memories are easily come by when your Australian, I think my first was nothing too special food wise. We had a kids party at the park and of course cooking an outdoor barbecue comes second nature to most Aussie parents I suppose. We had chops, sausages, burgers and all types of stuff cooked up. I remember as a child crying because I dropped my Sausage in the grass and I didn't get another one because we had run out.
 
As far as BBQ restaurant quality goes we used to live around the corner from a BBQ join Cuts Co or something like that, and I remember the revelation getting some ribs was. How the meat just flaked off the bone and how soft and tender it was. Now we have Big Boy BBQ as a franchise set up nearby.

 

[Spareribs]

Wow Australian BBQ. I've heard of it. That sounds great. Australian BBQ is famous.