Comparisons · Two ways of cooking
Low-and-slow smoking or Skewer grilling
Not really alternatives, and the useful answer says so and then explains what each is actually for.
What each one is
Low-and-slow smoking
Many hours at low temperature with smoke, until collagen-rich cuts become tender. The method that gives American barbecue its name and its arguments.
Skewer grilling
Small pieces threaded onto skewers and cooked close over an open fire. Included because three separately sourced traditions turn out to share it, and because the skewer material — iron, bamboo, lemongrass, bicycle spoke — is a real variable that the sources themselves distinguish.
What actually differs
| Aspect | Low-and-slow smoking | Skewer grilling |
|---|---|---|
| The fire it needs This is the difference. Everything else about the two techniques follows from where the fire is relative to the food. | Smoking, Low and slow | Direct heat |
| What it suits | Brisket, pork shoulder, ribs — high-collagen cuts; Any cut that toughens before it tenderises | Small pieces that would fall through a grate; Cooking where the eater is served continuously rather than at one sitting |
| What it does not suit The more useful half of the comparison, and the half most published guidance leaves out. | Lean cuts, which dry out long before anything useful happens | Anything thick enough to need indirect heat |
| Cookers that can do it | 11 of the 11 modelled | 7 of the 11 modelled |
Which one, for what
Conditions rather than a verdict. Each line below is a thing one of them can do that the other cannot, or does without arrangement where the other needs it — taken from the what each cooker is documented as doing, rather than from a preference.
Low-and-slow smoking, if:
- Brisket, pork shoulder, ribs — high-collagen cuts.
- Any cut that toughens before it tenderises.
Skewer grilling, if:
- Small pieces that would fall through a grate.
- Cooking where the eater is served continuously rather than at one sitting.