I am a firm believer that a great cook can create wonderful food on anything from a $99 K-Mart gasser to a $4 Grand FEC-100. You gotta KNOW YOUR PIT and how to cook on it. Wonderful barbeque -- the stuff I give 9's to as a judge -- is a delicate and carefully engineered balance of the meat itself, the method by which it is cooked (e.g. smoke or grill) and the spicing (rub, injection, mop, spray, sauce, brine, etc.) all coming together to create an interesting and exciting experience for the eye and palate. This balance automatically rules out any one thing dominating. In competition, the most frequent errors cooks make are over-saucing and over-smoking. They may still make good barbeque, just not GREAT barbeque. Consistent winners achieve this balance and can replicate it consistently. Hard, hard work!
A similar dynamic occurs in the back yard. A skilled backyard cooker can really light up friends and family by mastering the capabilities and idiosyncracies of his pit and putting together the right combinations of his equipment, his skill, and his groceries and condiments so that folks rave about it and want 2nds and 3rds. Hard, hard work!
Hub
Hub