BBQ schmo to BBQ pro

Hill Country

Since most people in New York don’t have the luxury of a home barbecue pit, I asked Pete for a few suggestions that wannabe urban pitmasters can incorporate at home. First, I wondered whether Pete was a grill lid open or grill lid closed type of guy—I’ve heard differing opinions from other sources. As I suspected, he emphasized that if you close the lid you’re just roasting over open coals and not actually grilling.

The heat should come from the open fire below the meat, not hot air trapped in a closed grill. When you close the lid you’ve just turned your grill into a glorified al fresco oven.