Gas or charcoal??? Personal preference is charcoal with added "wet" wood chips to get some "smoke" flavor. Charcoal used? Are briquettes avail or is homemade charcoal the only option?
We use gas. Given you cannot find a big tender rib eye or porterhouse steak here, I found barbecue chicken or pork chops is pretty much the same and easier and cleaner with gas.
Your not going to get that nice flavored smoke you might get by BBQ'ing meat in the US when using such hardwoods such as oak, hickory or mestquite. They just don't have these types of woods here in the PI. In fact, you will be very very lucky to even find a small bag of these wood chips here in any store in the PI. Just like finding quality beef or dairy products, this is the country that will not provide any of it. Want rice and pork with lots of fat ... you have found the right place to live!
I may have sounded very negative with my above post, but it's a fact ... nobody comes to the PI to savor big Texas steaks or Memphis BBQ, but let me help you out just a little : You can make very good pulled pork BBQ sandwiches right here in the Philippines (even though you can't buy hardwood such as oak to slow cook and smoke the pork over). ___________________________________ 1. Get a nice sized chunk of pork at the grocery store that don't have too much fat on it 2. Cut it into some 4" x 4" pieces 3. Oil it down with vegetable oil, then apply black pepper, salt and red pepper flakes 4. Cook the pork pieces over the local charcoal you buy here until almost done (it's pretty much crap charcoal, but it's better than nothing) 5. Put the cooked meat into a crock-pot or just a medium sized pot with a little water ... cover with a lid 6. Let this steam (very slow boil) for about 4 hours ... Add a little water as needed so the pot don't go dry 7. When you can just shred the pork with a fork, remove the extra water and continue shredding all of it 8. Mix in Hunts BBQ sauce to your liking (you can buy the Hunts BBQ sauce in a plastic bottle at the Lee Plaza grocery store) 9. Pile your shredded (pulled pork) BBQ onto a good hamburger bun ........ Enjoy ! Note: Goes best with massive quantities of San Miguel beer
I use gas too. Much easier than standing there fanning some crap charcoal. We tried the rib eyes from Belcris but didn't care for them however the New Yorks weren't too bad.
Wood from Mango trees are close to oak (Note: Mango is a cousin to poison ivy so it is suggested to use the inner wood not the small branches for smoking, some people may be allergic to the smoke) and Acacia wood is like mesquite wood
