Technique & cooking guides
Our most-read articles are the ones you can act on tonight:
- Prime Rib Cooking Times — why recipes disagree, and how to nail a roast whether you go high heat or low and slow.
- Barbecue Success With the Rule of Thirds — the grill-zone habit that stops you burning food forever.
- What Is a Smoke Ring? — the science behind barbecue's pink badge of honor.
- Build Your Own BBQ Pit — our very first feature, still the best weekend project in barbecue.
Over the years we also covered the small stuff that makes a big difference: keeping sauces low in sugar so they do not burn, understanding cooking times for big cuts, and the endless, joyful debate over wood, rubs, and technique. For hands-on walkthroughs, see the how-to guides.
Stories from the community
Some of the writing we are proudest of was never about technique at all. When a major hurricane displaced thousands of families, a request went out for barbecue cooks willing to feed a relief camp of well over a thousand evacuees. Within hours, a member of our forum had volunteered to organize the entire cook — and the community delivered. Another time, word reached the Ring that soldiers stationed overseas were missing a taste of home; members pooled their efforts to get a barbecue grill shipped to the unit so they could cook for themselves far from home.
These are the stories that define barbecue culture better than any recipe: generous, practical, and quick to show up when it counts. We keep them here, and in our news section, as a record of what this community is really about.
Contribute
The Smoke Ring has always been built by its members. If you have a technique to share, a cook to document, or a story worth telling, we would love to hear it — that is how the library grew in the first place. Get in touch through our contact page, and consider joining the ring with your own barbecue site.