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There's nothing like a good weekend barbecue with family and friends in your own backyard to wash away the stresses of a hard week at work and rejuvenate you for the coming week ahead. It would be great to have a barbecue every weekend, wouldn't it? But as I realized only lately, there are so many other things to consider if you want to aspire for the barbecue. It's not a simple as putting meat on the grill and letting it roast, as I used to think.

First of all, you have to consider your choice of wood because different types of wood give the meat a distinct kind of flavor. The choice of wood is also important considering that some kinds of wood burn faster than most. You may want to consider combining wood and charcoal for better smoke control and a consistent fire.

When it comes to charcoal, using a commercial bag of processed charcoal briquettes is good enough, but for best results you should use lump charcoal instead. What's the difference? For one thing, lump charcoal has not been ground and shaped as opposed to charcoal briquettes. In addition, lump charcoal is the purer type of charcoal and, obviously, it is the charcoal of choice by barbecue purists who scoff at the use of processed charcoal.

Using a chimney starter matters as well especially if you want to make sure that the heat stays at a consistent level all throughout your cooking. Others also use an electric iron to heat the coals. The lazy ones are prone to soaking charcoal in lighter fluid but though this technique may be quick and easy, it gives the meat an unnatural chemical taste.

Once the coals are covered in ash, usually after 15-25 minutes, you can either barbecue the meat directly (by piling the coals together in the center beneath the meat) or indirectly (by spreading the coals around the grill's perimeter and placing the meat in the grill's center).

For maximum convenience, gas grills are the way to go because they are easy to light and easy to control. But purists have a bone to pick with this technique as well, claiming that cooking with gas grills lessens the flavor of the meat compared to cooking with wood and charcoal.