The next time you decide to smoke a Boston butt or a picnic shoulder you may want to consider an alternative to a simple rub. At most competitions you’ll see competitors viciously rubbing their pork with pounds and pounds of homemade rubs, the ingredients of which are a secret that they will certainly die for.

While I can appreciate the rub and its uses in competitive barbeque, I think its good to deviate from the standard once in while. Besides, the toasted chilies in this recipe in combination with the spices can add unbelievable depth of flavor that may not be possible with an ordinary rub.

What you’ll need:

• 8-10 medium Guajillo peppers
• 3 cloves garlic
• 2 Tsp. oregano
• 1 Tsp. black pepper
• 2 TBSP salt
• Water

Step 1: Stem and Seed Use a sharp knife to cut out the stems of the peppers and discard them. Slide the knife down one side of the pepper, splitting it open. Pick out all of the seeds and discard.

Step 2: Toasting Heat an iron skillet or griddle over medium heat. place three or four peppers flat on the dry skillet or griddle and toast them for a few minutes on each side. Be careful of any smoke that wisps up. It will singe your eyes and lungs. Don’t forget … these are hot peppers.

Step 3: Hydration Place the toasted peppers in a large bowl and fill with enough warm tap water to completely cover them. Set a medium bowl inside to keep the peppers submerged. Soak them for 30 minutes.

Step 4: Make the Puree Place the re-hydrated chilies in a food processor or blender and add a couple of cups of the soaking liquid. Puree until smooth. You may have to add more water to keep the mixture smooth and running through the blades. Season this mixture heavily with the salt. The peppers by themselves can be very bitter.

Pour the marinade over the pork butt and use spatula or your hands to work it into the cracks. Marinate overnight before smoking.

Adam Byrd is the Editor-in-Chief of Men in Aprons. He love to celebrate good times, come on. And he swears to God there was no intentionally innuendo in this post

The incredible edible onion and the grill are a marriage made in heaven. You just have to be careful to keep that marriage from getting too hot and heavy, else you’ll end up in hell. Speaking of heaven, if perhaps you are observing Lent this year, you might want to check out this easy and cheap way to kick up your grill experience while maintaining your most holy of holies. Personally, I do not observe Lent and these onions were served over the top of a mess of steaks and Jamaican jerk pork chops. But that’s just me.

• 1 Large white onion
• 4-5 Tablespoons canola oil
• Salt & pepper
• Quality balsamic vinegar
• Sprigs of fresh rosemary

Slice your onions on the hemisphere to make nice concentric rings. Do you best to be gentle as you lay them out on a plate or cookie sheet. Brush them with a thin layer of canola oil. Sprinkle on salt, freshly ground black pepper, and a few sprigs of rosemary. Then drizzle on a bit of the balsamic vinegar. Set on a plate in the fridge for an hour.

Heat one section of your grill to medium-high heat. Lube up the grate then lay out the onions. Grill for 5 or so minutes on each side until slightly charred. When flipping, be fast but gentle.

Adam Byrd is the director emeritus of Men in Aprons and he can cut garlic into itsy-bitsy pieces.

OK, now that the laughter has died down, lend me your ears.

Webster’s defines transfiguration as a complete change of form or appearance into a more beautiful or spiritual state.

I’d say that sums up BBQ in a nutshell. I can name a few times that a slice of smoked brisket has put me into a more enlightened frame of mind. But what I’m really talking about is the ultimate struggle over the pits: the conversion of collagen into gelatin.

If you think about the history of barbeque as we know it, the idea is to take inferior cuts of meat and turn them into delicious wonders. A brisket, raw and by itself is not much to look at, nor is it the best cut of meat. It’s shaped funny, has two very different sections and a giant rib of fat running right through it. It’s tough; it’s fibrous; and god forbid you even attempt to eat the deckel.

But when a brisket is cooked slow over low heat and a with a generous amount of smoke, this ugly bastard of a cut transfigures into the stuff of legend and countless arguments.

The transfiguration we are talking about in Barbeque is the conversion of collagen into gelatin. Collagen is the protein that makes up connective tissues such as tendons and ligaments. It is incredibly tough, and too much of it can render that cut of meat unfavorable. However, if you heat collagen at low temperature for a long period of time, it will convert into the soft, gooey, pliable substance we know and love as gelatin. It is this conversion that makes great barbeque.

I’ll bet you thought collagen was just that stuff that they inject into Pam Anderson’s lips twice a month. The conversion of collagen into gelatin is what makes pulled pork possible. It’s what turns a stuff chunk of meat into a mouth-watering slice of brisket. It’s what makes the meat gently pull away from the baby back ribs.

The best way to achieve the great transfiguration in barbeque is through braising. Again, I’ll let the laughter die down. I’m sure the miraculous act of barbeque has never before been spoken of in such culinary terms.

Braising is the act of cooking at a low temperature for a long period of time, usually accompanied by a small amount of liquid. Think about how many of us cook baby back ribs using the 3-2-1 method. That time spent wrapped up in aluminum foil is technically braising. Wrapping up any meat in foil and letting it cook is braising, even if you don’t add any liquid to the foil pack. The natural juices from the meat render out into the foil which are then reabsorbed, thus braising the meat.

Or consider why a pork butt gets injected with juice and various other liquids. The pork butt is such a large piece of meat, it needs liquid on the inside to help the transfiguration. It gets braised from the inside.

Sauce, ribs, smoke, rubs … we could argue for years about what BBQ is about. I will say that all of the above are what help plain cuts of meat transfigure into those delicious beauties that we call BBQ. But for my money, none of it would happen if it weren’t that great transformation of collagen into gelatin.

The media event, held at Bryant Park Grill in Manhattan, was a push to get the media talking about Char-Broil’s partnership with TEC, inventor of the infrared grilling technology, and subsequently create buzz about these revolutionary grills.

According to Matthew Freeman of Char-Broil’s marketing firm, “… the TEC infrared grills actually just hit Lowe’s stores in select markets.” However, I have not been able to confirm that fact. The Char-Broil/TEC web site has an “order now” button, but the linked page does not contain any of the infrared grills. (EDITOR’S NOTE: Latest information from Charbroil shows that these grills will not be in stores until early Spring 2007)

The web site itself is very well done. It contains plenty of information about IR cooking systems, including interactive simulations and videos of hands-on usage. From PR and marketing standpoints, Char-Broil seems to have outdone themselves for their 2007 product line. They actually get honest-to-goodness grilling fanatics to try out the equipment and give their opinions.

The TEC grills are quite expensive up front with a price tag of $699 suggested retail price on the smallest model. But repairs could break the bank.

I have been witness to the power of the TEC grills first hand. But only time will tell how they stand up to the elements, the intense heat of 800+ degrees, and time itself. If a grill breaks down, who will repair it? I don’t suppose they sell those tempered high-resistance glass diffusers at Home Depot. Can a man buy a universal infrared combustion chamber?

Believe it or not, using a fork to eat a meal was once considered extremely taboo. The 13th and 14th century Turks had been using forks for generations, but were not adopted into Western culture until the 14th century by the Italian elite. Before then, the fork was considered a symbol of Satan, being that the devil himself uses a pitchfork to torture all the sinners’ souls. Even so, people would also say, “Why would I use a fork, when God hath given me hands?” Forks did not appear on dinner tables until the 14th century when the Italian rich began collecting cutlery in silver and gold.

Civilization has come a long way since then, and while we have become more civilized and cultured, there are still some foods that are better eaten with the hands. You could dress up barbeque on white plates, sprinkle sesame seeds on it, and call it haute cuisine. But it is still barbeque, and a rib by any other name would taste just as sweet. Consider the different barbeque foods and how many of them are best eaten with the hands. Pulled pork sandwiches, chicken wings, drumsticks, ribs, and brisket are all hand food. Barbeque brisket slices may not be the best hand food out there, certainly no match for the mighty rib, but if the brisket is done right, the slices are so thin and tender; they can be folded in half and popped right in the mouth. Clean as a whistle.

There is something primal about barbeque, something caveman-like. Eating meat is a carnivorous activity, one in which a person’s incisors and bicuspids are used to tear meat away from the bone. I have heard rib eaters rave about how sweet and tender the meat is, or how finger-licking good the sauce is, but the real treat is the act of gnawing on that bone.

While eating barbeque with a fork may not be considered satanic in modern times, depending on your location, it might be considered taboo. So don’t worry about offending your fellow diner by tearing, slurping, and smacking your lips. Embrace your inner lion and use your paws to eat that meat. If anyone questions your motives, just tell them the devil ain’t got nothin’ on you.

Have you mastered the burger, dog, and chop? Does the idea of steaks bore you? If so, it may be time to take your grilling game to the next level. Believe it or not, the thrill of the grill is not limited to meat and the myriad ways to cook it. There is a great potential out there on your grill for you to use it in ways never before imagined. If you can just tap into that potential, a great change will occur in your grilling abilities.

Becoming a master of the grill may be just a matter of perception. Books, magazines, and television may try to convince you to use the latest in grill accessories, foreign ingredients, or gourmet smoking wood. Sure, grilled Tilapia with a roasted corn and mango salsa might be a leg up on the competition, but by perceiving your grill as an extension of your indoor cooking area, an entire world of outdoor cooking opens up to you. And no slab of Tilapia will do.

So many grills are equipped with features that enhance the cooking experience, but go largely untouched by the user. My gas grill has a side burner that was never used by its previous owner. Many newer models include a infrared back burner that uses radiant energy to grill the tops of food or just to keep the back of the grill warm.

Cooking al fresco may not be them most desirable of situations depending on your location and the time of year. But if you’re a hardcore junkie, like myself, you’ll find a way (and some warm clothing) to get you through the experience. I’ve known guys to wear parkas, galoshes, and toboggans just to go flip burgers. In my own junkie haze, I erected a tarp with poles over my smoker on a rainy Thanksgiving morning so that my family could enjoy a smoked turkey. To this day, whenever we go camping with that tarp, I’m always reminded of a delicious meal. Cold weather grilling can be fun, especially when beer is involved.

My number one rule for all of grilling, not just the full range sort, is to always follow the Boy Scout Motto: be prepared. Make sure you have everything you need to prepare the meals before you begin cooking. Do all the measuring, chopping, slicing, and dicing ahead of time.

Here are some tips for getting the most out of your grill.

1. Invest in skillets, saucepans, and other cookware that is oven safe. Do not buy pieces with plastic rims or handles, and try to stay away from non-stick Teflon surfaces. You want cookware that can go right into the grill without getting damaged.

2. Use wooden or silicone utensils. Both wood and silicone are not likely to burn or melt if left sitting on the edge of a hot skillet. Most silicone utensils are rated up to 500 degrees Fahrenheit.

3. Cast-iron is the preferred material for cooking over a grill. Cast iron is durable and it retains heat well.

4. If you have the means, set up an additional table next to your grill to use as a prep and/or storage area.

5. Know the capabilities of your side burner (if applicable). Some burners are not capable of getting the heat low enough to perform a gentle simmer. Be careful of cooking a delicate dish with too high of heat.

6. Don’t be afraid to take a leap and try something you never thought to try on a grill. Cook vegetables and fruit on your grill. You could cook macaroni and cheese in a skillet on the side burner, then finish it off in the main chamber under the infrared back burner. It’ll get a nice crispy crust, and … hey that sounds tasty. I think I’ll try it.