Fire Up the Grill! May is National Barbecue Month

People's love affair with outdoor cooking is heating up as the HPBA (Hearth, Patio, and Barbecue Association) kicks-off May as National Barbecue Month and the beginning of the prime outdoor cooking season.

In honor of National Barbecue Month we will be featuring information on grills, outdoor kitchens, grilling recipes and other fun stuff all month long!

Here are some fun facts about barbecue, from the HPBA, to get the festivities started:

When we barbecue:
The most popular holidays for barbecuing are, in order, July 4Th (69%), Memorial Day (56%), and Labor Day (50%).

What we barbecue:
The most popular foods for barbecuing are, in order: burgers (82%), steak (79%), chicken (72%), and hot dogs (71%).

The most commonly prepared side dishes are, in order, corn (42%), potatoes (38%), and other vegetables (37%).

The most popular flavors of barbecue sauce are hickory, followed by mesquite, honey, and then tomato-based. The most common ingredient added to barbecue sauce is garlic, followed by brown sugar.

How we barbecue:
There are about as many styles of barbecuing as there are opinions - every one's got their own! Generally speaking, though, there are barbecue styles that dominate in different regions of the country. In the Carolinas, they can't agree whether sauce should be vinegar, mustard or tomato based, but they can agree on the meat the sauce goes on - pork.

In the Deep South, Georgia, Florida, and parts of Louisiana, you'll find that Cajun cuisine has had a strong influence. Regardless of whether you're barbecuing beef brisket, pork ribs, rabbit, or trout, chances are your taste buds will get a kick from a spicy marinade, sauce, or rub.
In other parts of the South, pork also rules.

In sunny California, lighter fare such as salmon is king of the grill. The Midwest is a barbecue hotbed - if you can't find a meat and sauce combination you like in Kansas City, you can't find it anywhere.

Our Utensils:
The most popular barbecue utensils are long-handled tongs, followed by grill cleaning brushes, and then long-handled forks and spatulas.

Competition barbecuing is one of the hottest hobbies in the country with hundreds of cook-offs held throughout all 50 states. The biggest and most famous are Memphis in May and The American Royal in Kansas City. Both cities stake their claim to being the barbecue capital of the U.S.