Barbecue and Smoking Essentials

Appears in
Asian Smoke: Thai and Southeast Asian Barbecue from the Curry Boys

By Andrew Ho, Andrew Samia and Sean Wen

Published 2026

  • About

Look, smoking meat and cooking Texas barbecue isn’t exactly the hardest thing in the world. There are some people who launch freakin’ rockets into outer space— that is rocket science. BBQ is simply mastering a combination of fire and time. Despite the simplicity, a lot can still go wrong, and we recognize that cooking great BBQ requires a certain level of skill, experience, and moxie to understand the sometimes fickle intricacies of fire and smoke. This is why we created a guide detailing essential equipment and seasonings to help you build a solid BBQ foundation. It ain’t much, but it’s honest work.