People who come from cultures all around the world all eat different types of cuisine, and much of the food that is eaten from various parts of the world have similarities, such as rice dishes, meats, and more. One of the greatest global phenomenons is the fact that people everywhere cook barbecue, and while the best barbecue in San Fernando Valley can be debated, it is always the Bear Pit BBQ that takes the cake. American barbecue is much different than that of barbecue from around the world. There is what seems to be specific criteria for determining what counts as legitimate barbecue for Americans. As the American barbecue tradition has begun in the Southern states, the best barbecue is always cooked in the same fashion, using a charcoal smoker to achieve those delicious flavors. While many people use grills to cook their barbecue meats, the true authentic way to cook is with indirect heat sources. Cooking on a grill involves direct heat, which cooks meats faster and dryer, whereas smoking uses indirect heat, which cooks the foods slowly over a much longer period of time. Although smoking is the authentic method to producing delicious southern styles barbecue dishes, there are still more specifics within smoking to achieve the best, most authentic style. When you are considering the different types of smokers, they will vary mostly by the way in which they are powered. There are four main types of smoker units, which include propane gas, electric, wood pellet, and charcoal smokers. The propane gas smoker utilizes propane, so regulating the temperature inside the unit easy. There are also pretty low maintenance but requires gas on hand. Electric smokers are somewhat similar to propane smokers in that they operate similarly, with easy heating, however, these break down fairly easily, and can be expensive to replace. These methods so not achieve the same level of flavor as charcoal does, but still manage to produce great flavor. Hardwood pellet smokers are slightly nicer smokers, as they utilize hardwood pellets as fuel to smoke meats. What makes this different from other methods is that rather than using other fuels to heat up small pieces of hardwoods, this method utilizes pure hardwood smoke, so your meat is flavored entirely with wood smoke. These are easy to use as it utilizes a thermostat to determine when it will feed more pellets to the furnace. Lastly, the charcoal smoker is the most legitimate method to barbecue, as it is the original procedure, as well as providing some of the tastiest flavors available. This method can be hard to get used to as maintaining heat requires lighting charcoal briquettes, which take some time to start up. When you’re hungry for the best barbecue in San Fernando Valley without having to smoke your own meats, stop by the Bear Pit BBQ in Mission Hills cooked in the classic Missouri Style of Kansas City.