The art of a good BBQ is the beauty and key to spending time and bringing your family and friend together. A good BBQ event allows for the ultimate fun and relaxation while enjoying wholesome food and being active in the outdoors. Barbequing in general hasso many benefits for people that it is no wonder that Americans love barbequing as their favorite pastime. It is a symbolism of family and food (two very important things). Americans love to BBQ and that will never change. If you are stumped over the reason why Americans seem to value the art of a good BBQ then look no further because this article aims to highlight all the importance that BBQ offers to American families from good food, family traditions and recipes, outdoor physical activity, leisure, and more! BBQ offers something important to everyone in its own way and for that it will always be of immense popularity, and deeply engrained in American culture.
It Brings Families Together

Barbequing is so important to America for the simple idea that it brings people together.You often were either a part of or knew a family who would always place a strict tradition of always sitting together during dinner time. There is a reason for that, and that reason is that siting together fosters a sense of unity and bonding. Bonding is what keeps relationships alive and thriving. When people are not spending time together or bonding then over time relationships weaken and fall apart. Soon everyone is busy with their own lives and start to place important emphasis on other priorities in their life that they forget all about the relationships they once had. To keep family relationships, close, personal, and intimate you must always find time and figure out a way for everyone to get together and be together and what better way to do then through eating? i mean everyone has busy lives, but they aren´t busy enough to the point that a person doesn´t eat. We all need to eat and we might as well get in some one on one time with the people we love as we fulfill the basic necessities that we do on the daily. Barbequing does just that. Barbequing is what allows for people to fill their tummies and share their lives with the people around them so that everyone feels connected and together, thus providing a sense of unity.
Barbeque Means Food. Must I Say Anything Else?

Of course as humans, we all need to fulfill that basic requirement of providing our body with nutrients and nourishments to keep us going. BBQ is a pastime that is not only relaxing, but provides us with the fuel we need to continue on with our day. People love to eat good food. The science that eating good food makes you happy is not a myth at all and many scientists stand by this statement. It is without a doubt that our brain is a pleasure seeking one. It is in our human nature to constantly seek out what provides us with happiness and food does just that. Certain foods that are high in sugar, salt, and fat are known to activate neurotransmitters in our body known as serotonin. This neurotransmitter is responsible for making us happy, and thus when released through eating food, has an effect on our emotions. We correlate those elements as making us happy and thus we seek them out as much as we can. That is where barbequing comes in to play. Barbequed foods are high in fat and can be salty altogether, and these types of foods make us happy. We associate barbequing with happiness and therefore we are driven to BBQ more often because we want to be as happy as possible. In this way, barbequing has a profound effect on Americans, and this is another reason why we take barbequing so seriously.
It Promotes Physical Activity

Barbequing is important for another reason and that reason being that it promotes physical activity. Of course barbeques when done with family or friends are not done inside, rather outside becomes barbequing requires a BBQ or smoker which can really only be used outside. Since we must cook our food outside, this pushes us to be outside and seek out things to do outside while we wait for our food. This leads to us inventing ways to be physically active such as playing sports with family or friends, running around, swimming and more. Physical activity is so important for us and it is known that physical activity also releases dopamine and serotonin which can improve your mood and make you happier, thus another reasons why Americans seek to BBQ often, because we associate it with physical activity and we associate physical activity with being healthy, active, and interacting with people we care about. Plus it allows us the ability to soak up the sunshine which provides us with vitamin D and also improves our mood immensely making us a lot more happier.
It Provides the Opportunity to Be Social
Being social is an integral part in being healthy. Studies have shown that being social and interacting with the people around us can help to lower stress, improve our mood, and reduce our tendency to be depressed. Merely talking to someone can immensely help us to become an all around happier and healthier person, and barbequing fosters this ability for socialization. Barbequing has become so engrained in American culture (since it poses so many benefits for us), and for that reason people turn to barbequing often. So many cities and suburbs all over America hold barbequing to high standards and recognizes the potent benefits that a good BBQ can bring, and for that reason many places around America hold barbequing competitions or barbequing events where people from a community can come to enjoy good food and foster good relationships and socialization with people around them. It can even allow for new relationships to form which are always beneficialto a person´s health and overall wellbeing.
It Can Foster Traditions
Since barbequing has been around for such a long time, it wouldn´t be a stretch to say that over time families have developed their own traditions when it comes to barbequing. These traditions are so important because they allow further generations of family to uphold the same values and respect and it makes a family feel a lot more closer and unique when compared to other families. Traditions become a way to feeling tied to previous generations of family and it also becomes a way to stay connected with the present generation of family. Barbequing traditions can range from anything from happening during a certain season, holiday, being a part of a certain BBQ competition, hosting a BBQ at a particular place, or possessing a secret BBQ recipe that is unique to only your family. Whatever the tradition may be, BBQs are a way for families to come together and develop their own unique traditions that they can pass down from generation to generation. It offers a sense of routine that reminds them of each other and creates new memories and good times that they can cherish forever.
How Americans Get Involved in Barbequing

There are a myriad of ways that you can get involved in a barbeque here in America and reap all the benefits that a BBQ can bring as mentioned above!
• Grab your own grill and get started!
• Don´t want to cook? America has a ton of BBQ restaurants you can go to! You may not reap the physical activity benefit, but you can still reap the benefit of sharing quality time with the ones you love, socializing, and taking part in a new tradition!
• Head out to a BBQ competition. The country is flooded with them! Try to find BBQ competitions in your own area that you can either be a part of or simply go for the food and fun! BBQ competitions are a great way to get out and be involved in your local community while also promoting friendly and fun competition with great eats for everyone.
• Don´t like competition? That´s okay there are plenty of other BBQ events that communities in America hold. These events are basically simple get togethers in which large quantities of BBQ food are cooked for everyone in a park or beach type of setting and anyone can chow down and dig in while connecting with people of the same community and putting those social skills to good use!
Tips on Throwing Your Own BBQ!

Setting is Important
Think about where you want to have your own BBQ. Barbeques can be practically anywhere from parks, beaches, backyards, pools, lakes, camping sites, and more! Lots of these public places often provide their own grills for the public to use with no charge whatsoever. Simply bring your food and essentials and get people together! Remember that its important to think about what factors can influence your BBQ depending on where you have it such as weather, a place for people to play or hang around, whether you need to reserve in advance or not, and more!
Know Your Menu Ahead of Time
It is important when throwing a successful barbeque to know what you will be cooking ahead of time. Plan out what meats, sides, drinks, appetizers, etc that you plana to have. This is important because for a lot of BBQ meats and recipes, marinating and grilling the perfect meat can take up to 24 hours of preparation and therefore you need to know what to do in advance. Do not start planning the night before. Good meat needs time to marinate and prepare and you need to have a game plan on how you plan to cook and smoke the meat so that it is tasting divine when its time to dig in.
Be Knowledgeable of What to Do
Barbequing meat is a science. You can´t just simply stick a piece of meat on the grill until it looks good and call it ready to eat. No good meat is a science to figure out and you need to be aware of that. You need to know what kind of cut meats to go for, what tools you should have while grilling the meat, what signs to watch out for, what temperatures to stay between, and more! Be knowledgeable on how to handle the meat once off the grill and how to cut it down to perfect precision. Preparing and acknowledging what could go wrong while cooking your meat is so important because as stated before a good BBQ is down to a science and if you are not aware of how that science works than the results can be quite disastrous, and you most definitely do not want that!
Patience is a Virtue
The art and science of BBQ begins with patience. Stress and a lack of time management is all that is needed to turn a BBQ feast into a bad meal. Plan your time wisely and when cooking your meat understand that good things come to those who wait. Good meat is meat that is cooked nice and slowly without being flipped over and over too much. Being patient and understanding of this is crucial to having a successful BBQ.
Conclusion

The article outlined the potent reasons behind why America has an obsession with barbequing and why barbequing is such a great pastime to get involved with. BBQs offer the chance to strengthen relationships, get active, get involved with the community, foster socialization and promote a healthier and happier you. The many ways that one can throw a BBQ makes barbequing an activity that is never boring when planned right and is definitely worthy of praising. The article hopefully helped to shed light on the importance behind this pastime and what it means for many American families. With what you have just learned, maybe now you can have a newfound love and appreciation for the art of the BBQ and maybe even get one started with friends and family near you to celebrate!