Independence Day is the most popular holiday for barbecues. According to the Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association, 80 percent of the nation's 80.1 million owner-occupied households and 70 percent of the 126.8 million total households owned a grill or smoker in 2021. Many of these grills and smokers were produced by some of the 100 establishments in the Household Cooking Appliance Manufacturing (NAICS 335221) sector counted by the 2017 Economic Census.

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Barbecue is a centuries-old method of cooking meat over a fire that allows wood smoke, herbs and spices, and sauces, to flavor the meat. Although the origin of the "first" or "best" barbecue recipe remains degbated, barbecue enthusiasts generally identify four regional barbecue styles within the United States: the Carolinas; Kansas City, Missouri; Memphis, Tennessee; and Texas. Each of these regions feature distinct variations that makes each recipe a mouth-watering experience.

The origin of traditional Carolinas-style barbecue is often attributed to Pitt County, North Carolina, and pitmaster Skilton Dennis. In the 1830s, Dennis began slow-cooking hogs over a fire pit of oak or hickory wood on Sunday mornings attracting hungry churchgoers who bought the steaming hot meals from the back of his wagon. Dennis' recipe evolved over the years to define the Carolina style of barbecue, which slathers a vinegar-based sauce flavored with herbs and spices over slow-roasted and smoked pork.

Family barbecue recipes moved west with migrating Americans and immigrants. In Memphis, pitmasters developed distinct recipes for wet (sauce-covered) and dry (spice-rubbed) pork ribs and pulled pork sandwiches. Kansas City immigrants used a dry rub of herbs and spices that flavored a variety of meats as they roasted over a wood fire. A tomato-based sauce is often served alongside Kansas City barbecue instead of brushed on the meat. Texas-style barbecue is famous for its roasted beef, flavored with mesquite smoke and simple salt-and-pepper rubs. Other Texas recipes include a sweet, molasses-based sauce that locks in the slow-cooked meats' juices, or President Lyndon B. Johnson's favorite that included catsup, vinegar, and hot pepper sauce that he served at his Texas ranch and formal state dinners.

While the United States may be defined by its four most popular regional barbecue styles, these are certainly not the only flavors to enjoy from the nation's barbecue pits, grills, and smokers. Many states and cities have developed their own regionally-popular recipes that represent the ingredients available and the particular tastes of the race and ethnic groups making up their populations. For example, visitors to Decatur, Alabama, enjoy barbecued chicken with the region's famous "Alabama White Sauce" made with mayonnaise. Honolulu, HI's Asian American population influenced that city's barbecue featuring sweet teriyaki glazed meats sharing grill space alongside Spam and pineapple. Lunch crowds in Baltimore, Maryland, crowd around vendors serving the region's famous "pit beef" sandwiches; a trip to Owensboro, Kentucky, should include a marinated and smoked mutton sandwich; Muskogee, Oklahoma, visitors often sample its popular barbecued bologna, mayonnaise, and coleslaw sandwiches; and visitors to Santa Barbara County, California, have enjoyed the Santa Maria-style barbecue that uses a salt, pepper, and garlic rub over hot oak coals since the 19th century.

For many Americans, the summer menu would not be complete without hamburgers and hot dogs on the backyard grill or slow-roasted pork, brisket, ribs, or chicken. Whether the meal comes from your own barbecue pit, a favorite restaurant, or a local festival, that savory aroma continues to draw a crowd of hungry family and friends during the warm nights ahead.

You can learn more about the history and economic impact of barbecue in the United States using census data and records. For example:

• Great barbecue is harder than it looks, so many Americans choose to enjoy barbecue at a favorite restaurant or food truck. Data from the Census Bureau's County Business Patterns series show that the United States was home to 483,298 employer firms in the Food Services and Drinking Places (NAICS 722) sector in 2021. These establishments had 10,689,856 employees during the pay period that included March 12, 2021, and an annual payroll of $244.6 billion. Among these establishments were 10,134 mobile food services establishments (NAICS 722330); 250,186 full-service restaurants (NAICS 722511); and 5,494 cafeterias, grill buffets, and buffets (NAICS 722514).
• Beef, pork, and chicken are the most popular barbecue and grilling meats in the United States. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, there were 882,692 farms raising cattle and calves; 66,439 farms raising hogs and pigs; and 32,751 farms raising broiler and other meat-type chickens in 2017.
• Many cities claim to be home to the nation's "best" barbecue, including Kansas City, Missouri; Austin, Texas; Memphis, Tennessee; and Lexington, North Carolina. Kansas City owes some of its barbecue fame to restaurateur and "Father of Kansas City Barbecue" Henry Perry, who operated "Perry's Barbecue." Perry was inducted into the American Royal Barbecue Hall of Fame in 2014. In 1875, a market owned by Jesse Swearingen put Austin-style barbecue on the culinary map when he began selling barbecued meats from his market in Lockhart, Texas.
• Charlie Vergos made the Memphis-style "dry rub" of herbs and spices famous from his restaurant in a downtown alley in 1948. He was inducted into the Barbecue Hall of Fame in 2018. Lexington, NC, pitmaster Sid Weaver began selling his famous Lexington barbecue—which adds tomato to the vinegar-based sauce—from a tent in 1916. Weaver was a member of the first class honored on Lexington's Barbecue Wall of Fame in 2016 along with two of the region's other barbecue pioneers—Jesse Swicegood and Will Johnson.
• According to the 2017 Economic Census, the hot dogs, hamburgers, steak, ribs, and sausage Americans enjoy at barbecues and cookouts each year were likely prepared by one of the nation's 1,235 employer establishments engaged in processing meat from carcasses (except poultry and small game, NAICS 311612). California led the nation in the number of these processing establishments in 2017 with 99, followed by Wisconsin (86) and Texas (79).
• In 2017, the Census Bureau's Annual Business Survey found that 242,249 people worked at the nation's 300 poultry processing employer establishments. These establishments often worked around the clock to satisfy the nation's hunger for chicken and other poultry. That year, the total value of processed poultry products at these firms—including chicken wings, drumsticks, ground turkey, etc.—was nearly $56.7 billion. Arkansas and Georgia led the nation in the value of processing poultry products with more than $8.3 billion and $8.2 billion respectively.
• Most Americans fuel their outdoor grills and barbecues using either charcoal briquettes or propane. County Business Patterns series data show that during the pay period that included March 12, 2021, 75 establishments employed 5,729 people in the "Cyclic Crude, Intermediate, and Gum and Wood Chemical Manufacturing" industry (NAICS 325194), which includes charcoal briquette manufacturers. Along with gasoline, waxes, and lubricating oils, many of the nation's 162 petroleum refineries (NAICS 324110) and their 56,748 employees also produce propane used in Americans' outdoor grills during the pay period that included March 12, 2021.
• Do you want to live and breathe barbecue? Perhaps a move to Barbecue, North Carolina, is in your future. The township in Harnett County has a population of 19,517, a median age of 32.4, and a median household income of $69,701. Other places to consider include: Grill, Pennsylvania; Rib Mountain, Wisconsin; Weiner, Arkansas; Smoketown, Pennsylvania; Meat Camp, North Carolina; Cattle Creek, Colorado; Roasting Ear, Arkamsas; or Grand Prairie, Texas, which recently renamed a street "Brisket Lane" in honor of one of the city's famed barbecue restaurants.
• Barbecued meats aren't for everyone. According to a 2018 Gallup Poll, 5 percent of Americans consider themselves vegetarian. A September 2020 article in Forbes Magazine suggested that vegetarians would be happiest in Portland, Oregon; San Francisco, California; Seattle, Washington; or Los Angeles, California, thanks to those cities' abundance of affordable vegan-friendly restaurants and markets.

The millions of Model T automobiles that the Ford Motor Company built between 1908 and 1927 created tons of scrap wood. Beginning in 1920, the company began used this scrap to make charcoal briquettes.

Using a production method developed by chemist Orin Stafford, in a factory designed by Thomas Edison, and managed by Edward G. Kingsford, the Ford Charcoal Company produced 600 pounds of briquettes from every ton of scrap hardwood processed.

Ford named the community adjacent to the charcoal factory Kingsford, MI. When investors purchased the charcoal brand in 1951, they renamed it after Edward Kingsford and the town that bears his name.