Barbecuing encompasses four or five types of cooking techniques. The original technique is cooking using smoke at lower temperatures and significantly longer cooking times (several hours), known as smoking.
Another technique is baking, utilizing a masonry oven or any other type of baking oven, which uses convection to cook meats and starches with moderate temperatures for an average cooking time (about an hour plus a few extra minutes).
Yet another technique is braising, which combines direct dry heat charbroiling on a ribbed surface with a broth-filled pot for moist heat, cooking at various speeds throughout the duration (starting fast, slowing down, then speeding up again, lasting for a few hours).
Finally, grilling is done over direct dry heat, usually over a hot fire for a short time (minutes). Grilling may be done over wood, charcoal, gas (natural gas or propane), or electricity.
A fifth and emerging type of barbecue technique involves the use of the slow cooker. Slow cooking is untraditional in that it involves no smoking, however, since the flavor of the meat is remarkably similar to that of the other four styles, slow cooking is considered a legitimate technique.