Hot dogs are the ultimate easy crowd pleaser. They're already cooked, so you don't have to worry about poisoning anyone, and even the most picky youth can rarely resist a good dog.

"Dirty water dogs" - the ones you get from a cart that sit in a vat of salty water - may seem like a treat you can only get on the streets of big US cities but, with an immersion circulator, you can get very close to the real thing at home.

The greasy sizzle of delicious meat on a grill is a staple of Aussie summer. But as everyone breaks out the barbecue grill, paper plates, and "Kiss the Cook" aprons, a debate older than charcoal briquettes rages in the minds of grillmasters everywhere, along with their hungry audience: Do you want a burger? Or a hot dog? ("Both" is certainly an option, but not for the purposes of this showdown.)

Vegetarian? I'm so sorry.

Before the advent of electricity, there were no refrigerators or deep freezers. There were no gas grills or microwave ovens. There were smokehouses! Food smoking is one of the oldest methods used to cook and preserve meat and it isn’t going anywhere. If you're keen to create your own smoked delicacies here are some tips to get you started.

Watermelons come in all shapes and sizes, so knowing how much you need for a barbecue or picnic can be tricky. This simple rule of thumb will make sure you get enough for everyone.

Some people will tell you that lifting the lid to peek at your ribs, beef brisket, or other slow-cooking barbecue will add 15 minutes to your cook time. But according to a barbecue and grilling expert, that's not the way it works.

Want to try smoking some barbecue but don't want to shell out for a meat smoker? You can make a relatively decent smoker with little more than cardboard box. Of course it won't be quite as effective as the real deal, but it's a fun experiment.

It's the weekend! The temperature's getting colder, but there are always going to be those Aussies who won't let a little bit of suboptimal weather separate them from their barbecue. Today's playlist can help take you back to warmer days.

Smoking meats is a great way to inject complexity and flavour to the cheapest of cuts. If you're looking to host a different kind of barbecue, this infographic explains the process for a variety of cooking surfaces.

Barbecue restaurants and steak houses generally specialise in one thing: delicious, slow-cooked meats. Here's how to order the most flavoursome cuts of meat at any barbecue restaurant, no matter where you are.

Carrots are perfect for so many preparations, from salads to soups, but these "carrot dogs" are an unusual, tasty way to cook them. Best of all, they're easy to make with ingredients you either have already, or can get easily.

Summer is in full swing, which means it's time to head outside for some fun in the sun. And you know what that means: hamburgers, hot dogs, watermelon, and more.

Getting into barbecuing starts with the right equipment. When you're looking for the best tongs to go with your grill, Cook's Illustrated suggests you pay attention to three big things: length, strength, and grip.

Video: While this trick will not make your grill like new -- unlike scrubbing with steel wool and soap until your hands bleed -- it is good enough and painless. Just cut an onion in half, stick a fork on it, and start rubbing it up and down the grill over the heat until all the residue falls off.

This DIY portable outdoor kitchen will make cooking outdoors even more fun. Although it's not cheap to make, it doesn't cost thousands of dollars like other outdoor kitchens do.

Oh look, most US internet users depend on a search engine called "Google" to find web pages over Yahoo, MSN or Ask.com. We'll have to check it out.

Bash programmer Jason Hutchinson built a command line download manager called Download Queue (or DQ) based on Lifehacker's own todo.sh script. In short, you set up a text file called queue.txt, and add the URLs to download one per line, and DQ does the rest, handling filters, automatically continuing broken downloads and more.

You already know that you can get quick local search results from your phone with Google SMS for the price of a text message, but the service is a helluva lot more usable now that you can set your default location. Just send a text to Google SMS (466453) with set location . Now when you want to perform weather, movies, or restaurant look-ups via Google SMS, you can just text, for example, weather rather than weather 90210. Much more convenient!
Google SMS