I rather agree with you Rob. However, IMHO, it's where they drew the line
in the sand to help define what IS barbecue vs. how it's actually cooked.
Meaning, if we change the line, what defines barbecue? If someone then
uses their electric crockpot, is the result barbecue? One might debate
that it's better left up to judges. THAT point I'll debate all day long, and
I'm of the judge ilk. If Bobby Ray wants to submit his boiled rib or crock
pot butt in KC Masterpiece, generally I'm fine with it. But if it gets judged
worth a darn, then I beg to differ. I'm of the opinion that they, the
founding fathers of most of the sanctioning bodies, saw the wisdom in
defining what is and isn't barbecue and kept it to being cooked the old
fashioned/natural way, over wood or a wood product.
And how is a crock pot relevant in this discussion, you ask? It's tough
to define the difference between an electric bbq cooker of some type
and something else akin to a crock pot, that's how. It gets very gray...
Frankly, to me, the boiled rib and the crock pot butt, not matter what
sauce you slather on it, isn't barbecue, by definition of what is and isn't
barbecue. It may be delicious, but it's not barbecue, IMHO.