It's that time of the year.  "Hamburger Season" they call it in the cattle industry because we buy, cook and consume more ground beef at this time of year than any other because we fire up the grill for summer.

We call it a "barbecue" and that got me into a short argument one time.  A guy told me, "You don't barbecue a burger, you grill a burger.  Barbecue is low and slow.  You grill burgers and steaks, you barbecue brisket and ribs", he said.

"So, why do we call our applicances 'barbecues' then", I said.

"Well, that's just what we call them", he said.  "Really, they're grills."

Well, by definition, a barbecue is the meal or the gathering at which we eat the food cooked outdoors on an open fire or a portable grill.  It can also refer to the food that's eaten at the gathering and / or the portable cooking appliance we cook it on. 

So, you see, it's just fine to say you're barbecuing burgers and hot dogs.  We have barbecues, we eat barbecue and we cook on the barbecue.  

You're welcome!