Man Fire Food

Roger Mooking makes a pit stop at The Box Street Social food truck to hang chickens and racks of ribs over a live fire; roasted pumpkins topped with goat cheese and arugula; another food truck with a penchant for central Texas-style 'cue.

Texas barbecue and Mexican barbacoa; pitmaster Adrian Davila of Davila's BBQ; the secrets to their legendary brisket and spicy beef sausages that the locals call hot guts; a Texas favorite, frito pie; traditional Mexican barbacoa.

Two Southern California barbecue joints that serve smoked meat; a husband-and-wife team running a pop-up restaurant called Moo's Craft Barbecue; Texas brisket and pork butt for tasty tacos; Mexican street corn and coleslaw with tequila.

Roger Mooking tames the flames in outdoor kitchens fueled by wood-burning fires; Alisal Guest Ranch and Resort is home to 10,000 acres of land with horses, cattle and a bevy of fiery cooking contraptions; juicy beef ribs and grilled chickens.

The Pit Room in Houston, where special events call for 600 pounds of meat; Oak Avenue Catering's custom-made asado grill that can cook a huge side of beef; fermented cabbages are hung on the grill to cook low and slow with the meat.

Traditional Texas-style barbecue: pitmaster Travis Heim and his wife, Emma, are the power couple behind the popular restaurant Heim Barbecue. Roger and Travis fill a giant steel rotisserie smoker with slabs of brisket.

A whole pig on a metal cross to cook over hot coals; the pig roast drippings fall into a potato-filled cast iron pan set over the hot coals; whole onions and squash are nestled directly in the embers.

Bludso's Bar and Que in Los Angeles, where owner Kevin Bludso brings meat and heat to Tinseltown in a big way; Kevin loads up his massive smoker with brisket, pork ribs, and chicken to cook low and slow in oak and pecan smoke.

An old-school barbecue institution serving chopped pork in South Carolina; Hill County barbecue classics in Texas; Price's BBQ in Gilbert, S.C.; massive 20-foot brick and concrete pit with hams, pork shoulders and pork butts.

Three different rigs to cook a whole hog; racks of ribs and bushels of oysters for the ultimate South Carolina-style surf and turf; Home Team BBQ restaurant in Charleston, S.C.; a burn barrel to make mountains of coals for the pig cooker.

Texas-style barbecue; Fox Bros. Bar-B-Q, which is owned by twin brothers Jonathan and Justin Fox; a 1,000-pound rotisserie smoker with briskets and house-made pork and beef bologna; the Texacutioner and the Bologna and Cheese.

Roasting whole lambs and vegetables for an Argentinian cookout; in Smyrna, Ga., Roger hangs out with chef Andre Gomez, the owner of Porch Light Latin Kitchen, who cooks up Puerto Rican classics in his backyard when he's off the clock.

Mrs. Peters Smokehouse, a smoked fish institution thriving in Jensen Beach, Fla., since 1958; giant 100-year-old oven smoking hundreds of pounds of fish, some of which will be used in a special seafood chowder, in Loxahatchee, Fla.