To explain what I mean, I think you can level up a cooking style. For example, pasta. At level 1, you’re boiling dried pasta and adding sauce out of a jar. At level 1, you add your own spices. Level 3, switch to fresh pasta. Level 4, make your own sauce. And finally at level 5, make the pasta from scratch.
So with BBQ, I guess level 1 would be cooking the meat so it’s neither burnt nor underdone. Maybe level 2 is mixing different meats/cuts that have different heat/time requirements and cooking well. Further levels = ?
For me L1 was hamburgers, L2 steaks, L3 veggies, L4 getting all the done ness right, L5 getting the done ness right with mixed meats and veggies. Then it’s time to change the game and start smoking. I smoked my first thing, a turkey, for thanksgiving it was really good. Then I tried smoking ribs and I totally fucked them up.