Do you want the authentic cookout? Try Mongolia.
The guys for whom cookout was the only style of cooking were nomads. Their barbecue styles were honed over centuries of travel, often in extremely inhospitable domains, and some of these methods are still practiced among Mongolian nomads to this day.
Mongolian nomads have various barbecue methods; one of them is the “khorkong”. It is about cooking lamb (or goat) over the fire of hot stones. First the animal is cut into pieces leaving the bone. The Mongols then place ten to twenty fist-sized rocks on the fire. When the rocks are hot enough, they place both the rocks and the meat in the cooking container. Interestingly, the utensil typically used for this is the metal milk jug, although any container strong enough to hold the rocks will generally do the trick.
Then they add the other ingredients: vegetables (carrot, cabbage, potatoes) to make a stew, and finally the salt and other spices. The food is layered, with the vegetables on top. Finally, a quantity of hot water is poured to create a steam bubble inside the jug, which is then closed with a lid.
The meat in this style is cooked with the heat of the stones and the steam inside the container. Sometimes the cook can put the jug back on the fire if they think it is not hot enough. The stones turn black from the heat and fat they absorb from the meat. During the entire cooking time (about an hour and a half), the cook will listen and smell the food to judge if it is done.
When finished, the cook will deliver not only chunks of the food, but also the cooled stones along with them, the stones are said to have beneficial properties if you hold them in your hands!
Another style of cuisine in this part of the world is the “boodog” (“boo” means to wrap in Mongolian). Usually a black-tailed prairie dog or goat is cooked this way. No pots are needed for this recipe; Once the animal is dressed, the entrails are reintroduced through a small hole and the entire carcass is cooked over an open fire.
However, the Mongolian barbecue found in most Mongolian restaurants is not the authentic food. So to get authentic stuff, look for nomads and savor the food, rocks and all!