Customer Reviews

How to Grill: The Complete Illustrated Book of Barbecue Techniques, A Barbecue Bible! Cookbook

5 star:		(49)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Recommended by a friend with great grilling abilities, I began with the simple stuff, picked up some good techniques and now a shelf of spices (it's ok to be a guy and have spices) and have moved on in bigger beef, beer can chicken, coconut shirmp... yadidoda... The format is consistent, Raichlen is readable, This book is great, but the binding...buy a copy, drill holes in it and stick it in a binder, it will fall apart.

Steven R. has done a great job with presenting his idea in the most understandable way. The color pictures really make it easy for you to understand. Weather you are grilling for the first time or you are a pro, this book surely teaches you new ideas and techniques. I love grilling and I use to suck on doing BBQ on a grill but after reading this book, my family actually enjoys the food too and not just the adventure of cooking. I defineteley recomend this book. I doesn't just show you how to grill but also has MANY helpful and tasty recipe. You can rent it from libarary before buying it, thats what I did. I was confused between "how to grill" and "BBQ Bible" and I like this book alot more.

I love this book... it's a perfect and simple guide for everything anyone would grill. I use it as a reference every single time I start my Barbeque. I've already bought three more copies as gifts. THE BEST.

I was very excited about this book coming out. The layout and photographs are really nice (full color) and the techniques great (although *BEWARE* it didn't really teach me anything I hadn't learned from the Barbeque Bible already.) But in the end, the recipes left me disappointed as I was hoping for something more sophisticated. My advice, don't buy this book if you already have the first one. And don't buy this book unless you like all your meat products stuffed with cheese.

This book makes for great tasting meals. I'm not sure that they would be called healthy but great for a splurge once in a while. My son and husband love the recipes for BBQing. Great gift for a man that likes to entertain.

I try a receipe this week end for the first time and it was a big hit.

This book is exactly what I was looking for. It talks about the basic techniques that help you bbq better and it has a bunch of great recipes as well.

I'll definitely be picking up another of his books, maybe bbq bible to get more recipes.

I was in a bit of a frenzy for the usual Fourth of July grilling extravaganza... I wanted to do a couple of new dishes, smoked BBQ ribs and smoked salmon, and I awoke Saturday morning with neither the foodstuffs nor any proven recipes. After throwing back a bracing cup of coffee, I raced off to the local warehouse store that I knew carried this book to see whether I could still make the cookout happen, and if not... Well, there's always pizza, right?

I realized time would be an issue, so as I scanned the recipes for BBQ ribs and smoked salmon, I knew it would be a close race. I would need to pick up all the materials, do some prep work, fire the grill, cook the food, and basically do it all in about 5 hours. Nothing invigorates like a good challenge.

Five hours later, our guests were sitting down to newly-made potato salad, cherry cobbler, fresh corn on the cob, green beans from the garden... And the centerpieces of the cookout, the aforementioned spareribs and salmon. Let me just say this. I have always had great success with salmon, and some would say my versions are better than what is served in many restaurants. Raichlen's smoked salmon with dark rum outdid my best. It was buttery, smoky, just a hint of rum and brown sugar. And best of all, as it cured in the fridge for about 4 hours, it allowed me to move onto other projects. Grill time for the salmon? A mere 20 minutes.

The ribs were an unequivocal hit also. I even managed to mix up his suggested BBQ sauce, and I must say it was simply outstanding. Best of all, the most labor-intensive aspect of this recipe was actually remembering to spritz the rack of ribs every 15 minutes with cider. How very taxing, indeed...!

Sunday I sat down and perused the rest of the recipes. My wife is a modified vegetarian, so she can eat fish, shellfish and veggies. This book had plenty to offer. I just about fell off the couch when I saw "Grilled Creme Brulee!" And as for us carnivores, there's plenty to try out.

In short, the layout was extremely user friendly, the recipes tried so far were brilliant successes, and the techniques and hints all were very helpful. I do agree that at some point I'll need to put this into a binder, because I plan to use the heck out of this book. For anyone who likes to grill, don't hesitate. Buy this book now.

How to Grill is a comprehensive guide to grilling for newbies that want to become pros. The book begins with a very thorough study of every conceivable barbeque technique, every piece of equipment, and many how-to's, from choosing the grill (or grills!) that are right for you to lighting charcoal without blowing something up. Each of these discussions have beautiful, glossy, detailed pictures included. If you decide to buy a fish grilling basket after reading this book, you will know exactly what it looks like when you go to the store. No more guessing from bad illustrations! This alone is worth the purchase price of this book.

Of course, this is also a large recipe book. And the recipes are absolutely delicious! I suggest that any barbequer start with the Beer Can Chicken recipe and work from there. The recipe is so simple, but soooo good. All recipes are well illustrated, with step-by-step instructions. Again, nice glossy photos, no bad illustrations.

Some have complained that the information about how to do things like soaking wood chips and lighting the grill are repeated unnecessarily with each recipe. I think these repetitions actually make the book great at what it's for, the beginner. A beginner barbequer doesn't want to have to flip back and forth through the book to remember the steps. It's all laid out together. More advanced barbequers, which anyone who buys this book will quickly become, would do well to get another book of Raichlen's: "BBQ USA", with still great instructions, though less pictures, and 425 recipes to keep you eating for many weekends to come.

During the warmer months, my husband and I grill sometimes 5x/week. But despite our love for all types of foods, we noticed that we seemed to stick to the usual fair whenever we grilled (burgers, steaks, the occasional chicken quarters, etc). We recently purchased a new, beautiful gas grill, so I decided there was no better time than the present to learn more about "the art of grilling". We weren't amateurs to the grill at all, but at the same time, there were many techniques that we knew we needed to learn, plus it would help if we had more recipes to try, then we could expand upon whatever knowledge we already had.

I researched several "how to" grilling books online, and my first choice was "How to Grill" by Steven Raichlen. Unfortunately, when I ordered it, it was sold out and there was no word on when it would become available. I then decided to purchase my second choice "Weber's Art of the Grill."

That was about a month ago, and since then I have managed to buy a copy of Raichlen's "How to Grill." In comparing both of them, I think Raichlen's book is indeed well-written and comprehensive, providing some excellent recipes and great tips and techniques. However, I was disappointed by the fact that on each recipe, he gives the same instructions on how to light the grill...over and over again (seems like other readers have noticed this, too). Also, I wish the book were bigger as in the size. (The size reminded me more of a software manual than a cookbook. I expected something "larger"). In parts, the book is extremely rudimentary in it's instruction, too. Because of these things, I pefer Weber's book more as it appears to be written more for those that already have a some grasp of the basics of grilling, plus it isn't redundant in it's instruction. The pictures and the recipes are equalling delicious in both (try the buffalo chicken wings. WOW!), but it seems that Raichlen really favors charcoal grills and makes that point quite clear in his book. I also found that with almost all of Raichlen's recipes, we would have to add at least an hour of cooking time for us to achieve the same results. Could it be because we are cooking on gas? I don't know...the temp on the thermometer still read the same *shrug*.

Despite the above, I agree that if you're looking for an all-around comprehensive book to have as a guide to grilling basics, I recommend Raichlen's book as a great resource to have in your cookbook library.