Customer Reviews

The Cook's Illustrated Guide to Grilling and Barbecue

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

 

 

I like my cook books to have step by step instructions. I like them to have anecdotes about the history and methods of ingredients, cultural areas, and utensils. I like them to teach me how to cook, as if it were a class, and not a documentary. I do not like "money shot" food porn cook books that are all about enticing you to make your final dish look like the photo, with almost no preparation on HOW to do it. That's not a cook book, it's a paperweight. It should be kindling.

That said, this book is EXACTLY what I wanted. As a long time griller, I wanted to know about my mistakes. I wanted to know how to fix them. Not just 1,000 pages on marinades, sauces or rubs... I can find that in ANY cookbook, I can find that online. I wouldn't shell out hard earned money for that. Or even want to own those books for 1 sauce recipe or 1 marinade recipe. That's ridiculous. Then you end up building a library of cookbooks based on 1 thing here and 1 thing there. I want MY library to be informative. I want to open a cookbook I haven't looked at in years, and remember why I bought the darn thing! You're not gonna get that from one of those 1,000 page books. You're NOT gonna get that from a celebrity chef or personality or even cultural book, unless YOU are obsessive as a fan.

I have some of those, I'm not denying it. But when it comes to learning from a cookbook. I want at least one in my collection that puts the others to shame.

That's this book RIGHT HERE! I am a long time fan of "America's Test Kitchen" and "Cooks Country", and while I find their magazine sometimes hit or miss, not always what I want to make. Their instruction is beyond measure. I always learn something new, and I always go back to them, if I want to make something that can't fail.

Just got this for my birthday this weekend. And I made the grilled chicken legs recipe on my new gas grill, and let me tell you, my wife and mother in law LOVED them!

It was a no fail recipe, it was perfectly easy to follow, and I am going to using that as my basis to experiment. Cause really you have to know the rules before you can break them with one of those 1,000 page books. So, for all you MEN out there (using wife's account to give this review), who think you know what you're doing. Buy this book and "unlearn what you have learned", you won't be sorry, and your Grill-Kung Fu will only get better!