Customer Reviews

Paul Kirk's Championship Barbecue Sauces: 175 Make-Your-Own Sauces, Marinades, Dry Rubs, Wet Rubs, Mops, and Salsas

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Purchased this for a friend who is really into barbequing. He really found it interesting and has tried a number of the recipes.

I absolutely loved this book. For an avid smoker or if you are a beginner this book will serve you well. I have been barbecuing for some time and found this book to not delve into the basics too much. His method for developing your own master class rub is very insightful.

What do you get the brother-in-law who has EVERYTHING?
He loves to cook and so I found this great little book and viola!
Great ideas for sauces and such. Just went over to their house the other day and this little gem was out on the table! A success!

You can buy lots of books on how to cook barbeque, but very few from accomplished masters such as Paul Kirk. Only two things surpass his ego in this book: His willingness to share some great recipes and insights, and his recipes themselves.

Pretty much every sauce, marinade, and relish I tried from this book turned out great. It's no surprise to me that Paul Kirk is so accomplished with several bold and unique recipes. Don't miss the orange-chile marinade, which he used to win a barbeque contest in Ireland.

I should mention that the book has a strong Kansas City-style slant to the barbeque, although Paul Kirk does make an effort to include different regional styles.

In addition to the recipes, Kirk provides "Master Classes" on barbeque sauces, rubs, and marinades. I took this opportunity to develop my special secret rub with secret spices reflecting my partly Greek heritage. Following Kirk's "Master Class" on rubs, I concocted a rub that I hoped would create gold in my Weber kettle. Have I developed a killer rub to take the barbeque contest circuit by storm? Well, probably not, but it was fun giving it a whirl, and if I say so myself, the results were pretty good.

But if you ask me, most of the fun of barbequing is coming up with secret recipes, and putting your own stamp on things, and Paul Kirk has got me going.

This great little book covers every aspect of preparation for barbeque. If you think barbeque is nothing more than tossing a few burgers on the grill, this book will open up for you a myriad of possibilities. Even experienced cooks can find plenty of good suggestions from which they can develop their own rubs, sauces & mops. I have the most fun putting together my own recipes based on his suggestions. If you aren't interested in devoting that much energy to perfecting your slow-cooking, stick with the recipes, which display an impressive variety. It doesn't hurt that this book is extremely affordable. I cannot recommend it enough.

I purchased my first smoker a few months ago but given the weather in Montreal I only started to use it last week, finally. I purchased this book on recommendations from others on this site and do not regret it at all! I have made several sauces and rubs and they are outstanding! I also had to go and purchase many of the ingredients that I did not have which took a while and at 5 different stores. I went through the book and made a list and after spending over 100.00 I had a complete collection of items I never had or heard of! This is my first book I have ever purchased for BBQ and I do not regret it. I have had compliments that I never had before and I am finally enjoying BBQing!

While I haven't made all the recipes the ones I have turned out great. The writing is clear, the recipes easy to follow and there is lots of encouragement to get out and experiment. A good solid BBQ cook book.

The basis of the book is, start with this recipe and mess around. Don't worry too much about the exact details. Taste it and modify it to your liking. On that note its been a good book for the kids as they like to "try this!" I use the seven second burn method to limit the amount of pepper. (If after seven seconds you are still ok, you can add a bit more.)

Ok, we have been just whipping though the recipes in this book and have yet to have a miss. This is one great BBQ cookbook. The lemon baste and lemon merinade for chicken is outstanding! That's the last time I ever buy a commerical BBQ sauce.

If you occasionally throw a slab of ribs on a grill and just need a recipe or two for a marinade or rub, skip this book and buy Ron Lutz's book "Whatcha Need to Know to Barbecue Like a Pro" or just pick up a general-purpose cookbook. If you're into true Barbecue (temperatures below 250 degrees, 5+ hours' cooking time, and barrel smokers, water smokers, and the like) and you like guests to 'Oooh' and 'Aaaah' over your Barbecue prowess; or if you'd like to know enough to make up your own rub, mop, marinade and finishing sauce recipes, definitely buy Paul Kirk's book. He explains how to create your own recipes for each of these categories, then throws in a bunch of standard and exotic recipes to use as a starting point.

I'm a big sauce fan (in more ways than one) so if you like to try different sauces this book is full of great ideas for different sauces, seasonings, marinades, rubs, mops, you name it. The sauces range from sweet to tangy and sour to peppery and spicy. This book will rub you the right way and your meat too. If there's a saucier book on the market I don't know what it is. Overall a great barbecuing book with lots of savory and fun sauce ideas to try.

I am not into grilling, but this book has me extremely excited about starting. I got it as a gift for a friend and I have had to order this book another three times for myself and others who are going to love it.