Cookbook Review:

With all my 14 years of daily exposure to the wisdom of some of the top barbecue cooks in the country and all the cookbooks I have read, you would think I would have a good grasp of the situation. But, in reading this book I am learning a lot of new things.

I don’t hand out these compliments lightly. This is not just a “low and slow pure barbecue” cookbook but he carries his knowledge of “pure barbecue” (he has won prestigious “pure barbecue” awards to back this up) into all levels of outdoor cooking. There is a lot of direct grilling and indirect smoking information. I don’t care if you’re an expert cook or a beginner, you will get a lot out of reading this book.

I love the way he builds flavor profiles by layering the ingredients and the steps of the cooking process, using some procedures that many barbecue purists frown on when making barbecue. It’s pretty amusing reading the recipes that call for foiling as a step to making good barbecue. Whatever works to make the best barbecue he can, Adams isn’t at all bashful about doing it. I like that!

I also love that there is no “I’m a better barbecue cook than you” ego written throughout this book, unlike a couple of those written by a self-titled “dr” of bbq. This book reads like Adam’s sitting out on the deck with his feet propped, having a cold one with pals and talking Que. No sarcastic anecdotes here.

With over 100 barbecue related cookbooks in my arsenal as reference and many cooking techniques I thought were pretty sound, Serious Barbecue
has me rethinking some of the ways I make barbecue. A must own barbecue book!

I bought Serious Barbecue: Smoke, Char, Baste, and Brush Your Way to Great Outdoor Cooking, because both my husband and I love to barbecue. I make my own sauces–and they are miles better than any commercial sauce–but was ready to try some new recipes.

I have flipped through the book and recognize recipes that I have already had at the restaurant–and will definitely make them. Some winners include Short Ribs with Fleur de Sel, sticky drumsticks, and Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Banana and Brown Sugar.

I like the different cooking methods Lang employs, and intend to try all of them this summer.

Keep in mind, however, that many of these recipes take time and many ingredients to make. The short ribs, for instance, require several steps to make. Lang believes the BBQ is best when the ingredients are added in stages–this makes for complex flavors and an unbeatable texture. The ribs first get a mustard moisturizer, then a seasoning blend, next a wrapping mixture, and finally, the finishing dressing.

So you don’t cook from his book when you’re in a hurry. My plan is to have a few BBQ parties this summer and cook from the book.

If you enjoy BBQ, buy this book! You will be amazed at the difference the proper cooking method and homemade sauces make to your food.

Highly recommend!

By the author of the award winning book, Harmonious Environment: Beautify, Detoxify and Energize Your Life, Your Home and Your Planet
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I would prefer to have cooked from the book a little more before posting the review. I have probably made 5-6 recipes from the book, including both barbecue and grilling recipes. But since the recipes have produced uniformly fantastic foods, I am not too worried about extrapolating from my experience to the book in general.

(1). A little more detail onthe recipes are a little more work than the usual. What does this mean? It means that most recipes have three steps. The meat is prepared using an injection, marinade, or brine. Then a custom dry rub is applied after brining, then during cooking you will apply a sauce or glaze. Often there is another step during cooking such as wrapping in foil, basting, etc. Making all these various flavor layers/toppings, etc is time consuming and requires a lot of ingredients. However, most of the ingredients are easy to find and easy to assemble, it just takes time so plan ahead. These are not recipes you decide to do 30 minutes before you eat.

(2)A mixture of barbecue and grilling recipes.
The book includes a great selection. Most all of the classic slow cooked barbecue meats are covered in this book, pork shoulder, pork butt, brisket, chicken, etc. etc. But for each one, there is a unique touch, slight changes to the classic smoking process that increase complexity and flavor. For example, most of the smoking recipes involve wrapping the meat in foil for part of the cooking period. Purist may object but it works and combined with the flavorful additions to the meat that are usually added when wrapping the process actually adds flavor not just steam heat to the meat.

On the grilling front, there are recipes for every type of meat as well. Here one note is that all the recipes are not written for the same type of grill. For example, there are recipes that have you preheat the grill on high then lower it down to medium high once food is added. With a charcoal grill or Big Green Egg this is not an instant process and not necessarily easy to do after adding food (depending on your equipment). I don’t think there is any single piece of equipment that would cook every recipe without some adaptation, so be prepared to think about these issues when you read the recipe.
But on the grilling side, as with the slow cooked side, the recipes are amazing and the results well worth the investment of time.

(3) the results are fantastic.
This book has a lot of recipes. A lot! And I cannot wait to try all of them. I have tried a bunch of the pork recipes and a beef recipe as well as a side dish. All were great.
For example, each of the grilled pork recipes I have made so far involved a glaze applied at the end and then again to the meat as it was sliced. Wow! I have never tasted anything like these glazes in my life. Each mixes intense sweet and savory ingredients with a powerful herb (imagine a glaze of peach preserves, garlic, and rosemary). These are amazingly good. What is more is that they don’t stand alone. You put these glazes on top of meat that has been brined and then covered with a dry rub that has complimentary and contrasting flavors that all layer together into an explosion of flavor. Combine all of that with a charcoal fire accented with smoke wood and you start to get an idea.

So in summary: (1) prepare to invest time preparing the sauces, rubs, brines, glazes, etc. (2) prepare to invest a little more care in the cooking process than slapping meat on a hot grill and setting the timer. (3) prepare to eat the best barbecue you have ever tasted.