The Best Recipe: Grilling and Barbecue (ISBN 0936184515)

Would Have Been 5 Stars, but...:
The only reason I did not rate this book at 5 stars is that I purchased a very similar book (which I did rate 5 stars) along with this one. The other book, "The Cook's Illustrated Guide to Grilling and Barbeque: A Practical Guide for the Outdoor Cook," was copyrighted in 2005, whereas this book was copyrighted in 2001. I expected the two books to be somewhat different, but the 2005 book appears to me to be an updated and revised version of this book. Both books are excellent, but I have found nothing in this book that the 2005 book doesn't contain. And, as you would expect, the 2005 book has more pages, more recipes, and more instructions and information than this 2001 edition. I have rated the 2005 "Illustrated Guide..." so I'll not repeat that here. I see no reason to purchase this 2001 book, so long as the 2005 "Illustrated Guide" is available.

Before reading this book, I thought I knew a lot about bbq.:
I have been cooking on an outdoor grill or smoker for over 30 years. Most of what I know I learned from others or made up as I went along, and I've been very satisified with my results. But I felt I was in a bit of a rut, so I bought this book. I'm amazed about how much I did NOT know about grilling. I have made it a goal to try out a recipe or technique from this book each time I use the grill to expand what I know - and the results are incredible. The best whole-roasted chicken I ever made was the first time I used the recipe here: incredibly juicy and tasty due to slow cooking ("grill roasting") with indirect heat and some smoke chips. But the second one did not come out as well. Interestingly, the writers of this book had the same experience. The thing that makes this book great is the research that went into it. They systematically try out all the variations they can come up with, tell you about which ones did not work and why, then nail down the best techniques, and present them here. The recipes appear to repeat a bit, simply because they have one for charcoal and one for gas. The two are similar, but though it takes more pages, it makes it much easier to follow through the steps to have separate recipes. Aside from recipes for cooking meats, there are a number of dry rubs, marinades, sauces, and salsas to get you started. Don't buy this book for quantity of recipes - there are bbq books with more - but instead for the quality and details of the techniques, which are so important for outdoor cooking. Even if you think you are an expert, it is very likely that you will learn new techniques, and improve your existing ones, in a way that will make you glad you bought the book.

The best grilling:
This is a superb "how to" book! Every recipe I've tried has worked flawlessly, and the complete discussion for every type of food gives me complete confidence to do the best job I can. A definite "must have" for anyone with a grill--I'd bet even a "grillmaster" would find useful info in it.

Every recipe is perfection:
We're long time subscribers to CI magazine, and got this book as a gift a few years ago. We've cooked many recipes out of it such as the kebabs (chicken and beef), portabello mushrooms, beef ribs, and cornish game hens as well as their basic burgers and steaks. And true to form, CI has us cooking (in this case, grilling & smoking) to perfection every time. The how and why in each case educates us further and often comes up in conversations with friends and family. Excellent guidebook!

more than just recipes:
This is a very informative and useful book. It contains lots of information about the different cuts of meat and what to look for when buying food for grilling. The separate instructions for gas or charcoal grilling are helpful, too. Lots of little hints to help the novice or expert griller.