The Great American Barbecue & Grilling Manual - Hardcover

Hale, C. Clark; Hale, C. Clark "Smoky"; Lyon, Sandra; Lyon, Bob

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0936171030 ISBN 13: 9780936171036

Publisher: Abacus Pub Co, 2000

Synopsis

A complete, illustrated guide to the American art of barbecue and grill cookery offers step-by-step directions on host of cooking techniques, along with a host of creative and healthful recipes for cold and hot smoking, barbecuing, roasting, and broiling, as well as tips on different types of grills.

About this title

About the Author

His "Great American Barbecue Instruction Book" 1985, established Smoky Hale as a foremost student of the art. Subsequent newspaper columns, magazine articles, e-zine articles from Barbecue'n On The Internet, responses to thousands of questions e-mailed from around the world, teaching seminars from coast to coast and judging at all major barbecue contests have confirmed his international reputation as the leading authority on the techniques of cooking on a grill.

But it is his wit as well as his wisdom, that has endeared him to millions - from first-timers to professional barbecue competitors.

When not traveling, judging and teaching barbecue, Smoky resides in the deep woods near McComb in South Mississippi.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Foreword: "...trying to learn to grill from recipes is the equivalent of trying to appreciate the panorama and understand the geology of the Grand Canyon from a series of random snapshots taken by an assortment of strangers. A recipe shows how to prepare one dish. Learning technique provides the skills and knowledge to create your own. Origin of the Word Barbecue: If all the awful offal, published under the guise of barbecue, were gathered on one site, it would represent the greatest collection of compostable material since Hercules cleaned out the Aegean stables. ". . .claiming French origin for barbecue with "de barbe et queue" being translated as "from beard to tail" can be dismissed as flagrantly fatuous Franco-poop!" Birthplace of Barbecue: "Barbecue is America's oldest art form, more than 100 years older than the United States. "Today, the Carolinas could aptly be called the "Balkans of Barbecue". . ." ". . .there is no regional barbecue. Wherever it is barbecued, meat is cooked low and slow in the dry heat of wood coals. Flavor it as you will," Barbecuing: "The successful barbecuer does not keep his nose to the grill, fretting, harrying the meat and hectoring the grill; he lets the grill do its job while he takes maximum pleasure in the creative use of the passing time." Barbecuing a Whole Hog: "I am frequently amazed that folk who have never before barbecued anything get the unaccountable urge to cook a whole hog. This is the equivalent of wanting to begin your singing career at the Metropolitan Opera." Building a Better Barbecued Brisket: Julius Caesar is credited with writing during his foray into Gaul, "Boves est omnis divisa in partes tres." Translated that reads, " The cow (as a whole) is divided into three parts." While he did not elucidate, anyone reasonably familiar with a cow carcass will understand that the front end of a cow is made for roping, the hind end is for branding and the middle part is for cooking on a grill. The brisket comes from the roping part. In Pursuit of the Perfect Steak: ". . . then leave them alone! Do not touch them, talk to them or worry them in any way! Steaks know when they need to be turned, and will let you know if you let them. When a steak meets the heated grill they seize each other like newlyweds. At the proper time they will turn loose. Flip them over with a spatula, not a fork, and they will grab again. When they turn loose the second time, the honeymoon is over and it's time to get on with business." The Artful Hamburger: "More affronts to good taste have been committed in the name of hamburger than in the name of art. "Hamburger" is as wantonly applied to the rubbery disk of misbegotten menagerie meat and adulterants served in fast food houses as it is to an aptly appointed artwork of a master griller working premium ingredients." On Buns: "Bread should pleasure the eye like a plump Rubens nude and seduce the nose with promises, reveal sensual texture and give earthy sustenance." Lamb Brochette: "Mary had a little lamb, bell peppers and tomatoes, skewered with an onion sliced and broccoli with potatoes. Seafood: "Like beginning vaudeville players, fish may have different names in different towns. Check out the names in your locale with a good reference - a book or a fish market manager. Check out the manager, too!" Pit Roasting: "There are some peculiar urges that arise in humans which drive them to activities which defy all efforts to discern the reason, the compulsion or the cause. One of the most remarkable is the urge to cook meat, covered with dirt, in a hole in the ground."

Smoked Turkey: "Turkey smoking is the sort of activity that combines well with a triple-header football Saturday. And it would go well with a re-reading of War and Peace." Recipes: "At best, recipes are a starting place; at their worst, a delusion." Marinades: "Among many misinformed, myriad malodorous mixtures masquerade as meaningful marinades." Basting Sauces: "All other things being equal, basting sauce is probably the single most important ingredient in successful barbecuing." All About Grills: "Second in abomination only to the mass of misinformation bastardizing the word barbecue is the melange of malapropos merchandise mendaciously misrepresented as "barbecues" or barbecue grills." "Different grilling techniques require different capacities in a grill. The right grill for you is the one which will allow you to cook what you want, when you want it, with the least amount of hassle and expense." Heat and Light: "Those to whom the Basting Mops were passed by the ancient Keepers of the Coals also bear the burden of sharing the truth in barbecuing. This is why I am compelled to state unequivocally that there is no "direct heat," there is no "indirect heat," there is only heat." Burning Wood and Blowing Smoke: "The recent rage for exotic woods and excessive smoke has, naturally, generated more smoke than light. It's time to clear the air and look at some facts." Auxiliary Equipment: "As a rule of thumb, thermometers on the average grill are accurate bor about 38 nanoseconds." Meat Selection, Safety, Handling and Storage: "The bogus threat of cancer, resulting from nitrosamines . . . has been debunked. The threat is less than getting stoned by a meteorite."

Edition details

• Publisher: Abacus Pub Co
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0936171030
• ISBN 13: 9780936171036
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 416