Customer Reviews

BBQ 25

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

The rather thin booklet (64 cardboard pages)intends to introduce 25 quick-and easy everyday recipes. It covers pretty much every major cut of meet plus fish and vegetables. Every cut is subjected to a few flavor enhancing steps: marinades, rubs, glazes, sauces etc. This works well for cheap cuts, or generally flavorless cuts (pork tenderloins, filet mignon etc.) and I picked up a few interesting tricks. However, it's a waste of effort on some prime pieces of meat. When I pay top dollars for a few nice marbled ribeye steaks I want to taste the beef rather than Mr Perry's soy-based marinade, or the added concentrated beef stock. I cooked them side by side last night, and the just salt and pepper version won hands down for its pure beef flavor. The marinated version wasn't bead, but I think I reserve it for a cheaper cut of meat.
I don't mind the shortness of the book, it's very concentrated with no fluff, though some parts seem generic (every chapter tells me to prefer: "Butcher over supermarket", "Local over outsourced", "Organic over other" - all true, but do I have to read them again in every chapter?). The editors should have done some more proof-reading, and I am not sure about some of the instructions: grilling a chicken breast for 1 1/5 hours (and calling it a "Quick Cook" recipe seems wrong and guarantee all but bone-dry meat.

Late last summer I raved about Adam's book Serious Barbecue, and I will rave about this book as well. This is a very different book, aimed at a somewhat different audience, but with the same great roots.

The form and layout of this book are revolutionary for cookbooks. It is packed with great need-to-know information that is presented in a way that people think about cooking.

It starts with the meat cut and equipment list in graphical form, then moves into the ingredient list, then a graphical depiction of the major process steps, then into the actual process. Again, the format is very refreshing and easy to use. Oh, and it has the same outstanding photography of the previous book, just much smaller.

If you are a grill and barbecue cook, you simply cannot go wrong with this book. It's small, very concise, and packed with must-know basics. However, like the previous book, it will stretch your the boundaries and bring great new flavors to the table.

Get it, read it, and use it!

I have to confess that I searched out this book mainly as a way to get over the $25 free shipping threshold on the main book I was purchasing. I was immediately taken aback with the simplicity of it and thought - oh man, this isn't going to be that great - wow was I wrong. Adam Perry Lang is a barbecue genius!! This book has easy to follow recipes for each type and cut of protein that people commonly cook on the grill - including brines (where appropriate), mop sauces and techniques presented in a very easy to follow format. I started off with the burgers - very simple, but really grreat - who knew to put a little water in the ground beef to get the burgers to stick together better (might be a steaming thing too) and the carmelized onions were great too - my wife said they were the best hamburgers she had ever had! Then last night I did the whole chicken - brined and then grilled/smoked with a mop sauce - AMAZING. Best chicken I have ever had as well. I will now worship Adam Perry Lang when I am at my grill - and I will certainly be buying his other book and looking for a good excuse to go to New York and eat at his restaurant!!

I started grilling with Steven Raichlen's _How to Grill_. It's plentiful pictures and helpful step-by-step instructions eliminated all my beginner's anxiety, and it equipped me with several good recipes (the scallops are incredible).

But I was ready to move on & I happened on this book. Most cook books have lots & lots of recipes, most of which either don't come off right for one reason or another or aren't to my taste. This book only has 25, but it promises that each one is a winner. I've made a few and my family is having trouble moving on to the rest--we like these so much we just want to make them again & again! The spatchcock chicken in particular is the best chicken we've ever had!

As others have noted, all the ingredients are easy to find and so far the recipes are pretty easy to make, altho many of them take longer than I'm used to.

The other nice thing about the book is that he teaches a number of techniques that I didn't know about but which really add to the dishes. However, I disagree with some of the other reviewers' comments that this is a good 1st grilling book. He does take a little knowledge for granted and occasionally leaves terms and ideas undefined. But it's great for anyone who knows the basics, all the way up to advanced grill-masters. I really can't recommend it highly enough.

Renowned chef Adam Perry Lang has released a new book that takes an interesting slant. It's roughly comparable to the "A Man, A Can, A Plan" books, but not nearly as simplistic. Perhaps that comparison is because the physical construction is like a board book (thick stiff pages, kind of like a children's book). The content itself is brief - each recipe is covered in one spread - but precise. Maybe the best word to describe the book is taken from the back jacket - streamlined. And there are lots of pictures and graphics. Does that draw a picture for you yet?

To really make this book unique is the premise that it contains only 25 recipes, but these are the 25 that we supposedly cook 95 percent of the time. Thus, the book's title, "BBQ 25" ($19.99, Harper Studio, 66 pp.). It's certainly a creative take and is well written enough to make it really good book. Lang certainly knows his stuff - he's the co-owner of the acclaimed Daisy May's BBQ in New York City and the author of "Serious Barbecue". Add this one to your bookshelf and get busy on those 25 recipes.

I use this book regularly when BBQ-ing, particularly sausages and burgers. Great techniques that can be used to enhance anything grilled. I highly recommend this book.

If you are already into BBQ and are moving on to adding all kinds of different things to your repoirtoire, and are not looking for a basic, limited recipe collection, then this book is not for you. However, if you are not and looking for entry level and just, good basic advice and recipes on the most popular BBQ dishes, this book is ideal.

First off, it has primer on cuts of meat to shop for as well as grilling advice (this is where I part, as he's only truly into natural lump charcoal) and 25 nice recipes for pop dishes, e.g. burgers, steaks, salmon steaks, vegetables, etc.

What is also nice is the format, sturdy, heavy, coated pages that will standup to the rigors of use right by the barbie or prep area.

Nice photos and helpful aids on each dish make this work a nice place for many to start, and others to be further informed and motivated possibly to venture out into other areas, e.g. brined pork tenderloin and whole fish.

When you think about it 25 Excellent BBQ recipes is a lot. I have done three recipes so far and have had wonderful results. Simply presented and no fancy dancy ingredients, no looking for some rare root in a Chinese herb shop with this book. The recipes are easy to follow as well as teaching you where some of the cuts of meat come from. The book has very thick laminated pages so it is made to be used in the field, kitchen back porch or wherever. It's already my second favorite cookbook ever! I can happily recommend this one.

I found this to be a very useful BBQ and Smoking guide. Like the thick, no-stain pages. Adam Perry lays it out for the novice and professional in step by step fashion with good pictures and diagrams. A must-have book for any Grill/Smoker addict.

This book is direct and pragmatic. They really considered the fact that most readers of this book would not be BBQ circuit competitors. This book is simply made for those of us that want awesome food with all the fluff removed. I even liked the utilitarian design of the book, which makes a lot sense when you start grilling. I would recommend this book to anyone that wants to grill mouth watering food.