Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent Outdoor Cooking Guide, June 9, 2009
This review is from: She-Smoke: A Backyard Barbecue Book (Paperback)
I write online about grilling and barbecue (Barbecue Master blog and Yes You Can Grill web site), so I'm pretty picky about my grilling and smoking books.
She-Grill is one of the best outdoor cooking books I've seen and used.
Julie covers all the basics, so that your outdoor cooking turns out. This book does include recipes, but the the overviews and tips are the beauty here. Whether it's charcoal or gas or high heat on a grill or low and slow on a smoker, it's all here.
There are some family stories as well as history, so you can literally take this to bed in the evening and read and pick up all the info you need to know to rock the grill.
I only have a few barbecue books that I recommend to others. Most are fairly good and have some decent recipes. She-Smoke includes good recipes, but it's a good general guide covering about everything you'd need or want to know to be a success cooking outdoors.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Outstanding for learning your way around the grill!, July 14, 2009
This review is from: She-Smoke: A Backyard Barbecue Book (Paperback)
Barbecue is largely the domain of men, so the title of this book was immediately intriguing. I've never really thought of barbecue and grilling as having a gender bias, it just seems that men naturally gravitate to it. I think it's one of the last vestiges of true old-school masculinity, but I digress. Bias or not, in the book Julie tries to help the ladies feel comfortable at the grill.
The book is full of the typical barbecue recipes, and Julie brings some new things to the table. I especially found her "Pacific Northwest Salmon Bake" very interesting. That was certainly unexpected, but it certainly fits given her Seattle roots.
Where I found this book to really shine is in her in-depth explanations of the basics of barbecue and grilling. She covers all of the fundamentals, from meat cuts, to skinning ribs, to carving brisket, to fire tending and cooking times. She offers clear directions and step-by-step instructions throughout.
My only complaint about the book is its lack of photos, thus the four stars. Instead, it contains hand-drawn illustrations. They get the job done, but sometimes you just need to see the real thing. One thing that people generally need in a cookbook is to know how the final product is supposed to look. In this case you'll have to lean heavily on your imagination.
The bottom line? If you have wanted to learn your way around the grill or smoker, this is an excellent place to start. Julie does an outstanding job of flattening the learning curve and providing solid instructions. However, this book isn't just for novices. It's also worthwhile for intermediate and even experienced cooks. I recommend it.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Yum!, August 31, 2009
This review is from: She-Smoke: A Backyard Barbecue Book (Paperback)
Whoa, this is one most excellent book about barbequing. I've got men to feed and this book heaps on taste to the bland, boring meat-fest that we used to call barbeque. Honestly it's transformed me as an at-home-cook. I'm the diva of the backyard barbeque now. Smoked chicken, salmon, pork, whatever. Do you want to leap above the everyday and serve down-home chow with a gourmet twist? Run, don't walk to your local bookstore and snag a copy of She-smoke.
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