Customer Reviews

Taming the Flame: Secrets for Hot-and-Quick Grilling and Low-and-Slow BBQ

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

When I purchased this book, I was expecting to find information on grilling techniques and recipes to demonstrate them. I did not expect how comprehensive this book would be. It is the bible of grilling! It covers every aspect of grilling and barbequing and gives the reader the insight gained through years of research.

The first 30 pages or so take you through all the basic information that you need before you grill. From choosing a grill to a detailed explanation of the difference between direct and indirect grilling, this section will educate the novice and cause the pro to question long held beliefs. The remainder of the book takes you through step by step instructions on how to grill most anything. The book is highly organized and easy to use. There is a chapter for every meat or food type and each chapter begins with all the practical information you need to grill the right way. It takes an enormous amount of information and presents it in the most readable format imaginable.

But one thing has impressed me beyond all others- this book has been able to balance the authoritative with the personal. All too often, the most comprehensive cookbooks lack personality and warmth. While this book has all the important technical information you would expect from a textbook, it is filled with the warmth and personality of someone who obviously loves what she does. Every recipe begins with a story that gives the reader insight into how the recipe was discovered or created. This combination is so rare.

I remember the first time I read Bill Neal's Southern Cooking and how I was struck by his combination of cooking knowledge and cultural history. Taming the Flame strikes me in a similar way. It is an impressive text of grilling techniques and skills as well as a collection of personal insights into the lives and grilling of Elizabeth Karmel's friends, family and the whole grilling/barbeque circuit culture that exists in the United States. I could not recommend it more highly.

Having sizeable Grill/BBQ cookbook collection already, it takes something to catch my eye and add at this point. Browsing through this one did it.

She is definitely into it, and conveys this energy and expertise in this over 350 page offering. It will provide basics for initiate and wealth of great recipes and tips for all up to expert.

Begins each unit with a 101 intro, as well there is great intro to types of grills and smokers, and glossary and sources along with a menu suggestion section. Nice style with about 20 4 color photos of some dishes makes for an attractive cookbook. Further, great grilling time charts in every section which are very useful!

What caught my perusing eye was such creative entrys as "Beer Can Turkey" (already into the Chicken on the Can); Sweet Pork Sausages in a Dijon-White Wine Sauce; French Onion Dip burgers; Jack and Coke Soaked Pork chops; Portobello Mushroom Dip with Pita Points; Italian Grilled Cheese Skewers; and a terrific twenty source rub and sauce recipe section.

This adds much to the spectrum already out there, including Bobby Flay, James Purviance, Chris Schlessinger, Steven Raichlein, et al. Neat to see the ladies really into great grillin and BBQ, e.g. Karen Adler and Judith Fertig.

Fun book to read and use.

I bought this book on a whim and have been amazed at how comprehensive, easy to read and execute, and just fun the book is. My husband has really gotten into grilling in the last year, and we have a small library of top grilling titles, and this is always our go-to. When, for example, we wanted to grill Cornish game hens, this book was the only one with a recipe (and a delicious one at that). If you like grilling, you must own this book!

Over the last several years I have been working on developing the skill to really make grilling work. I have collected a lot of books on grilling and honestly have found most to be a list of recipes rather than useful information about using the grill. In fact, a lot of them seem to just say "then grill for x minutes" after spending a page on the prep.

This book is different in that it really helps to develop an understanding of how grilling works. This allows me to develop skill, rather than just repeat instructions (with mixed results).

I am most fond of the "101" sections at the beginning of each food type. It really helps to lay out the process. These sections often repeat information shown elsewhere in the book, which at first annoyed me. However, I now find that having it all in one place allows me to quickly review before grilling.

On the negative, I think they went a little overboard with the number of recipes. For example, there are several steak recipes that really are just about how to make a sauce to put on the steak after grilling. The book is fairly priced even if I never use them, but it does force me to sort through a lot of these "quasi" ideas to find the good recipes. Related to that, the attempts to personalize each recipe became tiring. In a few places it was kind of nice, but after a while you feel like you are reading her diary. As my rating shows, neither of these was a big enough issue to detract from the overall excellent nature of the book.

I will be giving a copy out to many people on my Christmas list.

I have been a huge fan of Elizabeth Karmel since I became a member of her weekly newsletter the Ladybug club a couple years back. Her explanation and detail on grilling is A++++. I just received her new book a couple of days ago and was so inspired fired up the grill and cooked one of her suggested menus. I strongly recommend this book for beginners (she walks you through all grilling details in 101) to advanced (the recipes are simple to sophisticated).

How in the world did I miss this when it first came out??

I have been an ardent griller for a looong time, and look for (but infrequently buy) all new books that will add to either my repertory or increase my skills. Too many do neither. My older son got Ms. Karmel's new book on sauces for me as a Christmas gift when I was two weeks past a hip replacement. I suspect he wanted me "back to work" at the grills. On Dec. 26, having been very enthusiatic about the sauces book, I ordered this one and was sure glad that I did!

Did it "add to my repertory"? You bet! I'll NEVER brown short ribs in oil on the stove again; no sireee! I'll put a rub on them and brown them on the grill, just like Ms. Karmel says -- then braise them just like she says. It's a hugely great dish -- HOO HAH! We also tried and loved the pork chops glazed with orange marmelade and dark rum. We've got a bunch more lined up, but critters developed a liking for gas regulator hoses (last year it was grill covers), so the Weber Genesis is on lockdown until the part gets here.

Did it increase my skills? yep, it sure did. Ms. Karmel is a Southern lady, so I was interested in her take on barbecue; that's the low & slow kind. After all these years, I learned that too much smoke, say on ribs, detracts from the end result, and why this is. There's a lot of other neat stuff, too.

Ms. Karmel's goal - or one of them - is to get more women to grill and barbecue. I soundly approve! I know of only one woman who does so, and she's going on 80, but makes the Weber perform like a concert violin. But most think it's messy or have some other objection, but sure pile on when they come to our place! I hope this book advances the interest of women in cooking outdoors; it seems to from this ol' guy's perspective. Certainly, in general, if it can be cooked, it can be done on a grill and taste a lot better.

In sum, this book is well organized and indexed. It is chock full of flavorful, easy to follow and execute recipies, and, I think, a lot of the author's passion for the grill. It has gone on my short list of essential grilling books, along with her new one on sauces.

I think it's a sure fire winner!!

I love to cook on the grill and I occasionally will look for books that deal with the subject of grilling and barbecue to expand my library of ideas. I stumbled on this book one afternoon when doing an online search and decided to buy it though I had never before seen it. This has turned out to be the very best book on outdoor cooking I own.

Taming the Flame starts with a generous introduction that lays down some important foundational information that eliminates the surprise factor and aims to guide the reader to a better understanding of not just how to grill but why to do it in certain ways. For example, the author explains the differences between gas and charcoal grills and how to make a good decision when shopping for a new grill. The different heat methods - direct, indirection and a combination of the two - are each described in detail with good guidelines as to when to use each given method to cook. Flavoring methods (rubs, sauces, mops and quite a few more) are described in some detail and what utensils and tools to have at the ready are clearly laid out. All of this is covered in the first 30 pages, before the actual recipe sections start!

From here, the next 300+ pages lay out the recipes and how-to's based on main ingredient. Poultry, beef, lamb, pork and seafood are a few of the sections, but there are quite a few more. Many sections start with a "101" mini-howto, that lays down foundational methods for dealing with dishes using the main ingredient in question.

When dealing with ribs, the author has mixed in a section on sauces, rubs and mops for flavoring ideas. There are several excellent flavor combinations to be found there and the adventurous can tweak and adjust to make even more.

So far, everything I have tried from this book has worked out well to the delight of my family.

Taming the Flame is the best book I have seen on the subject of outdoor cooking on the grill. It is very well written, it has a lot of materials not commonly found in other books and the recipes yield fabulous results.

I am very selective/picky about cookbooks. I don't just want recipes. I want pictures and I want tips and I want HELP on how to make it great. I'm already a pretty good home cook and pretty good at the grill, but learning TECHNIQUES makes a good cook a great cook - cookbooks with just recipes are fun to read and grab at the library for an idea, but why buy it when you can google a recipe? But when you already know how to create good food, it's not the recipes that make a better cook, it's the skills behind the recipes. A book you want to keep close at hand, is one that you know you will learn from and will grab again and again - "How should I set up the grill again for bone in chicken?" "What's the best way to make that pork loin?"... It's the basics, spelled out.

Of my 75 or so of constantly being tweeked/edited out cookbooks, I have ONE grilling cookbook. I got it because everyone said it's the best and while yes, I grab it here and there, it's uninspiring and not overly useful. So, I decided to grab a couple grilling books from the library to learn a few more things now that we live in a house where grilling is easier to do (versus in townhouse living where I had to cross the house and go down a flight of stairs to get to the patio). After reading through all the 101 part, and perusing the recipes, I told my husband I need this cookbook because I'll be grabbing it over and over. The other cookbooks I checked out from the library were 'eh'. Even though money is super tight right now with remodeling and buying a new house, this book is going to be the treat to myself! GREAT book!!!

The ONLY thing I wish it had, but it's not anything to dock points from the book about, is stuff on rotisserie grilling. And I'm with the author - I think gas and charcoal are the same - ONCE your gas grill is well seasoned.

Elizabeth's perspective and stories bring so much more to the recipes! It is a thoroughly enjoyable read along with tantilizing recipes! My daughter and I have had so much fun going through it marking the recipes we want to try... one hour in and we haven't even made it to the meats yet! Being in TX, we only grill in the summer months so not to heat up the house. This is our new FAVORITE book! Can't wait to impress my family and friends with all the creative grilling! She is an artist!

Found this at the local library & had to have a copy of my own. Grilling & slow cooking are explained in easy to understand steps. The receipes are fantastic! The best BBQ book I've found.