Raichlen - How to Grill: The Complete Illustrated Book of Barbecue Techniques, a Barbecue Bible! Cookbook

BY STEVEN RAICHLEN
Photography by Greg Schneider
Styling by Rebecca Flast

WORKMAN PUBLISHING NEW YORK

In 1975, a young man fresh out of college had grand dreams of becoming a food writer. He applied forand to his great astonishment receiveda fellowship to study medieval cooking in Europe. This book is dedicated with appreciation to the Thomas J. Watson Foundation, which helped turn a dream into a lifes work.

This book began with a simple idea, but it took the hard work of a small army of incredibly dedicated people to bring it to fruition.

My first thanks go to the extraordinary team who spent an incredible amount of time sequestered in a photo studio near the Orange Bowl in Miami to help me show how to grill through literally more than 1,000 color photographs: photographer Greg Schneider; food stylist Rebecca Beck Flast; photographic assistant Maria Jose Chichi Mari; Tamara Bigelow (who joined us in the ninth inning, but played a terrific game); Greek grill meister Peter Arvanitakes; and Miami pit master Jack Cooper.

Equally warm thanks go to my friends at Workman Publishing: Suzanne Rafer, the most sensitive, capable, and hard-working editor in the business (in a thousand years I could never thank her enough for her friendship and for all shes contributed to this book); Lisa Hollander, the incredibly gifted art director who transformed a chaotic collection of photographs and text into the handsome book you hold in your hands; creative directors Paul Hanson and Paul Gamarello, who created the look of the Barbecue! Bible series; copy editor Barbara Mateer, who put so much productive time and effort into this book, and who gently helped me mind my ps and qs; Patty Bozza, who coordinated all the pieces; publicists Jim Eber and Kate Tyler, who help me spread the barbecue gospel; the diligent assistant editor Beth Doty; the astute Pat Upton; and the energetic Jenny Mandel and Bruce Harris. And, of course, the one and only Peter Workman, whose business it is to turn wild dreams into books that actually sell. There arent many publishing houses like Workman, and Im lucky to be a part of it.

A huge round of thanks to my familyespecially my wife, Barbara (a partner in all my endeavors), who kept the home fires burning and proved extraordinarily understanding about my crazy work schedule; superkids Jake, Betsy, and Marc; not to mention my mother-in-law, Miriam Seldin.

My agent, Angela Miller, is such a constant presence in my life, I consider her family, too. And Heather Short, as well, who kept the office running smoothly with and without me.

Id also like to thank some of my many barbecue and food friends for their expertise and support, including Donna Myers of the DHM Group, Elizabeth Karmel of BSMG, Don Hysco at Peoples Woods, Jerry Lawson at W W Wood, Diane Jackson and Mary Huff at Fleishman Hillard, Laura Fleming of the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, Roger Berkowitz of Legal Sea Foods, Burt Culver at Culver Duck Farms, Inc., John and Sukey Jamison of Jamison Farm, Brian Maynard at KitchenAid, Karen Adler at Pig Out Publications, Nancy Eisman at Melissas, Sonja Torres-Weisberg at Cookworks, Alan Milam at Milams Market, and Carl Johnson at Scottys Market.

Many grill and accessory manufacturers and food purveyors provided support for this project. Theyre good people and I encourage you to check out their Web sites.

Stylist Rebecca Flast (left) with assistant Chichi Mari.

Photographer Greg Schneider.

Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute
www.alaskaseafood.org

Brugger Brothers
www.talamancapepper.com

Calphalon Corporation
www.cooking.com

Carlisle FoodService Products
www.carlislefsp.com

Char-Broil
www.charbroil.com

Charcoal Companion
www.companiongroup.com

Cookworks
www.cookworks.com

Culver Duck Farms
www.culverduck.com

Cutco Cutlery Corporation
www.cutco.com

DCS
www.dcs-range.com

Ducane Gas Grills
www.ducane.com

Grilla Gear
www.grillagear.com

Jamison Farm
www.jamisonfarm.com

KitchenAid
www.kitchenaid.com

Legal Sea Foods
www.sendlegal.com

Melissas
www.melissas.com

Mushroom Council
www.mushroomcouncil.com

National Cattlemens Beef Association
www.beef.org

National Pork Producers Council
www.otherwhitemeat.com

OXO International
www.oxo.com

Perdue Farms
www.perdue.com

Peoples Woods
www.peopleswoods.com

Pig Out Publications
www.pigoutpublications.com

Pottery Barn
www.potterybarn.com

Viking Range Corporation
www.vikingrange.com

Weber-Stephen Products
www.weberbbq.com

Williams-Sonoma
www.williams-sonoma.com

Zwilling J. A. Henckels
www.j-a-henckels.com

INTRODUCTION
Why I Wrote This Book

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This book was born under a giant sycamore tree on a warm summer night in Pittsboro, North Carolina. The place was an elegant country inn called the Fearrington House. Id been invited there to do what I love best: talk about barbecue and demonstrate grilling. As I do whenever I teach, I opened the floor to questions. For a moment, I feared I was bringing coals to Newcastle. Here I was in the heart of North Carolina barbecue country. What could I possibly teach people whod been pit roasting pigs and savoring pulled pork since they were old enough to eat solid food?

Perhaps it was the singular settinga grassy lawn with elegantly set tablesor perhaps it was the leisurely pace of the class and meal that followed. The flowing wine certainly helped. Whatever the reason, the students opened up in a way they rarely do, posing a wide range of questions that aspiring grill masters everywhere would like to ask, but seldom get the opportunity to.

They inquired about the difference between barbecuing and grilling, between direct and indirect grilling. They asked how to tell when a steak was done and how to cook chicken through without burning it. They wanted to know if there was a difference in cooking over charcoal, gas, or wood, and which way was best. They asked how to tell when the coals are ready and whether you really can smoke on a gas grill. They wanted to know how to grill everything from asparagus to zucchini, from lobster to lamb, from pork chops to whole hogs.

It was fascinating for me to see who asked the questions and how. Women were initially more forthcoming than men. Their questions reflected a basic discomfort with lighting and operating a grill. The men posed their questions more tentatively. This is what I do and it comes out great, but Im not sure Im doing it right was the typical way of framing a query. It wasnt until after the class that one man after another took me aside to confide his grilling uncertainties. My steaks are always tough, confessed one. Do I have to boil my ribs before smoking them? asked another. How do I keep my salmon from sticking to the grill? Can you really grill pizza? And so on.