Go for the Burn: Authentic Jamaican Jerk at Home

As anyone who has eaten real-deal Jamaican jerk can tell you, it hurts. Smoke gets in your eyes and Scotch bonnet chiles scorch your gullet. Gary Feblowitz explains. “You need to sweat while you’re eating jerk,” says my new friend (we met on the set of Project Smoke) and go-to guy for indispensable jerk supplies. Read More…

The Ins and Outs of Injecting

Afraid of needles? Don’t let that deter you from enjoying the benefits of injecting. As many barbecue pros know, injecting is the most efficient way to add flavor and moisture to smoked, barbecued, or grilled food. Think of injecting as marinating from the inside out. Find Out How…

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RECIPE OF THE WEEK: MEMPHIS-STYLE RIBS

It never fails to amaze me how one simple idea can give birth to so many great regional variations. Consider ribs. The pork rib is one of the most perfect morsels ever to occupy a grill.

What I’m Grilling Now: Smoke-Roasted Chicken

“The French say the hardest thing to cook is a perfect roast chicken,” the Hermit observed. By the way he said it, Claire sensed she had measured up.

I wrote these words in my 2012 novel, Island Apart. While that book is a love story, not a cookbook, it does suggest the primal importance of a well-roasted chicken in human gustatory happiness.

It also reveals a myth perpetuated by the French chefs I trained with in Paris—that a great roast chicken is a difficult dish to make. That myth has something to do with the contradictory attributes of a perfect roast chicken: skin so crisp it crackles when you bite it, yet meat so moist it squirts when you cut into it. Read More…

Spring Cleaning for Your Grill

After the winter much of the country has experienced, it’s hard to believe—but spring has officially returned, and with it the promise of grilling in your shirtsleeves, not in a parka. Which brings us to spring cleaning your grill—a good practice even if you’ve been grilling all winter. Find Out How…

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GRILLED LAMB WITH HERBES DE PROVENCE

This is about the easiest and best way I know to cook lamb chops. You find them everywhere in Provence, from backyard cookouts to country inns and roadside restaurants.

Behind the Scenes on the Set of Project Smoke

“Quiet on the set, please. Cameras rolling. ACTION!” With these words, our Director of Photography, Richard Dallett, launched the taping of Steven Raichlen’s next Public Television show, Project Smoke.

Three months ago, Project Smoke was barely an idea. (That idea was to do for smoking and smokers what Primal Grill did for grilling.) By nightfall, February 20, a crew of 20 checked into our home for the next two weeks—the scenic JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort and Spa on the outskirts of Tucson, Arizona—to create a TV show. Read More…

A Guide to Vertical Gas/Propane Smokers

A long night spent tending the fires might make you question your decision (not to mention your sanity) to go old-school—it sure seemed a good idea when you bought that wood- or charcoal-burning offset barrel smoker. Hey, what’s so wrong with the “set it and forget it” philosophy, you wonder as you grope to silence your 2 a.m. alarm? Read More…

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RECIPE OF THE WEEK: KOREAN SESAME GRILLED BEEF

Bool kogi is eaten like moo shu or fajitas, using lettuce instead of a pancake or tortilla.

How to Cook Pork Shoulder

The pork shoulder may be the world’s simplest cut of meat to cook. Simpler than steak. Simpler than brisket. Simpler than ribs. In a nutshell, you season the hell out of it and cook it at a low to moderate heat for 3 to 6 hours (2-1/2 to 3 hours at 350 degrees; 5 to 6 hours at 250 degrees.) What emerges from your smoker or grill gives you a bodacious blend of crisp crust, luscious fat, and meltingly tender meat.

But simple doesn’t mean simple-minded. You’ll need to know about some essential gear and techniques to get it right. Read More…

Iron Meets Smoke: Grilling on a Plancha

The Spanish call it plancha. Argentineans call it champa. I call it one of the best ways to marry the searing and crusting capabilities of a cast iron skillet with the intense heat and smoke flavor produced by your grill. Read More…

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RECIPE OF THE WEEK: GRILLED PIZZA

Grilled pizza is easy to make, impressive to serve, and arguably one of the best things you’ll ever put in your mouth. Enough said.

Potatoes Hit the Grill

First came the smoked potatoes with black garlic jam and ramp (wild leek) aioli at Bar Tartine in San Francisco. Then the hickory-smoked potato soup—tarted up with buttermilk and sherry vinegar—at Mintwood Place in Washington, D.C. And who could forget the smoked mashed potatoes at Wiley Dufresne’s iconoclastic eatery, WD-50 on New York’s Lower East Side?

Call it the latest outbreak of a smoke fever sweeping a nation hungry for barbecue that goes beyond meat. Or call it the next big thing for one of the New World’s great vegetable gifts to Planet Barbecue: potatoes hit the grill. Read More…

9 Silicone Uses for Barbecuers and Grillers

Good hand protection is essential in barbecuing and grilling—not just for pulling pork, but for handling hot chimney starters, “uncanning” beer can chickens, and testing ribs for doneness by tearing them apart with your fingers. Read More…

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TUSCAN GRILLED POLENTA & VEGETABLE PLATTER

Polenta and veggies on the grill? It’s barbecue business as usual in Italy.

12 Killer Steak Recipes from Around the World

If eating meat is a crime, then vegetarians have a high rate of recidivism. According to a new study by the Humane Research Council, 84 percent of American vegetarians eventually return to eating meat, a third within three months. Five out of six “find their way back to a nice juicy steak,” reports the New York Daily News.

No surprise here. Steak is the emblem of carnivores everywhere. And I do mean everywhere. Here are 12 of the best grilled steaks you’ll find across Planet Barbecue (with recipes). Read More…

The 3-2-1 Method for Ribs

In a field as disorderly as barbecue, numbers bring a certain comfort. Perhaps that explains the popularity of the 3-2-1 method for cooking ribs. Read More…

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RECIPE OF THE WEEK: PULLED PORK SANDWICHES

Pulled pork turns up throughout the South, with vinegar sauce and slaw predominating in North Carolina and mustard sauce in South Carolina. This is super simple, but triumph lies in the details, like crisping the pork skin over the fire and buttering and toasting the buns.