How to Make Bacon from Scratch

A trend once characterized by its excesses (remember the Bacon Explosion? Bacon Manhattans? Bacon brownies?) has quietly morphed into a DIY movement that has more and more people curing and smoking bacon at home. The good news is that the process is easy, requiring few culinary skills and little actual work. I came up with a streamlined process for bacon you can cure, dry, and smoke at home in a week.
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The Barbecue Sauces of Europe

Get recipes for some of the best grilling condiments you may have never heard of: the barbecue sauces of Italy, France, Spain, and Germany.
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Battle of the Hibachis

It’s the antithesis of the modern North American stainless steel super grill (you know, that propane-fired monster with multiple heat zones, infrared sear station and industrial strength rotisserie). But when it comes to providing maximum grilling efficiency in minimal space, few grills can beat its direct, concentrated, blast-furnace heat. It’s the compact Japanese-style tabletop grill known in the West as the hibachi.
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How to Grill Corn: Dos & Don’ts

Learn the best practices for buying, storing, cooking, and seasoning corn on the cob for the perfect summer barbecue staple.
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Add to Your Recipe Library This Month

This month only, you can get four of my e-books for under $10 total. Our good friends at Blue Plate Special are celebrating barbecue and grilling during July by offering my e-cookbooks and publishing a few of my recipes on their blog. Pick up BBQ USA, How to Grill, and Barbecue! Bible Sauces, Rubs and Marinades, Bastes, Butters and Glazes for $2.99 each. Plus, get a brand new e-book called 10 Ways to Cook the Perfect Steak just for signing up for the Blue Plate Special newsletter. SEE THE DEAL→

How to Make Bacon

Learn how to smoke your own bacon at home from expert butcher Tom Mylan, author of The Meat Hook Meat Book.
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A New England-Style July 4th

Are you excited for July 4th? After two months on the road for book tour, I sure am. My menu this year salutes New England with a sizzling grill-top clambake. Get ready for grilled clams with linguica, buttery grilled lobster, flame-seared corn, and sweet smoky blueberry crisp. These recipes will take your holiday cookout over the top. SEE THE MENU →

Must-Have Advice for Grilling the Best Tri-Tip

What grills like steak, but slices like brisket? Offers the beefy flavor of sirloin, but is mercifully forgiving when it comes to grilling time? If you answered tri-tip, then you know your stuff.
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9 Inspired Gifts for Father’s Day

Speaking as a guy and a father, here’s a bit of advice: Don’t give Dad a gift he would store in a top dresser drawer. In other words, no socks, neckties, cufflinks, and monogrammed anything. We want toys. And time with you and yours. Gear for your grills satisfies both criteria.

Any of the following gifts will be appreciated by that special dad in your family and you just might benefit, too. SEE THE GIFTS →

Try These Fire-Eater Chicken Wings

If you can take that heat and want more, then travel the world’s barbecue trail with a range of global-inspired (and fiery) chicken wing recipes.
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The Science of Brining

Lean meats, like chicken breasts, pork chops, shrimp, or fish fillets, trip up many grillers. Turn your back for a few seconds or get caught up in something else, and your once-glorious piece of meat becomes a dry, tough wreck of a dinner. To keep lean meats moist when exposed to the high dry heat of the fire, many people and grill cultures choose to brine it first, which means soaking it in salt water—before grilling.

So, how does brining work? FIND OUT →

What Every Griller Needs to Know About Clams

The real secret to great grilled clams is freshness—especially when they’ve been dug that morning. Get 5 other tips to help you grill the best clams every time.
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Fire It Up for Mother’s Day

I didn’t get my passion for food from my mother (decidedly a non-cook), but, as a professional ballet dancer, she did teach me the importance of an unwavering dedication to one’s craft.

As Mother’s Day approaches, show the love for the moms in your life through your food. I’ve got just the menu for you (including the Roasted Chicken and Candied Bacon Sundaes above). READ MORE →

Grill Amazing Vegetables Every Time

Gather up your spring produce and find out how to cook it perfectly.
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Wham, Bam, Thank You, Ham

Find out how to make a classic American ham (pink, salty, meaty, moist, and above all, smoky). It’s the kind of ham you’d be proud to put on your table. (PLUS, you’ll learn what you should look for when buying one.) READ MORE →

The Best Homemade Barbecue Rubs

Make these rubs for yourself or give them away to your favorite grill master.
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Embrace the Popularity of Lamb

Quick: What’s the world’s most popular grilled/barbecued meat? If you named beef or pork, guess again. On any given evening, more fires around Planet Barbecue are lit to cook lamb (or mutton) than any other animal protein. Despite its popularity elsewhere in the world, lamb consumption in the U.S. has dwindled to less than 1 pound per person per year. That means it’s about time you added more lamb to your grilling repertory. READ MORE →

The 10 Best BBQ and Grill Restaurants of 2013

Last year was an incredible time for barbecuing and grilling. See Steven’s list of the top 10 restaurants from 2013.
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Sauces, South American-Style

Much as globalization now drives our economy and demographics, it also shapes our notion of barbecue sauce. Chimichurri? Salsa verde? Pico de gallo? These are a few of the global condiments that Americans now recognize and serve as barbecue sauce.

March is National Sauce Month, and to celebrate, we’re launching a new series of blogs on global barbecue sauces. First up: South America.
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The 10 Best Steaks for Grilling

From the T-bone to the flat iron, these steaks will unleash your inner caveman!
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Have a Smokin’ “Fat Tuesday”

Today, of course, is Mardi Gras, aka “Fat Tuesday.” The epicenter of the celebration in the U.S. is New Orleans. And for the life of me, I can’t understand why this food-obsessed town doesn’t seem to include a single grilled or barbecued dish in its repertoire of holiday-appropriate menus. So I decided to take matters into my own hands. Read on to get my recipe for a smoked chicken gumbo. Heretical? It will tempt the most devout penitents. Laissez les bons temps rouler! READ MORE →

15 Hot Facts About Chile Peppers

Show off your chile pepper I.Q. at your next cookout with these facts and cooking tips.
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Belly Up to Steak

There are times when you splurge for big-ticket steak, like porterhouse or filet mignon. There are times when you crave the sanguine satisfaction of beef without straining your credit card. You’ve got a craving; I have your fix; and it comes from the steer’s underbelly. I speak, of course, of skirt steak, and its cousins, flank steak, hanger steak, and flap meat. READ MORE →

10 Secrets to Grilling the Perfect Steak

Armed with these 10 strategies, you should nail a great steak every time.
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