Born to Grill: An American Celebration

Rating:
Summary: Good recipes, but close-minded attitude
Review: I highly recommend this book for the recipes, but I was very turned off by the "open grill only" attitude of the authors. The authors believe in charcoal or other open flame methods only, and thumb their nose at Weber-style grills which employ the cover of the grill in cooking.

This in itself was not terrible, but the authors made a feeble, almost cynical attempt at "also providing" covered cooking methods and times, and it appears as if they went off of a chart as opposed to actually doing it for themselves. The times are generally completely out of whack with what my grill actually required (I use a Weber Silver B, which is not the most powerful grill out there but is certainly more than adequate for any of the recipes I tried). Some of the instructions are incomplete or downright contradictory!

So, recommended for charcoal users; everyone else, beware.

Rating:
Summary: Tasty recipes & other stuff, too...
Review: Love this book...well orgnanized by type-of-food. As a beginner/intermediate griller, I get a lot out of it since the book supplements the (savory) recipes with tips and tricks on grilling techniques; e.g vegetable grilling techniques in "Getting Fresh in the Garden," and tips on picking the best cut of meat in "Serious Steaks." The cider-and-brown-sugar salmon (with spice rub) is one of my favorites...also love their beer-braised onion recipe in the burger section. I'll be heaping burgers high w/ these from now on.

I'd also never tried tricky scallops before and the timing was right on -- plus the paprika-rub spiced them up. If you're just starting to grill, check this book out - recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: The true bible of grilling
Review: We have used the recipes in this book for a grilling demonstration day at our store for years. The book contains recipes for out of the ordinary menu items you wouldn't think of cooking on the grill. The last recipe I prepared was for Tortilla and Tomato soup, it was incredible. I'll never be able to eat Campbells again without thinking of these flavors. The other nice thing about this book is that it still covers the basics like dogs and burgers with advice on how to make them the best you've ever tasted.

Beside most of the recipes is a highlighted section on optional ways to prepare them. These suggestions give you the chance to alter the recipe each time you prepare it.

The section at the end on side dishes lets you put together a complete menu of grilled items and those prepared on the stove. This is one stop shopping for dinner ideas!