Meathead: The Science of Great Barbecue and Grilling

by Meathead Goldwyn, Greg Blonder

For succulent results every time, nothing is more crucial than understanding the science behind the interaction of food, fire, heat, and smoke. This is the definitive guide to the concepts, methods, equipment, and accessories of barbecue and grilling. The founder and editor of the world's most popular BBQ and grilling website, AmazingRibs.com, Meathead applies the latest research to backyard cooking more than 100 thoroughly tested recipes.
 
With the help of physicist and food scientist Prof. Greg Blonder, PhD, of Boston University, he explains why dry brining is better than wet brining; how marinades really work; why rubs shouldn't have salt in them; the importance of digital thermometers; why searing doesn't seal in juices; how salt penetrates but spices don't; when charcoal beats gas and when gas beats charcoal; how to calibrate and tune a grill or smoker; how to keep fish from sticking; cooking with logs; the strengths and weaknesses of the new pellet cookers; tricks for rotisserie cooking; why cooking whole animals is a bad idea; which grill grates are best; and why beer-can chicken is a waste of good beer and nowhere close to the best way to cook a bird.
 
He shatters the myths that stand in the way of perfection. Among the many busted old husband's
 
*  Bring meat to room temperature before cooking.
* Soak wood before using it. * Bone-in steaks taste better. * You should sear first, then cook. The book blends chemistry, physics, meat science, and humor. Lavishly designed with hundreds of full-color photos by the author, this book contains all the sure-fire recipes for traditional American favorites and many more outside-the-box creations. You'll get recipes for all the great regional barbecue sauces; rubs for meats and vegetables; Last Meal Ribs; Simon & Garfunkel Chicken; Schmancy Smoked Salmon; The Ultimate Turkey; Texas Brisket; Perfect Pulled Pork; Sweet & Sour Pork with Mumbo Sauce; Whole Hog; Steakhouse Steaks; Diner Burgers; Prime Rib; Brazilian Short Ribs; Rack Of Lamb Lollipops; Huli-Huli Chicken; Smoked Trout Florida Mullet -Style; Baja Fish Tacos; Grilled Lobster, and many more.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, Nonfiction, Reference, Science, Food and Drink

400 pages, Hardcover

First published May 24, 2016

Reviews

[Neil · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun book to read through, with Meathead’s combination of down-home writing style and thorough expertise in the subject. The first half of the book is all about the science of grilling, followed by recommendations of equipment and how to use each kind of equipment. It’s helpful, though much of it is content I’ll only read once, and some of it is not entirely relevant—if, for example, you have no interest in smokers, or pellet grills, or whatever. But I read it all and learned a lot.

The second half is the recipes, beginning with a long chapter of different rubs and sauces. I am eager to give these a try! This is followed by chapters with recipes and tips for pork, beef, ground meats, lamp, poultry, seafood, and sides. I haven’t yet cooked my way through the recipes, but I look forward to trying some of them, someday. I’m in a phase of life right now where my time and money allow for hamburgers and brats, but someday I hope to get into the longer, more complicated meals (though I don’t know if I’ll ever spend fourteen hours cooking brisket, even as much as I do love great brisket).

I feel hungry just writing this review...

[Peter Christensen · Rating 5 out of 5]

So I don't (I mean didn't) know the first thing about grilling or smoking, and this book was just what I needed. I learned all about photography from Ken Rockwell's site, and this book is a collection of information from Meathead's site Amazingribs.com. The first ~40% is information about food science, cooking, equipment, etc and the last 60% is recipes for sauces, rubs, and different ways of cooking different meats and vegetables.

It's a good mix of high-level concepts and specific tactics. It gets repetitive, but the repetition drives home the important points:

1) most foods are cooked at 225 or 325 degrees,
2) two zone, indirect heat is an essential capability,
3) take notes and practice before you put on a big feast
4) buy good cuts of meat and good equipment

With that foundation, I feel comfortable trying new things and pushing myself. I haven't tried any of the recipes yet but I'm looking forward to it this summer. I feel much more confident knowing what supplies I need and how much time to allot.

[Eric Mesa · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are literally tons of BBQ cookbooks out there. Why this one? Well, Meathead does something most of them don't - he backs up his techniques with science. BBQ has existed as long as mankind so a lot of what we do is just father->son or mother->daughter (or some combination of gen 1 to gen 2) and a lot of it is wrong. Humans suck at intuition. So Meathead along with Dr Blonder use science to backup their techniques and ideas. This leads to 2 great benefits.

When it comes to the opening section about techniques, software, and hardware - Meathead is able to calmly present all the pros and cons to everything he talks about. Rather than get into a religious war about charcoal vs gas vs wood - he just lists out the pros and cons of each. (Along with the best advice: If you can afford it and have space - get both!) When it comes to myth-busting he uses science and trial runs to back up his bustings.

When it comes to the recipes, he's able to cut away a lot of the fluff from recipes by getting them to the essence of what you need. I was able to master a prime rib roast on the first try thanks to his scientific proofs of why it was better to get rid of the bones and try and get the roast as cylindrical as possible.

Like all printed material, the con about this book over his free website is that the website can be updated as Meathead discovers new techniques and ideas. For example, the website now has a section dedicated to starting BBQ in a sous vide and finishing it on the BBQ. Also, the website has more up to date equipment reviews and recommendations.

However, there's one benefit to the book over the website. Because books have to be succint due to a per page cost, you don't get all the commentary with each recipe. You just get the recipe. On the website, many of the recipes contain the same info about how to do a 2-zone cook. In the book that's at the beginning and then each recipe stands on its own along with a short intro paragraph. So I like to read the website during my lunch break to see any gotchas he lists. Then when it's time to actually cook, I use the book to quickly cut to the chase.

One last important thing. Meathead, at least in this book, is not as self-centered as many of the other well-known BBQ book authors. Other cookbooks waste time talking about how awesome the author is. Not so with this one. It's just spreading the love and joy of cooking with fire. In fact, Meathead doesn't hold back on any of the recipes including rubs and marinades that many others make their money off of. I bought the book as a show of support to keep him able to work on the website fulltime and continue educating people in this great way of cooking food.

[Ben Gutierrez · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been struggling with my Weber for a couple years. Alton Brown showed me how to make a good steak on the grill and I was lost with everything else. Trial and error has been a slow process in learning how to bbq.

I finally got this book and it's shown me everything that I've been doing wrong. It explained how meat and cooking and heat and smoke and all of it came together to make a delicious meal. I used it to grill some chicken breasts a couple nights ago and they were done perfectly. Juicy and flavorful. This book is going to accompany me all summer long.

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven't read the whole thing because this is a reference book. What I have read and the recipes that I have tried I like very much. The calibrating and measuring and consideration of heat transfer speaks to the scientist/engineer in the me and the recipes speak to my mouth, my olfactory system, and my belly.

Note: I bought the kindle version and lament that choice a little bit after I saw a hardcopy in the store. Still can't seem to fall in love with ebooks no matter how hard I try.

[Rob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Barbecue technique often seems to come from received wisdom passed down in a family or through word of mouth... but the great thing about this book is that it is co-written by a scientist. They actually take the time to test a lot of grilling techniques/theories and end up debunking many myths, which often results in a lot of saved time, expense and effort. An essential book for anyone who wants to improve their grilling techniques.

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book, perhaps the best one that I have read on the science of grilling/bbq.

[Terrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great recipies but most importantly, the theory behind BBQ is explained in great detail and will help you master your grill/smoker.

[Brandon Larson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Recommended to me as the one book to read on grilling and BBQ and it delivers - the best cookbook I've read on any topic

[Mark Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's hard to imagine a better barbecue cookbook. Before diving into the recipes, Meathead leads you through the peripheral but essential stuff--what meat is, what your grill options are (charcoal/gas, smoker, etc.)--heck, even what it means to cook. Next you get your flavoring options, like rubs that you apply at the beginning and sauces you can use at the end. Finally, you get the meats themselves. If you've read the earlier sections, you almost don't need this--you know that you want to cook low and slow, and you need to learn the nuances of your cooker. It's helpful to have the details just the same because a little hand-holding helps when you're new to the game, and there's a difference between making quick-cooking meats like seafood and chicken, versus the long-haul kinds like spare ribs.

And then there are the big hunks. Meathead prepares you for early-morning start times for those huge clods like pork shoulders and beef briskets. Again, he gives you the basics, plus variations like "the crutch", which can shave hours off long cooks with certain sacrifices.

That just covers the major sections--the reason you'd buy the book in the first place. There's plenty more in there, like direct-heat cooking (hot dogs, hamburgers. etc.), and the sides that you might prepare to go along with the main course.

I can't recommend this book enough. If you want a peek between the covers, check out Meathead's website, amazingribs.com, where you'll find the core bits that he fully orchestrates in his cookbook. Meathead is the Alton Brown of barbecue.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings about this book; on the one hand it's a wealth of great information, on the other it has quite a bit of pseudoscience in it, can be one sided, and can be condescending.

Let's give examples.

In terms of good things, there is an encyclopedic listing of everything you could want to know about BBQ, and a number of recipes. If you want to learn how to smoke using propane, charcoal, wood, or electric, the knowledge on how to get started is there. Meathead Goldwyn will walk you through the entire process, and if you absorb even a tenth of the material, you'll make some pretty good BBQ.

Where the book really falls short is the author (Meathead), enlists the help of a Physics professor to "bust myths" around cooking. The pair will present a "myth," and then explain why they can "bust" it.

However, the "busting" is not really robust science. For instance, the author shows an experiment where the Professor soaks meat in food coloring for 24 hours. As the food coloring stops penetrating further into the meat after an hour, the professor "busts" the myth that marinade times for more than an hour are necessary. Correlation is not, however, causation. The professors hypothesis is indicative of the ability of meat to absorb food coloring, not absorb flavor from a marinade. A real scientific test would have multiple tests over a wider range of factors. As a BBQ aficionado, I can tell you flavor definitely improves if you marinade for a long time (and some regional cuisines like sauerbraten take this to an extreme and marinade for days at a time). I cannot speak to the science of it, but it clearly has an effect, and many professional chefs would disagree with his "theories."

So, if you do read this book, you'll get good info, but take everything he says with a grain of salt.

Further, sometimes this cardinal sin of trying to make BBQ "scientific" ends up coming across as very condescending. The author went to Dreamland, a famous BBQ place in Alabama, determined to "bust" their cooking methods (as it goes against everything he believes is correct), and in the end had some very good ribs. He does acknowledge this, but should go a step further and indicate that actually he is a proponent of a specific style, but there is no reason one has to follow his hard and fast rules.

Another great example of this is his insistence that you practice many times keeping your grill the appropriate temperature over a long period of cooking time, without any meat on it. While it might make sense for people who are interested in competition BBQ to train, this seemed particularly idiotic to me. First off, fuel is expensive. Second off, adding meat to a grill changes the heat profile of the grill, so you might as well learn on actual meat. Just pick a forgiving meat like chicken thighs for your first time. You may make mistakes, but they'll be tasty mistakes! And although you might endeavor to cook at 225 F, if you clock in an average temp of 250 or 200 (as I did my first couple of tries with the smoker) the food will still come out good -- it'll just take more or less time to cook.

So, all in all, consider adding this book to your shelf, but beware, it's got some glaring issues.

[Teri-K · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of several big books on grilling I checked out from the library, since one of my goals this summer is to learn to cook on the grill. There are a lot of pictures in this book, and I had a sense of the author's personality, though I've never heard of him before. There's a great deal of info on various types of grills, which would be fine for those people who don't already have one, as well as other grilling tools and fuel types. In fact you're almost half way through the large book before you get to any recipes, which again may be good or bad depending on your needs. There was a lot of other incidental information that I found interesting and useful mixed in these sections.

The recipes begin on page 166 with a selection of rubs and regional sauces. The book then moves through pork, beef, ground meats, lamb, poultry, seafood and sides. If you want to grill an entire pig you'll find 11 pages of directions here, starting with purchasing it. I was disappointed in the lack of grilled vegetables and found the fish section underwhelming, but perhaps that should be expected given the author's sobriquet.

I didn't like that fact that recipes start at any point on the page; it felt unorganized to me and none of the recipes stood out, but I suppose it saves space. I will say that if I get to the point where I want to broaden my use of rubs and sauces this will be a book I'll pick up again, as that section was interesting and thorough.

NB - The subtitle is The Science of Great Barbecue and Grilling, and there was some science in it, which I appreciated. But there was a lot of unsubstantiated opinion, too.

[Bram Cecilius · Rating 5 out of 5]

Here's a book written by a regular guy who explains not just how barbecue but goes the extra effort to explain why you need to do some of the things to get great tasting barbecue. One of the best tricks I learned is to smoke a brisket until it reaches 200 degrees F and then wrap in in foil and then wrap that in a beach towel for about an hour. Unbelievable results.
Like anything else, there really is a science behind great barbecue and once you understand it's not all smoke and mirrors (and sometimes it's okay to use the oven when meat stalls in the smoker) making barbecue is even more fun.
One of the best quotes I ever heard about cooking comes from Meathead Goldwyn - "Cooking is an act of love. It's not about what's on the plate, but who's sitting in the chairs."
If you are serious about honing you barbecuing skills, or are just learning I strongly urge you to purchase this book.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the ultimate BBQ cookbook. He really digs into the science here, explaining how brines and rubs actually work, which ones to use on each type of meat, and debunking tons of bbq myths. He also includes historical information ( tartare sauce as the original bbq sauce for grilled fish). This is not an everyday book - most of these recipes take hours to cook. Since it’s a special occasion cookbook, I didn’t deduct a star for the lack of nutritional info. These recipes are 4-star Bbq.

I liked the non- meat recipes the best; I also loved his step-by-step instructions for hosting a pig roast and his write up on beer can chicken.

If you love grilled meat, you’ve got to check this out. My only criticism is that I wanted more pictures.

[RYAN PHAM · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mỹ God.

This book is amazing. It walks you through so much of the cooking fundamentals that you need to know before you even attempt to cook meat. Stuff like:

1. You should flip you meat often
2. Marination does not actually penetrate the meat
3. Why the meat stalls around 212 degrees
4. You can eat pink pork or pink chicken if cooked tô the right temperature
5. You can look at your meat without too much penalty because the internal temperature is thể important part
6. Do not use lighter fluid

Also is his name actually Meathead?

[Vaidas · Rating 5 out of 5]

A perfect starting point to improve your grilling skills, techniques and knowledge. Maybe on some points author is biased to the old fashioned and time tested grilling techniques, but all in all this book is great. It provides theory on heat radiation and how it effect meat, gives tips how to achieve best results at home and debunks some common grilling myth by providing scientific evidences.

Easy to read :)

[Laurie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book for the beginner smoker. The first 150 pages or so are about the science of smoking, types of grills and other equipment, the heat and the smoke, the meat and seasonings, etc. The rest of the book is full of recipes. We made the Perfect Pulled Pork twice and Last Meal Ribs once so far. Delicious! Also used the rub and sauce recipes in the book. Can’t wait to try more.

[Taylor · Rating 2 out of 5]

Most of this book is recipes, which if that is what you’re looking for is great. I was more interested in the science though. This book has more of the science than most bbq books I think. It’s definitely worth a glance if you’re thinking about getting into smoking and bbq though. It’s just not an encyclopedia you can use to find anything you want to learn in depth about though.

[Billjr13 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full of great information and easy to understand explanations. Lots of cooking myths dispelled with solid advice for grilling, smoking, barbecue and equipment. There are some good recipes but there is a lot more information on how to cook than what to cook.
Over all a good read and a solid 4 stars.
As Joe Bob would say "Check it out!"

[Alberto Garcia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Science without too many big words

I liked the chapter on fire and the depth in which the author goes into for the different fuel types. I would have lived to see that depth in the brines, rubs and sauces. I want to learn how to make a good rub or a good sauce besides trial and error.

[Justin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is the next step for anyone who is tired of just following the recipes in other books and actually wants to understand the science behind bbq. I don't think any other book has covered as much in such detail at one time. The recipes are sparse compared to some other books. But they're all good foundation recipes to build off of and practice with.

[Jus · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Meathead (The Science of Great Barbecue and Grilling)” by Meathead Goldwyn with Greg Blonder Ph.D.

“This is the book barbecue nerds have been waiting for.”

Perfect gift for meat eaters and who love doing barbecues. Loved the scientific diagrams and detailed, great photos throughout. Perfect accessory for a Big Green Egg! :)

[David Olvera · Rating 5 out of 5]

Me gustó bastante, está muy bien explicado intentan romper con los mitos alrededor del grilling he probado algunas técnicas que mencionan y si me funcionaron muy bien también incluye un amplió recetario

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good overview of bbq and smoking but nothing revolutionary either. Definitely learned some stuff and would be good as an intro to bbq as it has tons of recipes and lots of general info. Not quite as good as Franklins and glad I borrowed from the library rather than purchasing.

[Mark Zodda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Generally enjoyable, especially the parts where he brings in the science behind certain techniques and his insights into equipment. The recipes are more of what you'd expect from any barbecue cookbook as they all seem to feature bacon, butter and letting the taste of the meat come through.

[Du · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid overview of BBQ

Nothing bad to say admit this one. It had a lot of well researched and intentioned information. Clearly it's written by lovers of meat grilled or smoked. I didn't learn a ton, but there is a lot more than a ton here.

[David Deviney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grilling school


I thought I knew a lot about grilling until I read this book. Anybody who wants to up their grilling game has to read this book. I especially liked the myth busting parts which I have fallen prey for many times. Gotta clean my now.

[Austin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must read if you enjoy cooking outdoors. I have the spiral bound version and the listen to the PDF on my Voice Aloud app. It works surprising well as an audiobook. I truly believe authors like Meathead and Derick Wolf from over fire cooking are leaving money on the table.

[Mark Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great overall bbq and grilling techniques but even better detailed recipes. Saved perfect pulled pork
Recipe and unfortunately, I rushed through this library book and will need to go back and spend some time with it

[Gilbert Pilz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this book single-handedly upped my barbecuing and grill game by orders of magnitude. I only wish it had been written sooner - it would have saved me *decades* of trial and error, especially with respect to the use of smoke but also the use of salt, spices, etc.