Michael Symon's Playing with Fire: BBQ and More from the Grill, Smoker, and Fireplace: A Cookbook

by Michael Symon, Douglas Trattner

Cohost of The Chew and celebrated Iron Chef and restaurateur Michael Symon returns to a favorite subject, meat, with his first cookbook focused on barbecue and live-fire grilling, with over 70 recipes inspired by his newest restaurant, Mabel's BBQ, in his hometown of Cleveland.In preparing to open his barbecue restaurant, Mabel's BBQ, Michael Symon enthusiastically sampled smoked meat from across America. The 72 finger-licking, lip-smacking recipes here draw inspiration from his favorites, including dry ribs from Memphis, wet ribs from Nashville, brisket from Texas, pork steak from St. Louis, and burnt ends from Kansas City--to name just a few--as well as the unique and now signature Cleveland-style barbecue he developed to showcase the flavors of his hometown. Michael offers expert guidance on working with different styles of grills and smokers, choosing aromatic woods for smoking, cooking various cuts of meat, and successfully pairing proteins with rubs, sauces, and sides. If you are looking for a new guide to classic American barbecue with the volume turned to high, look no further.

Genres: Cookbooks, Nonfiction, Food, Cooking, Culinary

345 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 3, 2018

About the author

Michael Symon is an American chef, restaurateur, television personality, and author.

Reviews

[Jacabaeus · Rating 4 out of 5]

A couple of interesting insights on regional variations in barbecue. The best parts are probably the little write ups/interviews with various regional legends. The recipes seem overly finicky (you need exactly this ingredient which is only available in this one shop in Maine on the second tuesday of January every fourth year), but the sauce and rub recipes seem to be on point. Overall, for a very beginner this book would probably go a long way towards their bbq education.

[Kathie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I originally bought this book to find new stuff for my husband to grill. There is so much I want to make first............. I love his recipes, his style of writing and everyone in my house enjoys his food. He inspires confidence!!!!

[Figlet · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this for my pops as a Father's Day gift, but I read it first, of course. It's a damn good cookbook. I learned a bunch about smoking (and I didn't even want to learn anything about smoking) meats.

Concise and delicious-sounding recipes that I'm eager to try.

[Virginia · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful book due to amazing photos. But no need to buy unless I buy a grill first.

[Pegi Ferrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is really a 4.9--I want photographs of the process instead of illustrations!

[Craig · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed the book and the recipes. Seen many of his shows and the book mirrors that. Not too much talk just cooking, pictures, and recipes. I'll probably end up buying this at some point.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Playing With Fire is a wealth of finger licking good recipes paired with vignettes of famous bbq chefs in between.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The part I enjoyed most are the page-long "meets" of people across the nation, sharing their love of BBQing in their preferred method/ style.

I'm also saddened that I can't try the fireplace chicken. One day....

[Karin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great cookbook! Thanks for sharing the recipes for all of the different kinds of BBQ sauce too!