Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Okay, it's not like there's any giant downside to owning this book, but my question is - does anyone really need like 800 gazillion pages to learn how to cook a hunk of meat over a fire? I know this book's getting good reviews on here, but I'd be willing to bet that most of the reviewers haven't tried more than three of the hundreds of elaborate, time-consuming recipes in here. Everytime I crack open this book, it's like, "Hmmm....that looks pretty good, too bad it has 25 different ingredients, sounds complicated...that one's too much trouble, too...that's interesting, too bad I don't have a giant steel drum to turn into the smoker I'd need for this one...Gee, I've never heard of these spices, and I'll never get around to mail-ordering them...if I ever come across an entire, dressed goat in the supermarket, I'll have to come back to this one...", etc. Having lived in Argentina for two years (serious barbecue country), and having put on tons of my own barbies since and attended loads of others, I guess I have a different perspective on the whole experience. In my mind, you don't really get points for how many hours you put in preparing your marinades, or how many different types of crushed spices you sprinkle on to your ribeye, or from how far away your recipe comes, or how many recipes you've memorized or whatever. Things matter only insofar as they actually affect the end result - the meal - and I think the reason why is that barbecue, in the end, is a kind of primal male performance for the purpose of elevating their status among their fellow dudes and/or arousing the admiration of girls. So, a guy doing a barbecue is no different than a some caribou in rut snorting and stomping around, or a frog bellowing out his songs, or a touchdown victory dance. (This is why NO guy EVER barbecues if he's going to be the only one eating, and why no guy ever wants help from his wife while he's doing his barbecue [less glory]. And this is why when you do a barbecue, you have to make sure the end result is better than any of the guys you invited could likely have done [girls love an alpha]. If you wind up giving your guests something average, or dud-like - well, that's some serious face-losing. You can laugh it off, but you'll still look weak. It'll be like stealing the ball, running down the court all by yourself, doing your lay up - and missing). Supposing I'm on to something about the psycho-sexual aspects of the barbecue and what perhaps is a (the?) major point of them, I'm not really sure if this book is really all that helpful, despite its terrific size (I won't make the joke about size mattering here...). To me, it seems awfully cumbersome in all its details. To be a genuine BBQ superstar, you need a good understanding of basic barbecue/grilling techniques, and maybe three super killer recipes (which you don't need this book to discover). Heck, you could even be a genuine BBQ superstar with just one incredible recipe. It's like pitching - if you have two incredible pitches that you have total control over, you're a god, you're Greg Maddux or Nolan Ryan or Mariano Rivera. If you have 8 okay ones, you're driving a milk truck somewhere. Unfortunately, trying to find three totally killer grill recipes in this thing is like trying to find three pro-life delegates at the Democratic Party's National Convention - who knows if there even are any, and even if there are, who has the time to try to figure out which ones they are? I think Mr. Raichlen's book would be far more valuable if it was pared down to maybe 70-80 discriminating pages of top quality advice, recipes, etc., rather than a dumptruck load of every last aspect of barbecue lore collected after a tour of the entire planet (which is literally what this is). Quality control and straightforward explanations of the mechanics and techniques, rather than just an overwhelming list of recipes, I think would have been far more helpful. (One reason why is that you will be helped in achieving your main objective of impressing the girls and elevating your status among other dudes if you can "let slip" that your incredible barbecue recipe is actually *your own*. After all, for this kind of primal display of fitness, following a cookbook recipe is, like, total Nerdsville. Can you imagine? "Hey Chuck - do you mind holding this page down so I can make sure I'm reading the paprika measurements just right?"). Anyway...what was I going to say? Oh yes. My experience with barbecues is that often the finest are the simplest: Start with the best meat you can get (you can find out about the various cuts and their characteristics in any book about meat or by talking to your butcher - for beef, I prefer rib steaks for all the marbling; the Certified Angus Beef brand is good), salt them, don't burn them, and the bottom line is you're almost 80% of the way there. When you come up with a few of your own little twists, and a great sauce (the Argentine chimichurri is my fave - olive oil, oregano, garlic, vinegar, Italian flat-leaf parsley, lemon and salt), my guess is you'll have something as good or better than most of the (over-compensating) extravaganzas in this book. I wish I knew of a more practical book on grilling/barbecue, but the truth is I don't really know of one that would set the would-be barbecue superstar on his way (not that it's that hard to get going). But, if someone is really serious, any text that takes time to explain the building blocks of how various foods work together, and what effects various cooking techniques have (in other words, culinary theory), will only help you nail down your one, two, or three superb open flame recipes (the magazine "Cook's Illustrated" is a pretty good start for this kind of thing). Get this book if you want, but don't think you need it (or that you'll end up actually trying more than a handful of its many recipes). I think you'll do far better, and have a lot more fun, experimenting on your own, chatting with your butcher or barbecuing buddies, and getting an understanding of WHY great dishes and recipes work so you can then come up with your own. I hope this review has helped someone. Good luck. (Post script, Sept. 13, 2005: Since my original review, Raichlen has come out with a book called "How to Grill", which I think is much more useful than this one. He describes there in great detail all kinds of great techniques and really does a good job of explaining how the whole thing works. I would give that one five stars unreservedly. Also, Cook's Illustrated I see has published now a couple of books about meat and barbecues. I haven't checked them out yet - I just saw them in a bookstore the other day - but I assume they'll be worth checking out for those interested in this subject). PPS, June 8, 2007 - I've caught Raichlen's "Barbecue University" TV show a few times now on PBS. It's great. He does a really good job of explaining why he's doing everything, and that's invaluable for those who relish the idea of coming up with their own dishes. Best Tal