Serious Barbecue: Smoke, Char, Baste & Brush Your Way to Great Outdoor Cooking. Hardcover – August 12, 2013

This book is different from most of the BBQ and grilling related cookbooks I have on my shelf. That's saying something when I look over the books I actually have here. When it comes to defining what makes it different, we have to take a look at Adam Perry Lang himself to help create this differentiation. I have books by Ray "Dr. BBQ" Lampe, Chris Lilly, Myron Mixon, Jamie Purviance, Steven Raichlen, and a host of other big guns in the world of barbecue and grilling. Each has its great stuff, but "Serious BBQ" is still different. I think the major difference that separates this book from the others is the author's approach to the food. Lang didn't grow up in a BBQ family. His interest in this topic came later in his life. When I read about Adam Perry Lang's background in cooking, I'd expect to see his book endeavors alongside the other fine food authors in the world of the culinary arts. Lang was educated at the Culinary Institute of America and began his career in the world of five-star dining. This is what makes his interest in barbecue and his approach to the food significantly different than those I'm used to seeing.In the opening sections of "Serious BBQ" Lang talks about the equipment, tools, ingredients, fuel, and a host of other materials needed to produce great barbecue. He also spends a little time talking about semantics, which I found refreshing. Yankee vs Southern BBQ! As a pure born and bred southern boy, I'm proud of my heritage but I'm also not in the least interested in arguing about the term "Barbecue" and what it means. It's all about the food that goes on the plate, and Lang's agreement with this is quite on spot. There is also an interesting section on dispelling myths about BBQ and grilling that is right on target. In my humble opinion, the most important part of the opening section of this book is the discussion of the meat itself. He does a great job of describing what defines specific cuts of meat. Understanding THAT is what helps you determine how it should be cooked. FAT and COLLAGEN. Understanding those two elements in a piece of meat will lead you to cooking success! Why do you cook a pork shoulder for a long time at a lower temperature? Why don't you cook a rib-eye the same way?The most interesting distinction that surfaces in this book is Adam Perry Lang's unique and outside-the-box approach to bringing flavor to the meat. All of the other BBQ and grilling books I have approach the preparation and seasoning of the meat in basically the same ways with the same classes of seasonings, rubs, and injections. Lang's fresh ideas on seasoning, marinating, brining and injecting have my complete attention right now and I plan to study his ideas in depth over the next several months with some experimental cooking of my own. A lot of his techniques of cooking the meats described in this book are quite opposite of some ideas we would normally consider to be perfect practices. Just the descriptions of these techniques and ingredients had my mouth watering.

Adam Perry Lang states in his own words that he is a Chef that likes to cook barbeque. And he does a great job at it! I have eaten at his BBQ joint in NYC, Daisy Mays, and it was fantastic. I have also cooked three recipes from this book and they all turned out great.First I cooked the burgers with griddled onions. The timing was perfect because we had just picked up a meat grinding attachment for my wife's mixer so I was just looking to grind up some meat. Sure it was a bit more work then just going out and buying pre-made burgers, but the taste was so much better it easily justified the bit of extra work.I then made the bacon wrapped skinless drumsticks with sage and garlic. I marinated the chicken overnight so that added to the flavor. This second meal from this book was also very good, so I then went on and cooked the salt and pepper cowboy cut rib eye. That just might possibly be my favorite way to cook rib-eyes now.This is a well thought out cookbook with fantastic pictures. It also has some sections up front where Adam dispels some bbq myths and gives his opinion on bbq. After eating three of his recipes and also eating at his restaurant, he is obviously someone that knows what he is talking about, so I am going to listen.I am also extremely happy they re-released this version of the book because I have been looking for a few years to get the previous version but with its over $100 price tag for a used book, there was no way I was ever going to buy it. After reading and eating from this book I guess I can understand why it commands such a high price.

I've really enjoyed his work with BBQ 25 and Charred and Scruffed, and this is a good book for someone interested in expanding their grilling repertoire to include influences from American barbecue and more advanced techniques. His techniques are good and many of his recipes are appealing. I especially liked his thoughts on burgers, done partway on a plancha, and the smoky green chile bone-on chicken breasts - as a former New Mexico resident I liked his regional touches there.However, I find that many of the rubs, glazes, and sauces here call for huge amounts of sugar. I realize that's in keeping with many styles of American barbecue, and that this book focuses more on American-style barbecue and especially competition barbecue than his other books. However, I just don't like sugar that much as a part of grilling, and prefer my sauces and dressings to be acidic, herbal, and/or spicy much more than sweet. If you share my taste for simpler, clearer flavors, check out Charred and Scruffed.

My favorite BBQ book of all! I've read this book cover-to-cover and cooked from about 25 total books, selectively choosing authors with competitive experience. Adam Perry Lang's (APL) Serious BBQ is fantastic, much better than his Charred & Scruffed book. Once you wade into his method of cooking meat, you'll find yourself changing very little from his recipes and cook-ology. His basic BBQ sauce is the best out there and his rub recipes are worth selling on their own, like some actually try to do. His hint section is fantastic for those that think they know it all (but really don't!).I've tried about 12-15 of his recipes and ALL have come out exceptional. APL's attention to detail and the descriptions of how to prepare and cook are so much better than some traditional, yesteryear authors. The photos are good, too. I have taken some of my traditional smoking recipes and applied his seasoning suggestions and come out with dramatic improvement.I've compared APL's first edition (expensive, in used condition) and this new 2nd edition...both are identical except for the cover art.

Liked the idea of layering flavours

this is by far one of the best books i have brought on this subject, any one with a passion for bbq, this is a must :)

A bit american. Lots of sweet sauces and gunk. Not as much in the way of revolutionary ideas as I'd hoped.

Brilliant book, some really engaging recipes, but well worth the effort if you want to BBQ a lot!

I love Adam Perry Lang's books, but was very disappointed as this book is the same book that was released back in 2009, the only difference is they changed the front cover.