Friday, 09 July 2010 07:25 Ryan Sloane

Adam Perry Lang is no stranger to the grill. In his last book, "Serious Barbecue," he tackled the science, the tools and the technique behind barbecue. Now he’s back with "BBQ 25," a short, sweet, very to-the-point volume that skips past the flowery recitations about the joys of cooking over an open flame and gets right to the meat of the issue (pardon the pun).

Using tools you already have, (including a “brush” of fresh herbs tied to the end of a wooden spoon) and techniques so simple you’ll feel ashamed for not using them sooner. This book makes you want to fire up the grill well after Labor Day.

The book tackles each of your main proteins (burgers and other red meat, poultry, pork, lamb and even vegetables) with a handful of dishes sure to impress your friends and guarantee there will be no leftovers. And by splitting it up even further into small, medium and large portions and fast, moderate, and slow cook meals, you’ll have something for every taste, occasion, time frame and skill level. Boiling hot dogs in beer and then throwing them on the grill? If you say so. Wrapping a brick in foil and putting it over my steak? That’s a great idea. Making a marinade in a plastic bag and then snipping off a corner with a pair of scissors to pour over your meat? Why didn’t I think of that?

From scoring to seasoning and smoking, from glazing to the buddy system, "BBQ 25" makes even the most ambitious dishes approachable. Pork shoulders, brisket, a whole butterflied chicken or a Chateaubriand, it doesn’t matter. You already have the tools you need to make an incredible meal. Adam Perry Lang’s proven time and again that food doesn’t need to be fancy or daunting to be good. Oftentimes the best meals are the simplest one to make and this book is full of simple, delicious meals that will encourage you to get out of your comfort zone and try your hand at something a little more involved than overdone burgers and charred chicken breasts.

The book speaks to you before you even open it. A palm-sized handbook that almost begs to be carried around in your pocket with pages printed on study card-stock. The weight, look and the feel of it say, “No time for small talk, there’s grilling to be done.” The thick, heavy pages are built to withstand spills and splashes and is meant to be kept close at hand and referenced often. The book itself almost feels like a team’s playbook with handwritten notes in the margins and arrows pointing here and there.

There’s nothing high-end in "BBQ 25," and there doesn’t really need to be. Lang, the man behind "Daisy May’s BBQ USA" and a barbecue guru in his own right focuses his laser beam like precision on the most popular dishes you’re going to cook on the grill and walks you through it step by step.

Cooking is for pleasure, and grilling is for fun. In his introduction to the book, Lang encourages budding grill gourmets to, “relax, have fun, embrace the simple ingredients and make them into something spectacular. Enjoy the stuff that surrounds you.” I couldn’t have said it better myself.