Published On: 6/23/2022 Last Modified: 6/30/2025
Meathead: The Science of Great Barbecue and Grilling isn’t just a cookbook—it’s a masterclass in cooking meat properly. Steaks like you get at top steakhouses. Brisket and ribs the way they’re done at the best BBQ joints. Combining delicious recipes with proven science, this book helps backyard cooks and seasoned pitmasters unlock better flavor and juicier results. Whether you’re grilling burgers or slow-smoking pork, Meathead shows you how knowing a little science can make every bite better.
At the heart of Meathead is a simple belief: better barbecue starts with understanding what’s really happening in your grill or smoker. This book blends culinary passion with food science—explaining the how and why behind heat, meat, smoke, and flavor. It’s not just about following recipes—it’s about cooking with confidence, backed by real data and tested techniques. With 400 pages and more than 400 of Meathead’s own photographs, plus color illustrations, there is a fair amount of new material and new recipes not found on this website. The first half of the book emphasizes concepts. The second half is 118 slam-dunk recipes that demonstrate the concepts with delicious results.
Barbecue is full of old wives’ tales passed down like gospel. But many of those “tried-and-true” approaches are flat-out wrong. This book was co-authored by Greg Blonder, who has a physics BS from MIT and a physics PhD from Harvard. He conducted original experiments disproving scores of old BBQ myths. Before you fire up the grill or load up the smoker, find out what’s been holding your cooking back.
“Meathead…is an ‘indispensable guide’…[from] a ‘barbecue savant.'” — Helen Rosner, The New Yorker
“One of the 34 Essential Cookbooks for Every Kitchen” — Serious Eats
In the follow-up to his New York Times bestseller Meathead: The Science of Great Barbecue and Grilling, BBQ Hall of Famer and founder of AmazingRibs.com, Meathead presents a guide to new methods for great outdoor cooking with 114 creative and inspiring recipes. The Meathead Method is a toolbox to elevate all your cooking, outdoors and indoors.
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