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Meathead's Award Winning
Meat Temperature Magnet

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GrillGrates Take You To
The Infrared Zone

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Hot Stuff Barbecue & Grilling AwardGrillGrates amplify heat, eliminate hot spots, and block flareups. This is the concept behind the expensive new infrared grills. A must add-on for all gas grills. Click here for more about GrillGrates.

The Smokenator:
A Necessity For All Weber Kettles

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Hot Stuff Barbecue & Grilling AwardIf you have a Weber Kettle, you need the amazing Smokenator and Hovergrill. The Smokenator turns your grill into a first class smoker, and the Hovergrill can add capacity or be used to create steakhouse steaks. Click here to read more.

Digital Thermometer: Stop Guessing!

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Hot Stuff Barbecue & Grilling AwardA good thermometer is why I never serve overcooked or undercooked food. This one has a very thin tip with a tiny thermocouple so it gives an accurate reading in just six seconds. I cannot recommend it more highly. It will improve your cooking overnight and pay for itself in a hurry. And it is inexpensive. Click for more about thermometers.

The Best Steakhouse Knives

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Hot Stuff Barbecue & Grilling AwardThe same knives used at Peter Luger, Smith & Wollensky, Morton's. Machine washable, high-carbon stainless, hardwood handle. And now they have the AmazingRibs.com imprimatur. Click for more info.

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Home-made Boursin-style Cheese Spread

If you haven't tasted Boursin (R), you're missing something. Boursin is a spreadable cow's milk cream cheese that comes in five flavors. My fave is flavored with garlic and herbs. It's great as a spread on a crusty baguette or on crackers or stuffed into jalapeño poppers. It is also wonderful as a sauce dolloped on a hot steak, asparagus, or in with mashed potatoes. Boursin was created in 1957 by Francois Boursin, a cheesemaker in Normandy, France. The brand is now owned by multi-national Unilever. You can buy Boursin in many groceries, but it is fairly easy to make something similar at home for a fraction of the cost.

Boursin Recipe

Yield. 8 ounces
Preparation time. 10 minutes
Ageing time. 4 hours or more is best

Ingredients
8 ounce brick of cream cheese (you can use low fat) or spreadable
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground and finely ground black pepper
2 teaspoons fines herbes (Fines herbes is a classic mix you can buy in a bottle. It contains parsley, chives, tarragon, chervil, and occasionally marjoram)

Optional. Add 1/2 teaspoon chipotle powder.

Method
1) Let the cheese sit at room temp for about an hour to make it easy to mix. Low fat or spreadable cream cheese are easy to work in 15 minutes or less. Or microwave it for 10 seconds to soften it.

2) Blend in the seasonings with a fork. Let it age in the fridge for 4 hours or more if possible. This allows the oil-soluble flavors in the herbs to be extracted and marry with the cheese.

3) It is easier to spread on breads and crackers at room temperature. If there is any left over, plop it onto some plastic wrap and roll it into a ball with the plastic tight against it and refrigerate.

This page was revised on 8/5/07

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AmazingRibs.com is all about the science of barbecue, grilling, and outdoor cooking, with great BBQ recipes and tips on technique. Learn how to set up your grills and smokers properly, the thermodynamics of what happens when heat hits meat, as well as hundreds of excellent tested recipes including all the classics: Baby back ribs, spareribs, pulled pork, beef brisket, burgers, chicken, smoked turkey, lamb, steaks, barbecue sauces, rubs, and side dishes, with the world's best buying guide to barbecue smokers, grills, and accessories, all edited by Meathead.

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