Testimonials
You ROCK Craig! I can't tell you how many times I've saved my inexperienced cooking friends from going out and buying the first COS or ECB they come across. How you ask? By imploring them to get educated on amazingribs.com. Great job educating the masses!
Brett Ray, Orlando, FL
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I just love your site! I have learned more than I ever thought possible about BBQ.
Cindy Kirsten,Salt Lake City, UT
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Click here for more testimonials and pix from readers
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Show Me
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I've been getting wonderful emails and pix from you. Man, you folks
know how to party! Send me pix of your versions of my recipes or your party and I might publish them on my site.
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Buying Guides
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Check out my Buyer's Guides
for unbiased recommendations for the best products for the back yard
cook including smokers, accessories, tools, gadgets, books, and sauces.
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Be My FB Friend
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Help Keep AmazingRibs.com Free
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About Smoke Signals
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 Smoke Signals is the irregular free email newsletter from AmazingRibs.com and hedonism evangelist Craig "Meathead" Goldwyn. It lets you know
what's new in the world of outdoor cooking.
Don't forget: Send me feedback. Especially if you think an article or recipe is
confusing, if you know a better way, or if I made a mistake. Daddy
taught me that "praise is cheap, criticism priceless." And if you like my website, please click here to forward a copy of this to a friend.
Remember: No rules in the bedroom or the kitchen!
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Join Meathead at Kiki's in Chicago
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 For a French Wine Tasting Dinner
To Benefit Chicago Lighthouse
Yours Truly will lead a tasting and dinner featuring wines from various
regions of France accompanied by a four-course menu prepared by Chef
Jose Luis Espino. Proceeds will support The Chicago Lighthouse which
serves the visually impaired. What the heck does Meathead know about wine? Don't tell my whiskey and beer drinkin' buddies at the BBQ competitions, but once upon a time Meathead was the wine critic for the Chicago Trib and the Washington Post.
Kiki's Bistro
900 N. Franklin
Chicago IL 60610
Tuesday, March 24, 2009, 6:30 p.m. sharp
Call Kiki's at 312-335-5454 to reserve
Tickets are $75
Street parking is available, and valet
parking is complimentary
For more information email Jim Michael or
call 312-997-3666
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The Best Grilled Cheese is Grilled (DOH!)
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 Dunno why they call it "grilled" cheese because most of the time it is made in a frying pan or a broiler or a toaster oven or a panini press or a George Foreman gizmo or a griddle.
Ever have one made on a grill? Well you're in for a treat. Do it outdoors and you'll taste the ne plus ultra grilled cheese with golden bread, dark grill marks, and gooey cheese.
I'm going to give you the core concepts of great gooey grilled cheese and a basic recipe, and ideas on how to riff on the theme.
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The Thermodynamics of Cooking
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 You may have thought you left physics and chemistry behind when you left school, but if you want to eat well, you need to understand that cooking is all about physics and chemistry, with a little magic mixed in. Here are some broad concepts every outdoor cook needs to know.
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The Importance of 2-Zone and Indirect Cooking
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 The most important technique an outdoor cook needs to master is how to control the cooking temperature by using 2-zone and indirect heating. It really helps you control the temp. You need to control the temperature of your oven because the solids and liquids in the food react differently to different levels of heat.
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Before You Start: Mise en Place
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 Here's a motto that will improve your food immensely: Mise en place (pronounced meez ahn plahss). It's French and it means, roughly, "everything in its place", and it is the best thing from France since the Pinot Noir grape. It can prevent disasters. The basic concept is to get all the ingredients out and ready first. Chef Anthony Bourdain calls it his religion. The Boy Scouts have a similar motto: "Be prepared".
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Meat Temperature Guide
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 I want my meats tender, juicy, and flavorful, and I also want them safe. The internal temperature of the meat controls these things. Only the best pros can tell by looking and feeling. The rest of us need a good instant-read meat thermometer and a good oven thermometer. Here's a guide to the proper temperature for every meat from steak to chicken to fish.
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Grow Black Pearl Peppers
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 My wife and I first saw black pearl peppers in a garden at the Smithsonian in August 2005 and stole a few fruits. We planted the seeds are thrilled with this new hybrid.
The plant is an ornamental and the fruit very edible. The leaves are shiny purple black. The peppers start out shiny purple black like eggplants and turn candy apple red although they never get bigger than a marble. They grow well indoors, too. Suckers are pretty durn hot, but they have thick walls and good flavor. Click here to learn more and for a link to a source for seeds.
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Chocolate Truffles Make Her Melt in Your Hands
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 The fastest way to a woman's heart is with chocolate. Actually, it works on me, too. And even though working with chocolate is tricky, nothing could be simpler to make than chocolate truffles. Just like the ones they serve at the fancy restaurants. Sooo simple and sooooo seductive. Here's an article on the Zen of Chocolate and another on how to make Chocolate Truffles.
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The Zen of Stocks, Broths, Sauces, et al
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Stocks, broths, bouillons, court bouillons, gravies, consommes, reductions, gemi-glaces, nages, soups, soub bases, jus, pan sauces, and sauces, are all flavorful liquids. Just what are they? |
The Electronic Crybaby
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It has been two months since Christmas and my new battery-operated toys are now my indispensable tools.
Read why I will not be buying a Kindle, Amazon's new electronic book reader, as published last week in the Huffington Post.
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See Meathead at Sheboygan Brat Days August 1
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 Meathead will be doing a cooking demo at Sheboygan Brat Days on August 1. This should be a blast!
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Wave at Me in the Wienermobile!
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Where do you put a hot dog like me? On my buns riding shotgun in the Oscar Meyer Wienermobile in Chicago's big St. Patrick's Day Parade in the Loop on Saturday, March 14. You know I'm gonna relish this! Just swab me with mustard (no ketchup) and bury me now, my life can't ever get any better!
In honor of the event I've added T-shirts, sweatshirts, buttons, caps, and more that say "Don't Call Me a Wienie! I'm a Chicago Hot Dog!" to my gift shop on CafePress.com.
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Visit My Gift Shop
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 Order cool gear from AmazingRibs.com including aprons, hats, shirts, sweatshirts, intimate wear, and other apparel for men, women, kids and pets. I also have beer mugs, posters, clocks, and other tschotschkes.
Select from a number of fun captions: Nice Rack!, Porknography, Hot & Juicy, Suck bones!, Eat me!, Succulent, Got ribs?, Allèz Barbecue, Jeet?, BBQ Goddess, BBQ God, Saucy, iRibs. To see the entire selection at CafePress.com, just click here.
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