The Backyard Fire Cookbook: Get Outside and Master Ember Roasting, Charcoal Grilling, Cast-Iron Cooking, and Live-Fire Feasting (Great Outdoor Cooking)

This is the nicest book I've bought in years! It's superbly organized, so easy to grab up and get answers. The photos make your mouth water, and the recipes are really good, and there are lots of them (3/4 of the book)! It explains how to cook with ultimate control over an easy-build fire pit or using your metal covered grill with hardwood charcoal. It explains the stages of fire building, controlling the burn at each stage, how to use cast iron, skewers, foil, or cedar planks, also arranging coals to create zones to cook with different temps and materials simultaneously. It explains how to safely use your hands to estimate the temp of your coals. It has a chart for meat temps according to Rare or Well Done. It explains the different types of cooking oils and how they react to heat and flavor the food, especially when charring or blistering veggies. Theres a chart of commonly used woods for different meats based upon Mild to Intense flavoring. There's a section on knowing your cooking woods and using herbs and spices to transfer aromatics to your food. There's a great couple of pages on knowing when the food is done. And this is all done in 30 pages with great photos. The rest of the book is beautifully explained, photo'd, and organized recipes that have NORMAL INGREDIENTS that taste like backyard-feast food! Y'all get this book and go for it!

This book is not as advertised. Sure, the pictures are real pretty but there is almost no real info here. Less than a page each for cooking styles and then some recipes. I wanted a hundred pages of real information and got about 5. This book does not give all of the info about live fire cooking. It gives you some glossy photos and some recipes, rather than in-depth detail about cooking with fire in different ways. A total waste of time and money.

I have only the most basic grasp of cooking over a fire, and this book opens new vistas of what is possible. I haven't got all the way through the book, but I'm learning quite a bit. Eventually, after trying the various cooking methods, I should be able to confidently cook a number of things I never would have thought feasible. I realize it will take much practice to get good at this, but at least I have a good starting point for experimentation.

I love cooking on the grill, but I'm always a little worried that my fire is too hot, or that I set something up incorrectly. This book has diagrams and charts telling you what type of starter to use, how to place the coals on the grill or fire pit for different results etc, and even how to tell how hot the grill is. I love it! I can't wait to try the recipes, but I'll definitely keep the book handy when grilling for the how-to part!

Very thoughtfully written for beginning grillers as well as tips for seasoned grillers. I don't like a lot of heavy all meat recipes, so this was a perfect balance of recipes to put on our backyard fire pit/grill.Makes a great gift too!

have not had a chance to try any recipe, but all look great

I have all of her books and get a lot out of them

Book DescriptionDitch the gas grill and light your fire with this comprehensive guide from the author of The New Camp Cookbook. The Backyard Fire Cookbook offers techniques and recipes to master cooking with live fire and coals, including planking, cast iron, foil packets, and more.There's no denying the thrill of cooking outdoors and the sense of community it brings when people gather around a fire, and in this book, author Linda Ly will teach you how to master the flames. For the adventurous, start by building a home fire pit. It's easier than it sounds and requires minimal investment of time and space. If you'd rather not, that's okay! There are plenty of other options, from vessel fire pits to tabletop grills. Even a charcoal kettle grill will give you more flavor than cooking with gas. Ly also covers everything you need to know about fuel sources (hardwood, hardwood lump charcoal, and smoking wood), her go-to grilling tools and accessories, secrets for stocking an indoor and outdoor pantry, fire making, fire safety, and tips and tricks for grilling more efficiently.You can choose your own adventure with over 70 recipes for ember roasting, wood-fired cooking, charcoal grilling, and foil pack meals. Next-level techniques like dutch oven cooking, grilling a la plancha, and plank grilling are all part of the fun, too. With modern twists on classics and globally-inspired meals like Smoky Ember-Roasted Eggplant Dip, Thai Chicken Pizza with Sweet Chili Sauce, Grilled Oysters with Kimchi Butter, Bacon-Wrapped Meatloaf on a Plank, and Artichoke, Sun-Dried Tomato, and Feta Stuffed Flank Steak, you’ll find a recipe for almost every occasion. This is not a book about low-and-slow barbecue, and you won't find overnight marinades or complicated recipes, either. Ly aims to encourage easy, accessible grilling that you look forward to doing on a weeknight because, quite simply, food just tastes better outside.Whether you're a seasoned home cook or a novice on the grill, The Backyard Fire Cookbook will help you make the backyard your new kitchen.My ThoughtsThe Backyard Fire Cookbook contains an Introduction and 6 chapters: Getting Started, Back To Basics: The Fire Pit, It’s A Wrap: Foil Packets, Iron Chef: Pots, Pans, and Planchas, Under Cover: The Grill, Up In Smoke: Plank Grilling, and a Resources section. I have a bbq grill and a fire pit at home, but hadn’t considered using the firepit to cook, There is a wealth of information, including how to build a firepit,what types of wood and/or charcoal are best for different recipes, types of grilling tools, fun facts and hot tips, gorgeous pictures, and lots of recipes.What can I say about the recipes other than these aren’t ordinary ‘grill a hot dog or hamburger’ type meals. I tried the Smoky Ember-Roasted Eggplant Dip, Grilled Brie with Sweet Cherry Sauce, Juicy Jumbo Creole Shrimp, and Spicy Grilled Shrimp on Avocado Toast( all delicious). It has been really cool and rainy spring on Long Island, but with over 70 recipes, I can guarantee that I will be trying many more( especially when my garden starts giving me a lot of veggies). There is enough detail for you to feel confident whether you are cooking on a fire pit or grill, and the author really seemed passionate about the whole process,A really great way to turn up the heat when cooking outdoors and make every meal special. I can’t wait for summer parties and am looking forward to backyard get-togethers. I have subscribed to the author’s blog, Garden Betty, and it is one of the rare emails that I take the time to read every time. Her outdoor life, travels, adventures, and garden are a worthwhile read, and I am thinking that this book would be a great gift for some foodie friends( and a hard copy for me).I received a DRC from Quarto Publishing Group-Harvard Commons Press through NetGalley.

I bought this as a gift for my brother, he found it helpful and has followed advice in the book, the results are delicious! He cooked one of the best steaks I've ever had!

Nice book with some good ideas. Unfortunately I was really looking for more information on fire pit cooking which was only a small part of the book.

Good book very well illustrated .