It seems like some people are born with a special “Grilling Gene” that lets them stand in front of a barbecue introducing meat to fire to create mouthwatering works of art. There are even those who are born into family traditions that run deep with smoke and fire-kissed flavors traced back for generations.
For the rest of us, though that shiny new charcoal, propane, or wood pellet grill can be a little bit intimidating. Meat isn’t exactly cheap, so you want to grill it right the first, or at least the second time. Especially if you’ve got a family to feed, or you happen to be hosting the next cookout.
Fortunately, there are some true grill masters and even grill manufacturers who have stepped up to the plate to offer their seasoned insights. The following is a list of the best grilling cookbooks on the market today. They put the information right at your fingertips for an inspirational read on a rainy day or to keep grill side, without having to click-pause through an ad-heavy online video.
The following compilation includes grilling cookbooks to help get beginners off on the right foot, as well as grilling cookbooks intended to help more experienced outdoor chefs take their game up a step or two.
The Best Grilling Cookbooks For Beginners
If you’ve just bought your first grill or perhaps inherited one from a friend or family member, then you might be looking for some early inspiration on how to make the most out of it. The following grilling cookbooks can help shorten the learning curve to move you a few steps closer to the coveted title of “Grill Master.”
Grilling for Beginners: The Ultimate How to Grill Book with Barbecue Techniques and Recipes
By Trish Telesco
This is one of the best-selling cookbooks for beginners. It takes a closer look at a wide range of recipes and provides recipes that are easy to follow. It’s a great entry point cookbook to help get you familiar with ingredients and how they work together. While it is a little light on grilling techniques it makes up for it with a dearth of easy to understand recipes.
Grilling for Beginners: The Ultimate How to Grill Book with Barbecue Techniques and Recipes; a Great BBQ Book
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Amazon.com How to Grill Everything: Simple Recipes for Great Flame-Cooked Food
By Mark Bittman
Mark Bittman is one of the more accomplished cookbook writers with popular tomes in print and as e-books. So, it was no small surprise that he turned his talents toward grilling. This is a great cookbook for getting started in the art of grilled food, as it covers all the basic ingredients as well as some of the most important techniques. Yet there’s also enough information and recipes here to grow with you take your grilling game to the next level.
How to Grill Everything: Simple Recipes for Great Flame-Cooked Food
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Amazon.com Bobby Flay’s Grill It! Cookbook
By Bobby Flay
Bobby Flay is one of the most well-known celebrity chefs who has made a name for himself in the restaurant industry and on hit television shows with his grilled food. So, of course, his Grill It cookbook was always going to be a hit. Still, he didn’t just ride on his laurels with this collection of recipes.
It has over 150 recipes and goes beyond simply putting meat to flames. In classic Bobby Flay style, he also shares some of his most successful and succulent sauces as well as marinades. Many of which help transform what might be an otherwise ordinary piece of meat into something special.
Bobby Flay's Grill It!: A Cookbook
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Amazon.com - A truly comprehensive grill guide, Bobby Flay’s Grill It! also includes: * Bobby’ s take on charcoal versus gas grills (and how to pick one whatever your preference and budget) * A list of indispensable grilling tools * A guide to stocking the perfect grill pantry * A resource guide for high-quality ingredients, supplies, and accessories
The Wood Pellet Smoker and Grill Cookbook
By Peter Jautaikis
Wood pellet grills are increasingly popular with beginners as well as experienced pitmasters. They use prepare wood pellets that are burned through an automated process to grill and smoke meats. This gives you far better temperature control than you can find from a traditional charcoal or propane grill. They are often touted as allowing you to “Set-it and forget-it.”
In this cookbook, Peter Jautaikis delves into the versatility and broad range potential of the wood pellet grill. This includes how to make traditional grilled foods, as well as some competition-level smoked barbecue. He even explains how to use a wood pellet grill to do things like cold smoke fresh sausages and fish. The recipes are very well explained and there are photos to walk you through.
The Wood Pellet Smoker and Grill Cookbook: Recipes and Techniques for the Most Flavorful and Delicious Barbecue
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Amazon.com Weber’s Way to Grill: The Step-by-Step Guide to Expert Grilling
Weber is one of the original titans in the grilling industry with grills, products, and accessories in nearly every imaginable niche. So, it’s no surprise that they would put together a comprehensive grilling cookbook. With that in mind, this is a book produced by a corporation, so there is a fair amount of product placement. Still, you shouldn’t let that turn you off on what’s inside.
In truth, there is an enormous amount of information in this grill cookbook for the money. It includes a lot of the essential early and advanced grilling techniques, as well as mouthwatering recipes. They do arguably lean a little bit toward how to make the most out of various Weber products, but if you are already one of the millions of Weber grill owners, this is an added benefit. Yet even if you don’t own a Weber grill, this book is something that will get you started and grow with you as you master the art of grilling.
Weber's Way to Grill: The Step-by-Step Guide to Expert Grilling
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Amazon.com - Weber
Gordon Ramsay’s Home Cooking: Everything You Need to Know to Make Fabulous Food
by Gordon Ramsay
Certainly one of the most well known, and traveled master chefs of our time is Gordon Ramsay. His energy and passion for cooking is world renowned with 16 Michelin stars, and multiple restaurants and countless shows spanning the world has more than earned him a place in this list. Therefore no home kitchen should be without one of his books. This book offers simple, yet inspirational recipes that cover virtually every style of culinary influence that will earn you a personal Michelin star for your family. Just make sure nothing is overcooked and RAW!!!!
Gordon Ramsay's Home Cooking: Everything You Need to Know to Make Fabulous Food
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Amazon.com Gordon Ramsay Quick and Delicious: 100 Recipes to Cook in 30 Minutes or Less
Honorable mention for Gordon Ramsay is his new book being released in Sept 2020. This is to be a compilation of 100 recopies that are tried and true for anyone to be able to cook in 30 minutes or less with readily available ingredients that are in most home kitchens. Want the perfect burger faster than you can watch an entire episode of Kitchen Nightmares? Gordon Ramsay will personally teaching you with much less yelling at you, you Donkey!
Gordon Ramsay Quick and Delicious: 100 Recipes to Cook in 30 Minutes or Less
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Amazon.com The Best Grilling Cookbooks For The Grill Master
Once you’ve been at the grill for a while, you start to learn some tricks of the trade. There are some very delectable ideas out there. Though food science can be a little bit daunting. If you’re ready to take your grilling game to the next level the following cookbooks deserve to be on your radar.
Meathead: The Science of Great Barbecue and Grilling
By Meathead Goldwyn
Meathead Goldwyn isn’t exactly a food scientist wearing a white coat. Though he isn’t afraid to recruit them into his service to help debunk some common grilling and barbecue myths. Along the way, Goldwyn keeps things lively with just the right blend of humor. This grilling cookbook arms you with the knowledge to become a great outdoor chef.
Meathead: The Science of Great Barbecue and Grilling
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Amazon.com The Flippin’ Awesome Backyard Griddle Cookbook
By Paul Sidoriak
Outdoor griddles or griddle grills are becoming increasingly popular for both backyard chefs, pop-up restaurants, food trucks, and campers. This cookbook takes a very close look at outdoor griddles and explores the various ways you can use them to create tasty appetizers, meals, and some seriously mouthwatering sandwiches. Yet many of these recipes don’t force you to only use them on your outdoor griddle. A good portion of them can be made on an indoor griddle pan or an electric grill flattop.
The Flippin' Awesome Backyard Griddle Cookbook: Tasty Recipes, Pro Tips and Bold Ideas for Outdoor Flat Top Grillin'
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Amazon.com The MeatEater Fish and Game Cookbook
By Steven Rinella
Steven Rinella is an outdoor enthusiast and professional hunter with a wide range of books on conservation and cooking. He even goes so far as to touch base with Escoffier era principles. Then he applies them to game meats, fowl, and fish. All sourced responsibly from public hunting lands and waters.
This cookbook gives a great deal of insight into the differences and similarities between game meats and common meats you find in grocery stores, or butcher shops. Many of these recipes he developed while in the bush, over an open flame, or at the grill. Yet, you can also be tested and adapted in your home kitchen or your RV.
The MeatEater Fish and Game Cookbook: Recipes and Techniques for Every Hunter and Angler
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Amazon.com Michael Symon’s Playing with Fire: BBQ and More from the Grill, Smoker, and Fireplace: A Cookbook
By Michael Symon
Michael Symon is a celebrity chef who earned his stripes in the culinary world long before rising to any sort of promotional fame. You see this ring true in his cookbook “Playing With Fire.” There is a story-teller feel to a lot of the recipes in this 240+ page grilling cookbook. Throughout Symon touches on traditional meats and recipes, and how to take them to the next level. Along the way, he also throws in some truly interesting options you may not have considered before.
