Planking Secrets: Grilling with Planks for Unbeatable Barbecue Flavor

by Ron Shewchuk

Tips, tricks and recipes for a sizzling new trend. Planking is the hottest new trend in backyard grilling. Grilling on wooden planks allows the food to be saturated with the flavors from the barbecue... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1552857611
• ISBN13: 9781552857618
• Release Date: May 2009
• Publisher: Whitecap Books
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 7.1" x 10.0"

Customer Reviews

Planking Secrets

This is a great book. Have already tried out quite a few of the recipes. Great if you like to cook with planks.

Not bad at all.....except for the "folksiness"

Last year I bought 3 books on plank grilling as I really wanted to try this method of cooking. It is really kinda of a neat cooking method, actually. And the food does acquire the smoky flavor, the fragrant characteristic of the wood used, and does typically turn out more juicy/moist etc.... so I am sold on the method. So now for a few words about the book(s): I just left 2 fairly negative reviews for the other 2 books for various reasons, primarily the recipes. This book, I have to say, is different. The recipes are actually pretty good! I have tried about half a dozen to a dozen of the recipes and the results were almost uniformily good (to great!). The flavors meld well together, there are no outrageous/incongruous ingredient combinations as in one of the other books, and recipe themes are respected (i.e. an Asian themed recipe will have the recquisite Asian themed ingredients and not try to "out-do" itself by an addition of something out of left field). One reason is that Mr. Shewchuk carefully adapts many of the recipes from well established chefs who, in turn, concentrate on the cooking and not on cookbook writing for a commercial return. All in all, I like this book. The only reason I didn't give it a perfect 5 stars is because, alas, Mr. Shewchuk's folksy, apron/cowboy hat demeanor is sometimes irritating. A little bit of decorum and seriousness for the task at hand would have been better. Cooking should be fun, not silly.

The best plank grilling book by far.

I own several plank grilling books ("Sticks and Stones", "The art of Plank Grilling", "The Plank Grilling Cookbook", and "Planking Secrets"). I also own Steven Raichlen's "Beer-Can Chicken and 74 other offbeat recipes for the grill" and have read his discussion of plank grilling there. "Planking Secrets" is by far the best of the lot. The discussion of the history, science, and technique of plank grilling is second to none, and the recipes are the best I have ever tried. Every time I cook a recipe from this book I get rave reviews. Just tonight I cooked a maple-planked chateubriand with a coffe/cocoa/cinnamon/pecan/pepper rub from page 154 that was so good it left everyone literally speechless. If you are going to try plank grilling you simply have to own this book. The Author clearly knows just about everyone who is anyone when it comes to fine foods, because some of the best in the business have contributed recipes and techniques to this book. I don't think Mr. Griffo, who gives this book a negative review, knows what he is talking about. As noted, I have read several books and a lot of internet discussion and I see a pretty even split between the two camps. It is telling that this book has the best recipes and many were contributed by well-known professionals who clearly respect the author and his methods. My guess is that they know more than Mr. Griffo. This is a great book, buy it.