Wood-Fired Cooking: Techniques and Recipes for the Grill, Backyard Oven, Fireplace, and Campfire

by Mary Karlin

Mary Karlins enticing recipes explore the diverse flavor characteristics of hardwoods and live-fire cooking methods from Plank-Roasted Porterhouse or Indian Onion Naan to a hearth-baked Milanese Risotto Tart or Warm Chocolate-Chipotle Cakes. Introductory chapters cover the basics of indoor and outdoor wood-fired cooking, then she delves into the best applications for the myriad live-fire techniques and equipment now available and provides detailed instructions on building a fire and maintaining temperature in each apparatus. Karlins expert planning outlines show efficient cooks how to make the best use of wood-fired cooking sessions, including step-by-step instructions for preparing an entire weeks worth of food in a single session. WOOD-FIRED COOKING is ideal for home cooks seeking the next grilling frontier.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking

208 pages, Hardcover

First published February 17, 2009

Reviews

[Redsteve · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book isn't about period cooking nor is it especially about camp cooking. It covers a fairly wide range of wood-fire cooking techniques (including lump charcoal, planking, and various smoking methods). It goes into a fair degree of detail about different types of wood and what types of cooking are best for which foods. The author also covers meal planning, either so you can cook multiple parts of a meal in the same cooking environment (a wood-fired oven, for example - allowing you to take advantage of the gradual cooling temperature) or cooking a week's worth of meals for a large number of people at one time. There are a few recipes for each type of cooking, most of which can easily be adapted to kitchen cooking.

[Victoria Staudinger · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not a lot of real education about wood fired cooking, process, mechanics, tools. The book includes a lot of recipes that aren't particularly useful to me, nor do they expand on the how-tos of wood fired cooking.

[Janet · Rating 2 out of 5]

The acquisition of a fire pit prompted me to read this, but it's highly unlikely I'll make any of these recipes--except maybe the crazy chocolate or hobo cakes-and likely in the oven!

[Mrs. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautifully photographed book with interesting recipes, including pizza!