Review: Weber's Big Book of Burgers: The Ultimate Guide to Grilling Backyard Classics
EricMesa
- 2 minutes read - 289 words
Weber’s Big Book of Burgers: The Ultimate Guide to Grilling Backyard Classics by Jamie Purviance
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
What it says in the title and more. It’s burgers, dogs, etc. All the stuff you think of when you think of prototypical non-nerdy American grilling. Lots of good recipes with lots of variation - including lots of variations on veggie burgers that aren’t mushroom-based. There are a few even I (an avowed carnivore) would like to try. If I had to fault the book it would be that, unlike Meathead, America’s Test Kitchen, or Milk Street - there’s no context to the recipes. You just have recipe after recipe. No mention of why the ingredients work or where Jamie Purviance got the recipes from. I’ve grown to really appreciate this context and how it helps me appreciate the recipe and understand how it was put together so that I understand how best to modify it as I go through iterations.
That said, I added just under half the recipes in the book to my to-try cooking list on my personal wiki. I’m excited about the variations and having some guidance on where to go. I’ve done some experimentation with burgers before, but the varieties are so vast I haven’t quite known where to go with them. And with a trend towards eating healthier as we get older, I don’t have tons of opportunities to try out variations if one of them sucks. So a curated list like this one from an author I can trust is a boon. Who knows, we may even find out next favorite burger in here, supplanting Meathead’s Diner Burgers as the current king of burgers in our house.