Barbecue

Mr. Bar-B-Q 18-Piece Stainless-Steel Grill Tool Set
$39.99
I bought this thinking it would be awesome.. I mean, the title says it all, right?... Mr Bar-B-Q. Marketing... they sure did their job... but the makers.. not so sure they did theirs. Here is why I only rated it 3 stars. When my boyfriend opened this up, the case to this BBQ set was a very light plastic. One of the hinges was broken and all the components were all over the place inside the cheap plastic case. I guess... you get what you pay for. My boyfriend uses this whenever we BBQ and it works... so if you don't mind a cheap plastic (could end up broken at your front door)case, then you should get it. All the tools work fine and feel sturdy. Next time around I am going to get a nicer BBQ set for him.

The Barbecue! Bible
$22.95
Our family of 3 spent one year in a 1 bedroom apartment with only a sink, fridge and microwave. We bought a grill to help increase our cooking options. I received The Barbecue Bible as a gift from someone I consider very well versed in the art of barbecuing. If nothing else, while reading and after reading The Barbecue Bible, we found ourselves experimenting more with the capabilities of the grill. We baked cookies, cakes, cheesecakes; we grilled fruits and vegetables. I seriously doubt we would have tried much of the baking if we hadn't read the book.

We also found the stories about how different cultures grill to be facinating. One of our favorite stories is about a long drive to a restaurant in Argintina.

Coleman 9941-768 Road Trip Grill (Blue)
$229.99
I bought this grill last summer. Used it with good results until I tried to do potatoes on it. I set it on low put some potatoes wrapped in foil on it and left it to cook. I closed the lid and walked away. A bit later I came back to turn the potatoes and the aluminum grate actually melted down around the element inside! I bought this grill because Coleman is a good brand or so I thought. I cant believe they would make these aluminum grates so Cheap! Since then I have invested in the more expensive griddle and grates but @ [...] bucks youd think they would come with the grill and not be Extra! I did email Coleman directly about their shoddy product but they of course never responded

Holy Smoke: The Big Book of North Carolina Barbecue
$30.00
"Holy Smoke: The Big Book of North Carolina Barbecue" by John Shelton Reed and Dale Volberg Reed ($30, University of North Carolina Press, 316 pp.). This book does a great job of telling its story through its content supported by loads of pictures (although only black-and-white here). However, this book has a juicy back story that goes past being just an ode to the barbecue of its region. Everyone knows of the rivalry among the four major barbecue regions as to which one is the best. But North Carolina has its own rivalry within that rivalry between barbecue of the Piedmont and barbecue of Eastern North Carolina. The authors do a great job of telling that story, making this book all the better. This book, like the others, covers its topic in such a detailed manner that you'll be an expert by the time you finish the book no matter if you've ever set foot in the Tarheel State or not.