For this week cookbook review, we bring you Franklin Steak. The new cookbook from one of our favorite pitmasters! Aaron Franklin may be the reigning king of brisket, but in his off-time, what he really loves to cook and eat at home is steak. So, in this follow-up to his New York Times bestselling book Franklin Barbecue, the pitmaster extraordinaire teaches you how to cook his favorite food to absolute perfection. With their trademark rigor and expertise, Franklin and coauthor Jordan Mackay go deeper into the art and science of cooking steak than anyone has gone before.
They demystify cattle breeds, explore the technique of dry-aging, explore globally-inspired techniques like the reverse sear and hibachi-style cooking, and even teach you how to build a custom, backyard grill setup. For any meat-lover, backyard grill-master, or fan of Franklin’s fun yet authoritative approach, this book is a must-have.
Franklin Steak is not a typical cookbook and it’s is very different from Franklin Barbecue: A Meat-Smoking Manifesto. In this book, information and knowledge is the most important thing. In fact, it can be difficult to find a recipe in its first 175 pages. Instead, the book presents you information on breeds, cuts, marbling, color, fiber, dry-aging, methods of cooking, fuel, thickness, anything, and everything.
The book is divided into three main sections: sourcing the meat, prepping the meat and then cooking the meat. Part one is about beef history and industry. A chapter about cattle breeding and upbringing, steak cuts, and the science behind the perfect steak. The second section goes into dry-aging, the mechanics and machinery involved in grills, fuel, and wood. Also in this chapter is one of our favorite parts of the book, a section on how to build your own grill. The last part, and our favorite is about actually cooking the steaks and how to achieve different end results, plus how to make fun additional items like sides (fries, garlic mushrooms), sauces (salsa verde, jalapeno-anchovy compound butter), and alcoholic pairing suggestions.
Franklin Steak: Dry-Aged. Live-Fired. Pure Beef. is by far the most complex and incredible book about steaks. We almost can say that you will learn everything you need to know. We say that this is a different “cookbook” because, on its 224 pages, you will find very few recipes. This characteristic doesn’t make it a bad cookbook, just different! In fact, if we have to choose just one book to learn about meat this one will definitely be our choice.
In the end, the only thing that we can say to you is that if you are looking for a cookbook with many recipes, this is not the book for you. But if you are looking for a book that as anything, and everything about meat this is the book that you’re looking for.
Franklin Steak: Dry-Aged. Live-Fired. Pure Beef. is an awesome book (not a cookbook) about meat. If you are a truly meat-lover and a fan of Aaron Franklin, this book is a must-have.
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The Cooking World is a team of professionals passionate about the world of food from diverse areas.
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