Steven Raichlen's BBQ U?

[FireMan]

Yer probably spot on. I don’t think he’s doin it fer the money.

[FireMan]

We, we miss yer! 🙃

[FireMan]

I will bet the farm HE didn’t devain those suckers. Oh, looks good.

[BBQPhil]

The venue really shouldn't be all that important. Wouldn't matter if the class was held in someone's backyard or most anywhere than a pricey hotel.

[Mosca]

I dunno. He’s okay. If all you ever knew, you learned from him, your food would come out pretty good I think.

That being said, I think he’s another one of those people who keeps trying to make simple food fancy. Too much foofalah going on in his recipes for me. I’m not making a trip to the Philippine grocery to make a variation on roast pork; I’ll simply turn the page, thanks.

[Richard Chrz]

fzxdoc

I could not agree more. (For me), This place has far more inspiration. I’m not hating on him at all. He just seems like a glorified recipe slinger. There is no real feeling in his message about the purposeful why’s of techniques etc. I’d rather learn the why’s of an ingredient then the amounts of it. The pit y0u learn the why’s and can purposefully use that knowledge tonmake good food. He has also likely forgotten more about cooking then I will ever learn. He is obviously successful

[Michael_in_TX]

I'm kinda embarrassed that I didn't think about this given that (at least prior to 2020) I spend a significant part of the year helping to put on academic conferences at hotels.

It is actually really expensive to hold an event at a large hotel, especially a luxury resort. Convention space is very expensive. For my group, we have to have 400-500 minimum booked at the event hotel to get the convention space for free, and I think Steven limits BBQU to 50 people or so.

Steven is also paying the hotel for the food, which is always ridiculously priced, or he is paying the hotel a high premium to use outside providers. I know for me, even with the most discounts (we're academic/non-profit) I still pay $45 a gallon for coffee, plus sales tax, plus 25% service charge.

And if the hotel is a union hotel, he is probably also paying for an elevator operator and a stand-by carpenter. (No really, this is a thing in the northeast!)

It would not surprise me that after hotel costs, material costs, and paying his staff he only nets 1/3 or so of that initial fee.

[fzxdoc]

He's sort of "meh" to me. Not someone I'd follow on purpose. Occasionally when I google, a recipe from him pops up that I'd like to try. But honestly I find more inspiration here on The Pit or over on the free side--or from Malcolm or Harry Soo, for that matter.

Kathryn

[Whiskeyman53]

There are many outlets for barbecue knowledge seekers that are far less priced or even better free. I find his videos to be well made and informative. I own several of his books including Planet Barbecue which allows me to explore recipes and techniques from different parts of the world. With that being said Planet Barbecue set me back $3.99 from Ollie's Discount Store while a binder of his recipes and techniques from his other books was put together from text books borrowed free from the. To me I can't justify the cost of the class and I am a fan of his.

[Michael_in_TX]

Am I the only person that is not impressed by him?

I admit my admiration for him goes beyond BBQ. In a previous life I did video production, including public television production and I really like how his shows are scripted, shot, and edited. I also really enjoy how the two most recent series, Project Smoke and Project Fire really highlight that they are shooting a cooking show in some creative ways.

And then there is this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFAwbHnEDaY

I wish I could do that.

[Michael_in_TX]

lol..thanks...I seem to be collecting BBQ shrimp recipes lately!

[Clark]

Richard Chrz I'm with you!

[Clark]

RichieB There have been others that jumped and survived....but they had parachutes.

[bbqLuv]

Raichlen also seems to be over scripted.
Although he presents good information I find it hard to sit through one of his shows.

[BBQPhil]

Agree. The products with his names are generally overpriced and nothing special. He's done a superb job of marketing himself and clearly has some great skills based on his world travels. But for me, he lacks the authenticity that we get from this site or from watching even Franklin smoking his briskets. I maybe an outlier, but I find his shows to be a little pompous being filmed at top resorts surrounded by a massive crew of cameramen and lighting equipment.