Steven Raichlen's 500 Club

[Michael_in_TX]

I must admit when I first saw this, I thought it was going to be some monthly-membership thing, but it turns out it isn't and it is quite a cool thing.

Steven Raichlen's seminal work is The Barbecue Bible, a collection of 536 smoking, BBQ, and grilling recipes from all over the planet. Would anyone actually try to make them all?

Turned out one couple did: Robert and Alynne Douglass did just this over a two year period: https://barbecuebible.com/2022/03/11...r-500-recipes/

Steven was so taken by their effort that he created the 500 Club, an informal group of fans who are embarking on the challenge to cook all 536 recipes in the book. There's a a Facebook group and even a spreadsheet you can download to keep track of your progress: https://barbecuebible.com/barbecue-b...-the-500-club/

I'm not sure I'll go for it, but one thing is for certain, as Robert and Alynne wrote....they didn't eat the same thing twice for two years.

[Old Glory]

Pretty cool!

I wonder what it cost to source all those ingredients?

[Michael_in_TX]

That is a good question! Some of those ingredients are probably quite a bit specialized.

[jfmorris]

Yes - he has a lot of recipes that call for meats and spices or peppers not readily available at your local supermarket. Could be a challenge finding all of it.

[jfmorris]

That's a cool story! That is the book that got me started down the road of better BBQ and cooking in general, and still sits proudly on my shelf. I doubt though that I have made more than 15 or 20 of the recipes. This story may inspire me to dive into it again, but I can't say I'll be doing 500+, but its an intriguing concept, and would make for an interesting journey.

[Jfrosty27]

I’ve been meaning to get this book….

[Sid P]

You can often get it at Goodwill or thrift shops for a couple bucks. If you EBay you can get it delivered for <$5.00.

[rlozinak]

I have a couple of his books. but not this one.

[WayneT]

Ditto. Got 'How to Grill' and 'Project Smoke'. Actually got my copy of 'How to Grill' signed by Raichlen while he was here on a speaking tour.

[Huskee]

Geeze I've only cooked 10 of Meathead's.

[FireMan]

L O L !

[ItsAllGoneToTheDogs]

Careful he might find an admin that's done 11.

[FireMan]

L O L . AOA

all over again. 😎

[Murdy]

That's one almost every-other day. Wonder how much weight they gained.

[hoovarmin]

Raichlen's recipes tend to be surpisingly simple (and terrific). A great deal of the dishes from that book are peasant street foods. It might be less expensive than we think, but there would also probably have to be several substitutions for unavailable ingredients. That said, there aren't many ingredients you can't get these days on Amazon.

[Huskee]

On the side note of hard to find ingredients or substitutions- I highly recommend the book The Food Substitutions Bible by Dave Joachim. The current one has 6,500 substitutions, the new one coming out in October has 8,000.

[Michael_in_TX]

That is cool! I like how it includes techniques as well.

[jfmorris]

Darn it Aaron, now you went and made me put a $50 book in my Amazon wish list!

[Bad Hat BBQ]

BBQ U on PBS is what got me started...back then I think his BBQ camp was at the Green Brier in W Va

After watching a few of his shows and getting the BBQ Bible, I picked up my 1st Off Set from BBQ Galore (cant remeber the brand) very similar to my Okie Joe Longhorn

[Michael_in_TX]

I remember watching a few episodes of BBQ U back when I was home from college. It took many years, but it wasn't until I stumbled upon Project Smoke episodes online in 2018 that I got into grilling.

[Sid P]

Challenge accepted!

[Jerod Broussard]

I just want to hear him say Cilantro 500x.

[Michael_in_TX]

To my utter disappointment, the word 'cilantro' only appears twice in the recipe titles in the book.

[Jerod Broussard]

Michael_in_TX no worries, if he had more beef recipes it would be an "udder" disappointment.

[Sdell]

The Barbecue Bible was my first BBQ cookbook and is still one of my favorites. My copy is from 1999 and falling apart, but there are still at least 5-10 recipes from it that I make on a regular basis. His rub recipe for Memphis ribs is still my all purpose BBQ rub, although with a couple of tweaks. What I like best is that the recipes are pretty faithful to the original dishes, and are simple and unpretentious. It is his best cookbook IMHO, followed by How to Grill. Well worth the price, especially if you can find it used.

[bmillin]

I discovered the Barbecue Bible and Cook's illustrated around the same time, totally upped my game. I use the basic rub & sauce to this day with a few tweaks.