Haven't looked at it in depth, but just flipping through it I found a few recipes I'm going to try. Birria tacos, Chile Relleno burritos, might try making my own tortillas following his recipe, etc. I love his channel and the recipes that I've tried. Looks like every recipe could have a photo as well. His recipes are always simple but delicious.
Weber Genesis S330 with GrillGrates
Weber Summit Kamado E6
Weber Performer with SnS, DnG and Pit Viper mod
Weber 26" kettle with SnS, DnG and Pit Viper mod
Traeger Flatrock Griddle
PKGO
Fireboard (2)
Thermoworks Smoke
Thermoworks MK4 (2)
Themoworks Thermapen ONE
We love Sam. Haven't gotten his latest book, but have all of his other books. His carne asada marinade is the absolute best! That and his hot dog chili are 2 that are in our rotation. His somewhat recent french bread pizza is also becoming a regular. He (as he admits) isn't a BBQ guy, but I don't watch his videos for that. Frankly, a lot of his BBQ techniques I would never do.
My toys:
Weber Summit Charcoal Grilling Center (WSCGC) aka Mr. Fancypants
Pit Barrel Cooker (which rocks), named Pretty Baby
Weber Summit S650 Gas Grill, named Hot 'n Fast (used mostly for searing and griddling)
Weber Kettle Premium 22" named Kettle Kid, eager to horn in with more cooks in the future
Camp Chef Somerset IV 4-burner outdoor gas range named AfterBurner due to its 30kBTU burners
Adrenaline BBQ Company Gear:
SnS Low Profile, DnG, and Large Charcoal Basket, for WSCGC
SnS Deluxe for 22" Kettle
Elevated SS Rack for WSCGC
SS Rack for DnG
Cast Iron Griddle
Grill Grate for SnS
Grill Grates: five 17.375 sections (retired to storage)
Grill Grates: six 19.25 panels for exact fit for Summit S650
gasser
Grill Grates for 22" Kettle
2 Grill Grate Griddles
Steelmade Griddle for Summit gas grill
Fireboard Gear:
Extreme BBQ Thermometer Package
Additional control unit
Additional probes: Competition Probes 1" (3) and 4" (1), 3 additional Ambient Probes. 1 additional Food Probe
2 Driver Cables
Pit Viper Fan (to pair with Fireboard Fan Driver Cable)
Pit Viper Fan new design (to pair with Fireboard Fan Driver Cable)
Thermoworks Gear:
Thermapen MK4 (pink)
Thermapen Classic (pink too)
Thermoworks MK4 orange
Temp Test 2 Smart Thermometer
Extra Big and Loud Timer
Timestick Trio
Maverick ET 73 a little workhorse with limited range
Maverick ET 733
Maverick (Ivation) ET 732
Grill Pinz
Vortex (two of them)
18" drip pan for WSCGC
Ceramic Spacers for WSCGC in Kamado Mode: 2 sets each 1/2", 1", 2". The 2" spacers work best with the 18" drip pan. The 1+1/2 inch spacers work best with the 14 inch cake pan.
Two Joule Sous Vide devices
3 Lipavi Sous Vide Tubs with Lids: 12, 18 and 26 quarts
Avid Armor Ultra Pro V32 Chamber Sealer
Instant Pot 6 Quart Electric Pressure Cooker
Instant Pot 10 Quart Electric Pressure Cooker
Charcoal Companion TurboQue
A-Maze-N tube 12 inch tube smoker accessory for use with pellets
BBQ Dragon and Dragon Chimney
Shun Classic Series:
8" Chef Knife
6" Chef's Knife
Gokujo Boning and Fillet Knife
3 1/2 inch Paring Knife
Let us know how you like his cookbook vs. surfing his You Tube channel. I just did a huge cookbook purge and have decided to add any new cookbooks very judiciously.
BTW his Chorizo Birria sauce for chicken birria tacos is outstanding.
Here's the recipe I use, modified from his online recipe:
Chorizo Birria Sauce
8-10 oz chorizo (I like Fresh Market Chorizo links with the sausage removed from the casing)
1 medium onion chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
S&P
(Sam uses 1 TBL Chipotle Chile powder only. No other chile powders. I use 1 tsp of each of 3 chile powders)
1 tsp chipotle chile powder
1 tsp guajillo chile powder
1 tsp ancho chile powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp smoked paprika (Sam uses I TBL)
1 14.5 oz can fire roasted diced tomatoes
1 cup chicken broth (I use homemade chicken broth)
8 oz lager beer (not hoppy)
Brown chorizo lightly, add onions and saute until the onions are soft and the chorizo is separated
Add garlic and stir for 20 seconds
Add S&P, cumin, smoked paprika, and the chile powders, being careful not to burn the spices as they toast.
Add the chicken broth and beer.
Simmer briskly for 5 minutes to burn off the beer's alcohol, then add the fire roasted tomatoes.
Blend with an immersion blender.
Simmer gently for 20-30 minutes.
Use immediately, store in fridge for a few days, or freeze for future use. (I like to have a batch of this sauce at the ready in the freezer for a quick birria taco dinner.)
At this point, for the chicken filling for birria tacos:
Brown 1.5 to 2 lbs of skinless boneless chicken thighs. (You can brown them before making the sauce and set aside until the sauce is ready).
Add to the sauce before the last simmer step and cook on low heat for 20-30 minutes until the chicken is pullable. Assemble tacos; dip or brush outside of tortillas with the sauce. Add toppings of choice.
Instant Pot Method:
I prefer to brown the thighs in the Instant Pot, set them aside while I make the sauce on the Saute function. Then I blend with the immersion blender before adding the chicken back to the IP in the sauce and set the IP to 18 min High; wait 10 min then release the pressure. The infusion of flavor is really delicious this way.
Kamado Joe Big Joe III
Pit Barrel Cooker
Camp Chef Flat Top 900
Weber Performer 22
PowerFlamer Propane 160
Meater +
Thermoworks Smoke
Thermoworks Thermapen
Temp Spike
I adore Sam. His recipes are all fairly simple to prepare and I would say "can't miss." Whenever I make something from his catalog my family goes nuts with delight and regards me as a Demi-god. That said, I probably will just continue to use his website and Youtube channel and not purchase the book.
Last edited by hoovarmin; June 16, 2022, 06:59 AM.
Reason: grammar
hoovarmin I love it and several others do here too, there’s a few threads about it. I have mobile and Mac versions and they have sales fairly regularly. You can import from about anywhere, I’ve even imported from the pit (just copy a link to the specific post number). I’m different about how I use it though, I generally only add/import recipes there after we know we like it…well at least until I shared Paprika with the other half, but we’re workin on that.
It's wild, when I first ran across his channel, I couldn't stand him, I sheepishly admit. But now I think he is my favorite cooking YouTube channel. The vast majority of my day-to-day recipes come from him.
He has ten years worth of videos on his channel and you can watch his show evolve significantly over the years, from the talk-show format, to the cooking live show format, to the ~10-15 minute outdoor format that is in use today.
I think Max (his son and primary videographer) may be nearly entirely self taught. You can really see how the videography and editing improve over the years. Late 2018/early 2019 the show takes a large jump in production quality.
While he doesn't use this tagline much anymore, his approach is "maximum flavor, minimum effort." He is also directly responsible for me giving up measuring every single little ingredient perfectly.
If you get to his level on YouTube, it is clear you can really do quite well. If the charity Ukrainian video he did a few months ago is any indication, he (and his team) are pulling in $15k-$25k on each video that does well.
I do wish he would do more seafood videos, but Max has often hinted they just aren't profitable and if you look at the views, it is quite stark. The seafood videos often get 1/4 less views than the others.
This week I'm purposefully not watching any STCG videos so that I can watch two-week's worth when I'n at a conference next week.
Michael_in_TX same for me on no longer measuring everything. I have to say, that has been liberating and increased my enjoyment of cooking tremendously.
I like Sam, I watch most of his videos. I do wish he didn't use the F-bomb so... I dunno, flagrantly. But otherwise, I like his stuff. It was ok when they used to bleep it, now they've stopped and it just seems a little unnecessary to me. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a prude. But I think it would be better without it.
fzxdoc and Michael_in_TX I subscribe and watch pretty much all his videos for the past couple years and use his web site too. I don’t love the organization on either, but can find what I looking for if I have something specific I’m looking for. I’ve only made a few of his recipes, but have gotten lots of simplified technique ideas from him. I don’t really use paper cookbooks at all, the main reason I bought it was I saw the autographed copy and thought I’d like to support him and also wanted to make him do a little work signing it 🤪 If anything I generally would buy the kindle copy, but that wasn’t available yet.
I don’t eat a lot of seafood and the girls won’t touch it at all, so find the rarity of seafood recipes great about the channel. However, Michael_in_TX, there are at least 10 seafood recipes in the book.
That all being said, now that I have it, I think it’s one of the best cookbooks I’ve seen in terms of how a cookbook should be done today. Every time I open it I find another recipe I’m probably going to try. A lot of it is the Mexican dishes and sides in the book.
Currently own:
Weber 22 and 26 Kettle.
Regular gasser with rotisserie.
Custom built horizontal stick burner.
Custom built duel fuel "whole hog" cooker.
​​​Many other tools of the trade.
I probably watch a Sam video every evening in my wind-down routine. Great recipes and fun to watch. Really love he has his family involved in his operation.
I ate a fair amount of Birria Tacos while on the road in Baja the last two weeks. I could not get enough! I would love to try out his recipe. All those little back road spot had killer Birria. I would often eat at least two tacos, then get a kilo "Para Llevar" so we could chow down on it at our campsites!
Drooling. I made his Birria recipe and it was a keeper, for sure. Not wanting to take out a second mortgage, I subbed chuck for the short ribs and it was incredible.
I watch Sam all the time and I have most of his books. I bought the latest but it didn't come with a signature card or certificate of authenticity. He posted his Korean Street Taco recipe from his restaurant in this book, it was interesting to see how well my interpretation from watching his vids matches what the recipe actually is (I was off but not by too much).
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