Raichlen’s Barbecue Trend Predictions For 2020

[Attjack]

Read his predictions and add your own.

https://barbecuebible.com/2019/12/31/raichlens-barbecue-trend-predictions-for-2020/?utm_source=Up+In+Smoke+Subscribers&utm_campaign=72c3ca2de0-&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_5ccbbb292a-72c3ca2de0-118466749

[Cheef]

I have never figured out if Raichlen is a visionary or peddler. He seems to delve into a lot of equipment that is WAY beyond my financial reach. (or at least what I'm generally willing to spend.
I do believe he is off when it comes to Vegan foods.

[parkerj2]

Cheef a huge portion of posts here on this forum are about things well beyond my reach (multiple smokers, EXPENSIVE & numerous smokers, etc). I feel dead broke around here and my wife and I do ok.

[Nate]

I think he is a tool... and not a good or handy one at that.

[tbob4]

parkerj2 - pace yourself. It has taken begging, saving and a lot of cheap buying over the years to get the modest arsenal I have.

[Razor]

I think once people start figuring out all the stuff that’s in meatless meat to make it taste like meat the fad is done. Stick a fork in it. Pun intended.

[Attjack]

I agree that highly processed food is not a good alternative to meat. In fact just the opposite is the real answer: minimally processed, hormone and antibiotic free, locally raised, humanely treated small farm meat is.

[rickgregory]

Most of the people eating these products are doing it for ethical, not health reasons. A lot them reason like this... "If I can enjoy a juicy burger off the grill this summer and nothing has to die in order for me to do that, that's a win."

Some of these folks are ex-meat eaters who are vegetarian, others simply are looking to eat less meat where they can and ground beef is something like 60% of retail beef in the US.

[Old Glory]

Vegan charcuterie doesn't cut it for me. Isn't that just fancy pickles?

I think more people will start cooking with wood. Direct over open flames and coals. Agree heritage, Waygu, and small local farm raised meat will become even more popular.

[Nate]

Did someone say veggie and relish trays?

[fzxdoc]

Nice article. Many of the trends he forecasted are pretty much in full swing.

Although I'll probably never go vegetarian, I am inching toward the movement to eat less meat (slightly). But as I do, I will make more of an effort to use the good, thoughtfully-raised stuff and prepare it interestingly and well.

It's nice to see that cooking with charcoal and wood is getting more respect from fancy restaurants. They've been missing out on a lot of flavor with their electric and gas cookers, IMO.

And it's great to see that good ole American-style BBQ is going global. The more the merrier.

Kathryn

[parkerj2]

I'm (sort of) on the 'eat less meat' one. Anything over 6oz in a portion is more than necessary. I am 1000% on the "eat better meat" half of that prediction.

As grillers/smokers/pitmasters, we can go a long way in changing the meat industry and spreading the word of more humanely & sustainable raised meat.

[Cheef]

Kind of a pet peeve of mine is the vegans touting the more humane aspect. Literally millions of animals are killed or maimed to harvest crop vegetables. Our consumption of anything comes at a cost to nature.

[Uncle Bob]

Vegan, schmegan……………………..I've been a second hand vegetarian for decades.

[texastweeter]

the problem with grass fed, antibiotic and hormone free meat is two fold (remember we raise this ourselves) one, it takes up so much pasture space per head, that you can't get the meat to the masses. If that's all we had, then lot and lots of people would not get any simply due to supply. This is compounded by the cost. If all that was available was high dollar beef, chicken, pork, what would those of us that are less fortunate eat. Growing up, we barely afforded the cheap tubes of supermarket ground beef, let alone steaks or grass-fed. Secondly, it simply doesn't taste as good as feed lot corn fed beef to 90 of people (I am one on this 90%). An all grass fed rib eye is almost always inferior to a corn fed rib eye of similar price. I'm sure this will infuriate a lot of people, but it's my opinion, and it is fairly educated on the subject. If we are going to feed the masses, and bring a decent quality meat to the growing masses, grass fed and or artisinal is not viable.

[rickgregory]

That's not a bug to some, it's a feature. After all, is someone's access to cheap meat worth confining animals to gestation crates and 1sf pens? How much cruelty is OK so that we can keep the prices lower?

I'm not trolling here - industrial meat plants can be horrific places for the animals and while, yes, they end up being killed, it seems to me that there's a difference between living a tortuous life and not.

Shorter version? No one is owed a cheap steak.

[ScottyC13]

My wife and I already eat smaller portions of meat, so we can afford better cuts. I do like veggies and we are always looking for creative recipes. I just don't see why we need to spend time and resources on creating veggies that taste and look like meat. Just make better veggie recipes.

[Nate]

Better veggie recipes.... Agreed 100%

[rickgregory]

Because some people don't eat meat at all. I'm not one of those, but most vegetarians are ex-meat eaters and they likely remember the taste of a grilled burger at summer cookouts. Things like the Impossible burger let them get very close to that again without eating the meat that they feel is not for them... and it doesn't hurt you or I, so what's the big deal? PS: It lets people offer their vegetarian friends an option. Again, a choice.

[Troutman]

I'm going to second what fzxdoc said, Raichlen's article is titled STEVEN RAICHLEN’S BARBECUE TREND PREDICTIONS FOR 2020. He then goes on, as if some sage disseminating crystal ball insight, to describe things that have already come to past or are well on their way to becoming reality.....

1. American BBQ goes global? Really, wow Steven I totally was unaware that anyone outside of Texas knew about bbq !!!

2. Meatless Meat? I think Burger King beat you to the punch on that one.

3. Pellet grills proliferate? Is that a statement or a prediction?

4. Charcoal returns? I'm sorry, where did it go?

5. Kamados go upscale? Steven, news flash, I think they already have and saturated the market to boot.

6. Vegan charcuterie. OK got me there, never even heard of the stuff. One for the B team.

...I'm not even going to address the last three. Same answer, all have occurred and are far beyond prediction. So the score is: Statement of actual occurring fact = 9, Potential prediction =1.

I like some of Steven's stuff as a bbq cook and have about worn out his first book. But this sort of self-promoting nonsense is a bit too much for me. Stick to what you do best Steven, cook food and leave the crystal ball at home. Geesh...

[Nate]

He just needs to go away....

[Richard Chrz]

Vegan charcutterie = veggie platter.

[Nate]

I’m on the eat less meat thing... not for any ethical, social, climate, etc... bs reasons but more so because a 2lb steak is more than I need to eat for one meal in addition to the other meat I already ate that day (at least according to my doctor and cholesterol levels).... my butcher begs to differ... For me it is about getting back into proper portions...

I kind of want to try the impossible whopper just out of curiosity but since I don’t think it is healthier and I don’t have an ethical problem with eating meat... I don’t see where I would be a convert.

As a side note I still highly dislike Steven.

[Troutman]

You know studies now tend to disprove the whole notion that artery and heart disease are directly linked to animal fat and cholesterol. Why not just try eating less?

[Nate]

Troutman … yeah I get it... and yes all around is the deal....

[parkerj2]

the problem with grass fed, antibiotic and hormone free meat is two fold (remember we raise this ourselves) one, it takes up so much pasture space per head, that you can't get the meat to the masses. If that's all we had, then lot and lots of people would not get any simply due to supply. This is compounded by the cost. If all that was available was high dollar beef, chicken, pork, what would those of us that are less fortunate eat. Growing up, we barely afforded the cheap tubes of supermarket ground beef, let alone steaks or grass-fed. Secondly, it simply doesn't taste as good as feed lot corn fed beef to 90 of people (I am one on this 90%). An all grass fed rib eye is almost always inferior to a corn fed rib eye of similar price. I'm sure this will infuriate a lot of people, but it's my opinion, and it is fairly educated on the subject. If we are going to feed the masses, and bring a decent quality meat to the growing masses, grass fed and or artisinal is not viable.

It's better for the environment to raise cattle the way God intended (pastured, ruminating on grass) - it's been show to actually sequester carbon (carbon negative), where as CAFOs are horribly destructive (science). Grass fed beef may taste different, but its how beef should taste.

It does not have to be more expensive. My local source's monthly beef box comes out to $14/lb. The extra few dollars is worth it to me to support a local farm and eat beef that tastes like beef should (science). We also use millons and millions of acres to grow corn and soy that isn't even eaten - it's used to feet animals. If that land were converted to pasture and rotational crops, "feeding the masses" would be easier, cheaper, and more nutritious.

You can't claim an opinion, then say it's educated as if it's factual. Your opinion is that corn fed tastes better. My opinion is grass fed, dry aged is vastly superior in flavor (and its educated, but still an opinion).

Beef is not NEEDED at all to "feed the masses." Chicken is cheaper and easier to raise. Simply put, Americans do not need (science) to consume the amount of meat that we consume on a regular basis.

CAFO beef is inhumane, destructive, and unsustainable. Period. There's a litany of science to back this up, and unless people like those of us that thoroughly enjoy cooking meat begin to see the benefits in changing, it will get worse, more expensive, and there will be less beef to go around as a result.

[texastweeter]

so in the interest of diplomacy, I will recuse myself from the argument, go back to the grass fed cattle we raise because people like you will pay more for it, not a noble cause, but the truth.

[parkerj2]

Oh for cripes sake, I KNOW it doesn't exist in the wild. But cattle are evolved to eat grass, not corn and soy. Their stomachs can't handle it, which is why they are pumped full of drugs. What's it for you to say what their "ancestors tasted like?" It's just been proven time and again that the way we raise livestock is atrocious. It's not new information from me.

It also isn't for you to say what is or isn't a noble cause. I consider it to be worthwhile.

[parkerj2]

"the way God intended" is a figure of speech, and you know it. There's simply no way around the inhumane treatment of our livestock (not to mention the planet) for the sake of cheap meat. Yes, I am a Christian, and it's my duty to be a steward of the earth, per the Bible. Modern agriculture is poor stewardship.

[Richard Chrz]

Pretty new to this, but I don't see his added value in learning to bbq, anything I have seen from him, I have seen in any basic google search. again, that is just me. I would be willing to say a pretty big percentage of people in here could do what he does, just as good if not better (not saying I could, I have way to much to learn still), if that is what they were paid to do. The difference is, he found a way to be paid to do it.

[LDimick]

I agree with you. Raichlen seems to be more about the flavor and the recipe instead of the grilling or BBQ experience. I really do not care to try to make a recipe with a wild flavor that is derived from mushrooms that grow only in February, in Australia, that germinate every 17 years when there is a brush fire, and the fire is extinguished by a dingo taking a pee on it under a full moon.

I am more interested in ribs that my family likes for the flavor, texture, smell, and appearance.

[Richard Chrz]

Yet, likely a bunch of people got their first outdoor cooking device and are reading his books right now, when they should have taken that money and bought two half sheet pans and a good pair of grill tongs instead.

[Bkhuna]

There is no such thing as Vegan/Vegetarian Charcuterie. The very definition of Charcuterie is a method of processing meat.

[Richard Chrz]

kind of like Turkey Bacon. Turkeys do not have bacon parts.

[Troutman]

Good observation. Now Raichlen struck out 10 out of 10 times

[klflowers]

5 minutes that I can't get back .