Meathead Goldwyn runs AmazingRibs.com website, where taste is all about science

Kristine M. Kierzek
·5 min read
Meathead Goldwyn got his nickname from his father. He says meat does not have to be brought to room temperature before cooking. Cold meat attracts smoke better, Goldwyn says.
Meathead Goldwyn got his nickname from his father. He says meat does not have to be brought to room temperature before cooking. Cold meat attracts smoke better, Goldwyn says.

From his home in Brookfield, Ill., Meathead Goldwyn has created the world’s most popular barbecue and grilling site: amazingribs.com. 

The No. 1 lesson he has learned? Success in grilling and barbecue all comes down to science.

The Barbecue Hall of Fame member is also the author of “Meathead: The Science of Great Barbecue and Grilling.”  On June 25, he brings his best tips and busts some popular myths about barbecue with an 11 a.m. presentation and book signing at the Milwaukee Public Market. Tickets for the event are $25. Autographed books are an additional $20. To order tickets, go to milwaukeepublicmarket.org.

Goldwyn is working on his next book, “The Meathead Method” expected to be published in 2024.

What brings him to Milwaukee

The book we published May 2016, “Meathead: The Science of Great Barbecue and Grilling” is still clipping along and has surpassed 250,000 copies. … The book is divided into two parts. The first part is a science book. I explain the science and theory of what happens on a grill or smoker. The second half is recipes that employ the techniques.

Defining barbecue and grilling

The line is very blurry, and anybody who tries to give me a definition I can destroy it in 30 seconds. They overlap. I see barbecue as a large umbrella that encompasses many styles of cooking from all over the world. It is not an entirely American technique as some people mistakenly believe. People barbecue all over the world, and under that umbrella comes grilling. They all involve smoke and flame.

Going global

Barbecue and grilling, which I lump together, are practiced all over the world, but it seems the love of outdoor cooking is greater in this country than anywhere else…Beyond that, there are still regional styles.

Sauce styles spread

Just in the same way we have become a global society, the regional styles cross regional boundaries. Barbecue sauce for most of the country is ketchup on steroids, a red sauce with molasses, liquid smoke and all kinds of stuff. We generally call that Kansas style because it generally originated in Kansas City.

If you go to portions of South Carolina, you'll find that barbecue sauce is yellow and made with mustard as a base. Go to North Carolina, it is neither ketchup nor mustard, it is vinegar. You go to a barbecue place in Milwaukee or wherever, you can probably find all of these.

If you do just one thing, do this

What message do I want to get across to readers who are looking to up their game and get better at cooking outdoors? If you have one of those dial thermometers in the junk drawer in the kitchen, go outside, put it in the driveway and back the car over it. It is not accurate. It is technology that was invented in the 1800s. … This is 2022, and for under $30 you can get a digital thermometer that is precision under 5 seconds.

The science of steak

A medium rare steak is the most tender and juicy. How do I get to medium rare? It is easy, 130 to 135 degree variant. It is not four minutes on one side or anything else. It is the temperature. That’s the most important thing.

Control and cooking

Cooking is all about temperature control. Unfortunately most grills and smokers don’t have good temperature control. My indoor oven has a thermostat, I set it for 375 and it gets pretty darn close. My grill does not.

Now there are some outdoor cookers that have digital controls, the new pellet smokers. There were none of those 20 years ago. Joe Traeger invented the first one. He is in the barbecue hall of fame now. He was the first, and it is the most popular to this day, but there are 30 to 40 different brands out there and they are precision temperature control. You can even control them from your smart phone.

Trend over time

One of the things happening today, and it is frustrating, the barbecue world is getting a bit snobby. … Prior to my deep dive into barbecue, a career that started in 2001, I was the wine critic for the Washington Post and Chicago Tribune. I know about snobbery. I recognize it when I see it, and it is deep into barbecue already …

The major publications have discovered barbecue and grilling. They never would have covered it before. Just yesterday I was interviewed by Helen Rosner of The New Yorker.

One tool can elevate your cooking

We preach thermometers everywhere we go. It is all about temperature control. That is one message that I would like to get in front of everyone who is grilling their steak, which is really expensive these days. … You won’t have that problem of gray, overcooked steaks if you have that $30 digital thermometer.

I think it is so important I hired an electrical engineer and I buy every thermometer I can. He tests them, beats them up. We have about 200 thermometers on our database. Someone who is shopping can see what kind of rating that it got from our engineer. Even the poorly rated ones are better than the dial thermometers. You won’t get anyone sick and you won’t overcook a chicken again.

Keeping count

I don’t know how many grills I’ve owned. The wife told me one comes in and one goes out or you go out. That's the rule.

I try to have one of each of the major types of cookers so if I’m testing a recipe I can try it on a Green Egg, a charcoal, a gas grill, a pellet smoker.

Testing and tracking

Manufacturers send us models to try in the hopes that we will say good things about them. amazingribs.com has a full time grill tester, Max Good. … When the grills come out he puts them through the paces. If readers are shopping for a new grill to replace the old rust bucket out back, it is a searchable database.

What to expect when he visits Milwaukee Public Market

My presentation is “Old Husbands Tales: Barbecue Myths That Deserve to Die.” The world of barbecue is full of mythology that is wrong.

Fork. Spoon. Life. explores the everyday relationship that local notables (within the food community and without) have with food. To suggest future personalities to profile, email psullivan@gannett.com.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Meathead Goldwyn runs amazing ribs website: taste is about science