I would easily purchase this book after only a quick flip-through. The organization is clear and well-suited to repeated reference. The photos are beautiful and inspiring. At a more in-depth read, the basic information at the beginning, and tips scattered throughout, are extremely useful for both new and experienced outdoor cooks. Another great cookbook from Linda Ly!

The Backyard Fire Cookbook written by Linda Ly is a great new book for the start of the outdoor cooking season. I don't have a lot of experience cooking outdoors, so I was really interested in the tips that I could learn in this cookbook, that would allow me to get more comfortable with cooking outdoors. I am very happy to say that I learned a lot, thanks to this book, and I am looking forward to trying out some recipes over Memorial Day weekend.

Types of live-fire cooking at home
Open Fire Pit
Vessel Fire Pit
Open Grill
Covered Grill

In this book, they explain pros and cons of each of these live-fire cooking methods. These options cover all budget options, and take into consideration space needs and even weather conditions. I could see that even choosing more than one method could be helpful if your family does a lot of outdoor cooking. I have decided to start with a covered grill to start my journey. Next you learn about the grilling tools and accessories. I have promised myself that I need to start small, but I admit that shopping can be quite fun for these options.

Wood and Charcoal for The Backyard Fire Cookbook

For outdoor cooking, your choice of fuel, wood or charcoal, really is just as important as the food that you are going to prepare. This cookbook includes a great table that shows the different options available for wood choices. Everything from Apple to Mesquite, you have choices on the favor that comes from cooking with various wood options. Charcoal is another great option, and I discovered the option of hardwood lump charcoal. The last thing offered (which I had NO idea about) is that you could add herbs and spices to your wood or charcoal to give your food an earthy smokiness. Since I love herbs so much, this is going to be a great thing for me to experiment with!

There are many more pages that cover techniques, grilling times, checking for when your food is done, and fire safety. Whether you are new to cooking with fire, or a seasoned outdoor chef, there is a lot of information that will help you to up your game.

The Recipes
Here are just a few of the recipes that you will have to choose from;
Peppercorn-Crusted Caveman Steak with Horseradish Cream
Smoky Ember-Roasted Eggplant Dip
Italian Burgers with Basil Mustard and Giardiniera
Whole Grilled Trout with Blood Orange and Fennel
Foil Pack French Dip
Dutch Oven Jambalaya
Thai Chicken Pizza with Sweet Chili Sauce

You get the idea. These recipes are exciting and taking things up from the regular burgers and steaks that are often the meals of the outdoor home chef. Whether you love to grill meat, or you prefer to explore vegetable options, this cookbook will have ideas to make you mouth water.

The Backyard Fire Cookbook contains an Introduction and 6 chapters: Getting Started, Back To Basics: The Fire Pit, It’s A Wrap: Foil Packets, Iron Chef: Pots, Pans, and Planchas, Under Cover: The Grill, Up In Smoke: Plank Grilling, and a Resources section. I have a bbq grill and a fire pit at home but hadn’t considered using the firepit to cook. There is a wealth of information, including how to build a firepit, what types of wood and/or charcoal are best for different recipes, types of grilling tools, fun facts and hot tips, gorgeous pictures, and lots of recipes.

What can I say about the recipes other than these aren’t ordinary ‘grill a hot dog or hamburger’ type meals. I tried the Smoky Ember-Roasted Eggplant Dip, Grilled Brie with Sweet Cherry Sauce, Juicy Jumbo Creole Shrimp, and Spicy Grilled Shrimp on Avocado Toast( all delicious). It has been really cool and rainy spring on Long Island, but with over 70 recipes, I can guarantee that I will be trying many more( especially when my garden starts giving me a lot of veggies). There is enough detail for you to feel confident whether you are cooking on a fire pit or grill, and the author really seemed passionate about the whole process,
A really great way to turn up the heat when cooking outdoors and make every meal special. I can’t wait for summer parties and am looking forward to backyard get-togethers. I have subscribed to the author’s blog, Garden Betty, and it is one of the rare emails that I take the time to read every time. Her outdoor life, travels, adventures, and garden are a worthwhile read, and I am thinking that this book would be a great gift for some foodie friends( and a hard copy for me).

I received a DRC from Quarto Publishing Group-Harvard Commons Press through NetGalley.

Very interesting and full of useful tips and ideas. Can see this being a huge hit. I know I would buy it to use

The Backyard Fire cookbook is a fun guide to cooking over an open fire complete with recipes. It shows you how to cook over a grill, campfire or fire pit and gives instructions on how to build a campfire and how to build a fire pit in your yard. It discusses cooking with charcoal and the various types of hardwood and how to choose. There are many fun recipes including foil packet cooking and Dutch oven cooking. This book is an easy introduction to those looking to cook outdoors. I can’t wait to try some of these recipes!

Special thanks to NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.

Wow! This is my new favorite cookbook. I'm a pretty seasoned backyard griller and I still learned a ton from this informative cookbook. We camp a lot in the summer and I'm always looking for easy but still gourmet grillable meals from breakfast through dessert. This cookbook is packed with flavorful, creative ways to grill your favorite foods and is healthy yet indulgent.

Thank you to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing for allowing me to read an advance copy of this cookbook in exchange for my honest review.

Linda Ly has outdone herself once again (her first cookbook, The New Camp Cookbook is one of the best in the outdoor cooking category) with The Backyard Fire Cookbook: Get Outside and Master Ember Roasting, Charcoal Grilling, Cast-Iron Cooking, and Live-Fire Feasting. Not only are there excellent instructions for setting up a home fire pit, but also excellent instructions for cooking outdoors on a grill or anywhere outdoors.

This cookbook doesn’t contain recipes for mundane, pedestrian Dutch Oven dishes that campers seem to fall back on; rather, Ly has an imagination, and includes recipes that are unique and a bit on the gourmet side. The instructions are easy-to-follow, however, and even though the end result may seem fancier than most camp food, the dishes are fairly easy to make and will be welcomed and devoured by everyone. There are also excellent photographs of the dishes and photographs of step-by-step instructions for setting up a pit and setting up the grill.

Foil dinners are popular right now, and Ly includes several, like Shrimp in Coconut sauce (Yum!), Garlicky Salmon, and Foil Pack French Dip. Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf on a plank is a new favorite, and no one can resist the Loaded Nachos on the Grill. There are several new recipes for cooking on planks, which are easy to find and have at the ready for some of Ly’s innovative recipes. Korean Grilled Chicken is soaked in an incredible Korean marinade before grilling, and the marinade is great for beef and pork, too. There are pizzas, Dutch oven pancakes, and tacos with grilled fillings, as well as a few appetizers and a Dutch Oven Corn Chowder that is delicious.

Anyone who likes to cook outdoors, whether it be at home or at a campground will want to pick up a copy of this excellent cookbook. Linda Ly knows her stuff and includes dishes that make outdoor meals fun.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

I really enjoyed this cookbook; it really opened a new world of fire cooking for me. I learned all about how to cook, setting up teh fire pit as well as the kinds of wood to use. I was surprised at the recipes; it defied my expectations of open fire cooking. I would encourage you to check out this book if you like learning new recipes.

This book was so much more than I was prepared for - deliciously wonderful!
It covers topics I had not begun to consider and gave me valuable insight from someone who clearly enjoys cooking with fire, eating unusual foods, and discovering new ways to prepare a feast!

From how not only the type of wood used for the fire affects the taste of the finished product but also where the wood comes from, and safety precautions to consider, and best products to use while grilling, and so much more!
This is not your hot dogs and burgers cookbook. She has tempted me to expand my own skills as well as expand the types of food I want to taste!
I am excited to get outdoors (and maybe even indoors) and cook over fire with friends.

I requested this book from Netgalley to review but this is going to be great as gifts for special occasions.

The recipes look really interesting and I can't wait to try them out in our backyard firepit and grill. They definitely seem more party sized than anything. However, the first chapter on grills and building your own firepit was very informative.

This book exceeded my expectations. It is one of the most visually appealing recipe books I have ever seen, with clear and easy to read recipes. I like how it shows you how to do all the cooking techniques, with great explanations both in text and photos. I love this and, not being familiar with the author, was really happy to see the Korean grilled chicken recipe as my daughter had recently requested we learn how to make it.
Thanks to NetGalley for the review copy. The opinions expressed are my own.

Great resource for patrons that shows different methods and technique for backyard cooking. Photography is excellent and represents the material.

This is a must have for grillers and fire pit enthusiasts. It demonstrates how to build your own fire pit with illustrations. I especially like the foil recipes for the fire pit. I really like that the recipes use commonly found ingredients that you most likely already have.. They are recipes that aren't in my normal repertoire, but look and sound delicious. My favorites are the gumbo and jambalaya. It has tips and recipes for cast iron grilling too.

The Backyard Fire Cookbook has everything you want and need in a book about backyard cooking. My neighbors and I love to grill, and we share a fire pit, so we were very excited to see so many great recipes and knowledge about things we hadn't tried yet. I also have a friend that just bought a house - he was loving the instructions on how to build a fire pit, so that he can start cooking over an open flame. The photos are great and plentiful, with each delicious recipe pictured and perfectly showing readers how each type of backyard cooking works. Ly covers everything about open fire pits, cast iron, planks, grills, foil packets all grown up), and recipes for each.

*I was given a copy of The Backyard Fire Cookbook by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an impartial review. Opinions are mine.*

As a casual home cook and big fan of outdoor living, The Backyard Fire Cookbook appeals to me in just about every way. Pages are colorful and fun to read, and the book includes a number of educational notes on tools and preparation techniques, making the volume more than a compendium of favorite recipes but also a useful resource for home cooks exploring outdoor cooking. In fact, the first section covers all manner of basics from live-fire cooking methods, tools and accessories, temperature and flame, types of charcoal and cooking wood, and various tips, tricks, and hacks. Recipes are for the most part simple, combining interesting but not too exotic (ie, hard to find) ingredients to an attractive effect. Spreads are thoughtfully laid out, with vivid photographs, straightforward instructions, and ingredients lists and measurements separated for easy reference. Organizational choices here are interesting—recipes are categorized by technique rather than food types. For instance, rather than Entrees or Poultry, you get outdoor recipes for the Grill, Pots and Pans, and even Foil Packets. This division makes it a little harder for me, as a vegetarian, to quickly identify useable recipes, though omnivores will not likely be put off. Apart from that, this book offers a fair amount for meat lovers as well as vegetarians, those adapting keto or other low-carb eating styles will also find plenty here to experiment with. Recommended for causal home cooks and outdoor living enthusiasts, as well as anyone looking for some quirky takes on tried-and-true fare.