presented by
Authors David Joachim and Andy Schloss

You’re about to get grilled:

Did you know that in 1915, when Americans were happily driving Model T automobiles made with wood, Henry Ford was turning the wood scraps into another profitable business: charcoal briquettes. 

In 1952, about 22 miles northwest of Chicago, an avid griller name George Stephen revolutionized grilling by adding one simple improvement to existing designs: a lid. Stephen cut a metal buoy in half to create the dome-shaped cooker and the Weber kettle grill was born.

Grilling and barbecuing are two distinct cooking methods. Yet, historically, Americans have lumped the two together and boondoggled the nature of live-fire cooking. Authors David Joachim and Andrew Schloss untangle the confusion as they approach the history of outdoor cooking from the perspective of science and believe in the power of asking “why?” Why do you brine a certain cut of meat but marinate another? Why do meats develop a better crust when grilled over charcoal than when grilled over gas? Why should meat be allowed to rest after grilling? Copies of their new book, “Mastering the Grill” will be available for purchase and signing, with all profits going to fund the Culinary Historians of Chicago.

Biographical notes: A frequent guest on radio and TV, David Joachim has authored, edited or collaborated on more than 30 cookbooks, including the award-winning The Food Substitutions Bible and the New York Times bestseller, A Man A Can A Grill. His “A Man, A Can…” series of books has sold more than 1 million copies. His website is www.davejoachim.com Andrew Schloss has also appeared frequently on radio and TV. A past president of the International Association of Culinary Professionals, he has authored a dozen cookbooks, including Fifty Ways to Cook Most Everything One-Pot Cakes, Cooking with Three Ingredients, and Almost From Scratch. A former chef, his articles have appeared in Bon Appetit , and Family Circle, Chicago Tribune,The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Washington Post, and the San Francisco Chronicle.

Program hosted at the Chicago History Museum.