American Craft Beer Week falls in May, and we look forward to it every year—nearly as much as we look forward to dusting off our grills and throwing a thick Porterhouse down over the flames!

Being butchers who have practiced and honed our craft for five generations, we can appreciate the expertise, skill, and care that go into making a fine craft brew. We are passionate about cutting meat, sourcing the very best meat, and providing our customers with a peak dining experience. We feel that craft brewers are just as passionate about providing a delicious, high-quality, refreshing brew with every frothy glass.

Being cookbook authors and devoted home-cooks, we also love a great entrée and beverage pairing. We know how a fantastic meal can be elevated to new heights by a perfect pairing with a delicious microbrew—and vice versa.

So in honor of America’s craft brewers, grilling season, and great cuts of meat, we’ve put together some tantalizing pairings that you’ve really got to try! (more…)

When it comes to flavor, cooking with wood is the definitive game changer. Meat over a wood fire—it’s a link to our earliest ancestors. It’s earthy and primal and tastes like nothing else. Whether used as fuel, flame accelerator, or smoking medium, wood logs, chunks, and chips contribute their highly individual flavors to the finished dish as equal in importance as any other seasoning, spice, or herb.

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Grilling the very best ground meats requires little else than some olive oil, salt, and pepper. It allows the inherent flavor of the meat to take center stage. There is absolutely no substitute for a juicy, tender patty that oozes delectable flavor from first bite to last.

Every now and then, however, you might want to shake up your summertime grilling by taking a walk on the untrodden path of flavor invention and innovation—and maybe, just maybe, discover the absolute best burger you’ve ever cooked.

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When home grilling began its rocket-rise in popularity all over the U.S. in the post-war 50s, everybody was sort of feeling their way along about the special do-it-yourself requirements of cooking over a hot fire. That meant adapting tools that were common to indoor food preparation. As necessity is the mother of invention, reaching and working over a wide, flat cooking surface required extension, which gave us long-handled tongs, spatulas, and forks. It also required more protection than potholders could provide, giving rise to heat-resistant gloves and mitts.

Pretty basic stuff, right? Fast forward through the last 60 years and we’ve gotten unquestionably creative about mastering the art of grilling at home and on the road.
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Before you grill the perfect burger, you need to know how to form the perfect burger patty. Evan Lobel, 5th-generation butcher of venerated Lobel’s Prime Meats and Lobel’s of New York, shows you how to create a burger that will be fluffy and moist.

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