Adam Perry Lang is an unlikely grilling guru. Born on Long Island and schooled in the kitchens of Daniel Boulud and Guy Savoy, he chucked his fancy menus for the smoky heat of a Weber. "I was mesmerized by fire," he recalls. Since winning his first barbecue competition seven years ago (he entered on a bet), Perry Lang has rewritten the rules of grilling. His latest book, Charred & Scruffed , is a bible for a new kind of charcoal-fired religion, one in which you don't just salt your protein, you "season [it] like rain," and meat gets "scruffed," or scored, so spices have more places to go. His high-impact style is unorthodox, whether he's making a basting brush out of herbs ("another opportunity to layer on flavor") or employing "spackles" and flavoring salts. "I'm constantly thinking about new ideas and experimenting," says the London-based chef. Case in point: his Flintstonian rib roast, bones cracked, meat flattened with a rolling pin and grilled like a steak. Watch how it's done in the video below.

Get the recipe: Rib Roast Done Like a Steak