BBQ Cookbooks

KB · April 2010

A major chain bookstore sent me a coupon for 40% off of a book and given that I don't have time to BBQ in my new Large BGE for a few weeks, I thought I would check out some books.

I arrived at the store and grabbed a few books off the shelf and started browsing. One, by the group by Cooks Illustrated (America's Test Kitchen), had what appeared to a bunch of useful info about pork and chicken, but it didn't have any lamb recipes. This book only featured kettle style grills even though the book was published in 2009. I read an interesting suggestion: To obtain crispy skin on a chicken, they recommended punching a bunch of holes in the bird. By contrast, a BBQ Bible doesn't describe that as part of its recipe for a Beer Can Chicken.

I ended up buying Wood-Fired Cooking: Techniques and Recipes for the Grill, Backyard Oven, Fireplace, and Campfire, a book that is beautifully illustrated with color plates with some unique recipes. The author mentions Big Green Eggs and has recommended temperatures for our cookers for relevant recipes. A major section of the book is devoted to cooking over campfires (which won't be relevant for me), but if I get a few good recipes that become my favorites, it will be well worth the investment. One photograph shows tandoori style long steel rods inside a Green Egg. Has anyone seen those rods before?

reelgem · April 2010

Interesting, I've never heard of anyone putting holes in chicken to get a crispy skin. I would think that would dry it out. Cooks Illustrated is one of my favorite cooking magazines so I imagine the book was fantasic. Srange that they didn't have any lamb recipes.

KB · April 2010

I'm glad you responded to my post. I looked on Amazon.com and found the book by America's Test Kitchen that I saw in my store:

Best Grilling Recipes: More Than 100 Regional Favorites Tested and Perfected for the Outdoor Cook

I also learned from Amazon that the Test Kitchen has another book on BBQ that has a section on lamb. I can see your point about the meat drying out but I do like crispy skin. Maybe I'll poke holes in half the chicken the next time I cook one and compare.....

BGE Convert · April 2010

I have both of the books you are referring to. I love, love Americas Test Kitchen and Cooks Country recipes and books. The amount of instruction you get is very good. However, I urge you to be open minded as I have on occasion skipped some of their steps and techniques when making their recipes. A list of BBQ books that I would get are as follows:

Ted Reader's King of the Ques Blue Plate BBQ
Raichlen has a new book called BBQ Planet, a step down from the bible but a good read if you are looking to expand your pallette
Serious BBQ - My current favorite that is written by Adam Perry Lang. You might be turned off by the fact that his recipes have so many steps but the results are more than worth it.
Championship BBQ by Paul Kirk - very good read although some people have been turned off by his "I have forgotten more about BBQ than you will ever know" attitude; this was a very informative read.

Shoot me a note at umby23294@yahoo.com and I can give you a list of BBQ books (I got like 30 of them) that I have which I liked. Speaking of which I need to update my want list at Amazon for the summer time.

Richard Fl · April 2010

Here is a list that was compiuled on another forum.

BBQ Recipes, BBQ Books, Plye's BBQ

Some one in an earlier thread asked for a list of books about BBQ. I have a little time on my hands so I trolled through Amazon and found the list below. If Phil or one of the mods could make this a sticky, it would help out the new members with building their BBQ library.

1 Anderson, Warren R. "Mastering the Craft of Smoking Food"
2 Browne, R., "The Barbecue America Cookbook"
3 Davis, A., "The Great BBQ Sauce Book"
4 Elie, Lolis Eric & Frank Stewart, "Smokestack Lightning"
5 Griffith, D., "Celebrating Barbecue"
6 Hale, C. Clark "Smoky", "The Great American Barbeque and Grilling Manual"
7 Jameison, Cheryl Alters & Bill, "Smoke & Spice: Cooking With Wood, the Real Way to Barbeque"
8 Joachim David & Schloss, Andrew, "Mastering the Grill"
9 Kahn, Lisa, Editor, "Char-Broil's Everybody Grills!"
10 Karmel, Elizabeth, "Taming the Flame"
11 Kirk, Paul, "Paul Kirk's Championship BBQ"
12 Kirk, Paul, "Paul Kirk's Championship Barbecue Sauces"
13 Knote, Charlie, "Barbeque and Sausage Making Secrets"
14 Kutak, Rytek, "Great Sausage Recipes and Meat Curing"
15 Lampe, Ray, "Dr. BBQ's Big-Time Barbecue Cookbook"
16 Lampe, Ray, "Dr. BBQ’s Big-Time Barbeque Road Trip"
17 Lampe, Ray, "Dr. BBQ’s “Barbeque All Year Long!” Cookbook"
18 Lampe, Ray, "Dr BBQ,s The NFL Gameday Cookbook"
19 Lampe, Ray & Beisch, Leigh, Ribs, Chops, Steaks and Wings
20 Lang, Adam Perry, "Serious Barbecue"
21 Lilly, Chris, Big Bob Gibson's BBQ Book: "Recipes and Secrets from a Legendary Barbecue Joint" by Chris Lilly
22 McMeel, Andrew, :Big Green Egg Cookbook: Celebrating the World's Best Smoker & ... Big Green Egg - Andrews McMeel Publishing (2010)
23 McPeake, Richard W, "Backyard BBQ: The Art Of Smokology"
24 Marianski, Stanley, Adam, & Robert, "Smoking meat and Smokehouse Design"
25 Mills, Mike & Amy Mills Tunnicliffe, "Peace, Love, and Barbeque"
26 Purviance, James, "Weber's Charcoal Grilling"
27 Purviance, Jamie & McRae, Sandra, "Weber's Big Book of Grilling"
28 Purviance, James, "Weber's "Real Grilling"
29 Putnam, Karen, "Championship BBQ Secrets for Real Smoked Food"
30 Raichlen, Steven, "BBQ Bible"
31 Raichlen. Steven, "BBQ USA"
32 Raichlen, Steven, "How To Grill"
33 Raichlen, Steven, "Ribs Ribs Outrageous Ribs"
34 Raichlen, Steven, "Sauces Rubs & Marinades"
35 Reader, Ted, "Americas Best BBQ 100 Recipes"
36 Reed, John, Shelton, "Holy Smoke: The Big Book of North Carolina Barbecue"
37 Reinhardt, .Julie, "She-Smoke"
38 Schlesinger, Christopher, "The Thrill of the Grill: Techniques, Recipes, & Down-Home Barbecue"
39 Stines, Mike, "Mastering Barbecue"
40 Thompson, F., "Barbecue Nation"
41 Walsh, Rob, "Legends of Texas BBQ"
42 Willingham, John, " World Champinship Bar-B-Q"
43 Wiviott, Gary & Rush, Coleen, "Low & Slow: Master the Art of Barbecue in 5 Easy Lessons"
44 Worgul, Doug, "A Grand Barbeque"

KB · April 2010

thanks. I'll check out some of those titles.

CBBQ · April 2010

I bbq for a living and my absolute "go to" book is Mastering The Grill by Andrew Schloss and David Joachim. They break it down to a science like protein and fat content of certain meats. They even have a section on the differences of cooking grass-fed, grain-fed and organic meats.
I have many of the others and each has it's good points. But I haven't seen any other book that breaks it down like that one.

KB · April 2010

that one looks good.

BGE Convert · May 2010

I have this one and it should of made my original list along with Bog Bob Gibson's book as well. I will have to take another look at it and flag some more recipes but agree with your assesment that this book does focus on the science of BBQ with a ton of recipes that have instructions for chracoal, gas etc.

BBQ Cookbooks

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