On Mon, 5 Jun 2006 19:25:31 -0700, "Kent" > wrote:

>I just posted a similar query on alt.food.cooking about cooking and all like
>"Joy of Cooking", a long way from barbecue. Many plunged in and shared what
>they use, mostly "Joy of Cooking"
>What is the best, most used book about all aspects of barbecue, grilling,
>smoke cooking, smoking, barbecue sauce and all else?
>I haven't found a good book that raises me from my naivety and ignorance
>about certain aspects of this, as some believe.
>I don't like Raichlen, nor Jsmes Beard. Believe it or not Beard wrote a
>fairly extensive book about barbecue. I doubt that he entered the patio,
>other than to stare. The small paperback from the California Culinary
>Academy in San Francisco is a good practival guide. BBQguy likes Dr. BBQ's
>Big-Time Barbecue Cookbook: A Real Barbecue Champion Brings the Tasty
>Recipes and Juicy Stories of the Barbecue Circuit to Your Backyard
>(Paperback) by Ray Lampe and other books by the same author.
>What do all of you like? I need help, as some of you have said.
>With humility and thanks,
>Kent
>
Kent,

I kinda look at books about Barbecue as falling into two camps. Books
about the HISTORY and TRADITION of Barbecue and those about the
RECIPES. There is almost always some crossover between the
two...recipe books with history...and history books with recipes. I
felt I needed some of both to get a real handle on what barbeuce was
all about.

Next, I should mention that I am not a strict follower of recipes. I
use them as a guide...a template to be modified by my own whims, once
I understand the components. I seldom strictly follow a recipe more
than the first 1 or two times I try it.

All that being said, the first book that I usually point people to who
are interested in BBQ is 'Smoke & Spice' by Cheryl & Bill Jamison. I
found that it was a pretty good starter for me way back when. Has
enough recipes and the background info and the focus IS on Barbecue. A
lot of other books on the subject that I picked up seemed to be more
about grilling with the Barbecue as almost an afterthought.

Books that falls more into the other camp that I have and like are
Legends of Texas Barbecue cookbook.and North Carolina Barbecue:
Flavored by Time.

Also referenced often on my shelf are Paul Kirk's Championship
Barbecue Sauces and Raichlen's Barbecue Bible (usually for sauce and
flavor ideas). Another favorite, especially for the description of
how the owners/authors discovered what REAL barbecue is, is the
Dinosaur Bar-B-Que cookbook although some of the recipes are more
Restaurant suited..

Not real references, but great nostalgia items are some Big Boy
Barbecue Books from the 50's and 60's. Full of hilarious photos of
suburbanites with their latest astrogrills complete with mega-spits.
Fun stuff. Prize of my 'collectible' barbeuce books is my 1939 copy
of 'Sunset's Barbecue Book' replete with real wood front and back
cover (the title looks branded into the front cover.

Anyway, if it is any indication, the Barbecue book that has the most
stains, torn pages and is the most weather-beaten is definitely Smoke
and Spice.


-Chef Juke
"EVERYbody Eats When They Come To MY House!"
www.chefjuke.com