5 All-Time Great BBQ Books to Gift This Holiday Season

5 All-Time Great BBQ Books to Buy This Holiday Season

Several great new barbecue books are published each year, and each week we do our best to share new titles that offer insight and inspiration. As it is that time of year when people are shopping for gifts and stocking stuffers (or putting together their wish lists), we thought we should highlight a few of our favorite barbecue books.

Here are five great books every barbecue fanatic should have in their collection.

Barbecue: The History of an American Institution, Revised and Expanded Second Edition – Robert F. Moss
The full story of barbecue in the United States had been virtually untold before Robert F. Moss revealed its long, rich history in his 2010 book Barbecue: The History of an American Institution. Moss researched hundreds of sources — newspapers, letters, journals, diaries, and travel narratives — to document the evolution of barbecue from its origins among Native Americans to its present status as an icon of American culture. By tracing the story of barbecue from its origins to today, Barbecue: The History of an American Institution traces the thread of American social history. Moss has made significant updates in this new edition, offering a wealth of new historical research, sources, illustrations, and anecdotes. ORDER HERE.

Project Smoke: Seven Steps to Smoked Food Nirvana – Steven Raichlen
Project Smoke is a complete, step-by-step guide to mastering the art and craft of smoking, plus 100 recipes — every one a game-changer — for smoked food that roars off your plate with flavor. Here’s how to choose the right smoker (or turn the grill you have into an effective smoking machine). Understand the different tools, fuels, and woods to smoke. Master all the essential techniques: hot-smoking, cold-smoking, rotisserie-smoking, even smoking with tea and hay — try it with fresh mozzarella. Here are recipes and full-color photos for dishes from Smoked Nachos to Chinatown Spareribs, Smoked Salmon to Smoked Bacon-Bourbon Apple Crisp. ORDER HERE.

The Prophets of Smoked Meat: A Journey Through Texas Barbecue – Daniel Vaughn
The debut title in the Anthony Bourdain Books line, The Prophets of Smoked Meat by “Barbecue Snob'' and Texas Monthly Barbecue Editor Daniel Vaughn, is a rollicking journey through the heart of Texas Barbecue. From brisket to ribs, beef to pork, mesquite to oak, this fully illustrated, comprehensive guide to Texas barbecue includes pitmasters’ recipes, tales of the road — from country meat markets to roadside stands, sumptuous photography, and a panoramic look at the Lone Star State, where smoked meat is sacred. ORDER HERE.

Rodney Scott's World of BBQ: Every Day Is a Good Day by Rodney Scott and Lolis Eric Elie
Rodney Scott was born with barbecue in his blood. He cooked his first whole hog, a specialty of South Carolina barbecue, when he was just eleven years old. At the time, he was cooking at Scott's Bar-B-Q, his family's barbecue spot in Hemingway, South Carolina. Now, four decades later, he owns one of the country's most awarded and talked-about barbecue joints, Rodney Scott's Whole Hog BBQ. In this modern American success story, co-written by award-winning writer Lolis Eric Elie, Rodney Scott details how he made his way from the small town where he worked for his father in the tobacco fields and in the smokehouse, to the sacrifices he made to grow his family's business, and the tough decisions he made to venture out on his own in Charleston. It's a story that speaks to how hope, hard work, and optimism built a rich celebration of his heritage — and of unforgettable barbecue. ORDER HERE.

Weber's Ultimate Grilling: A Step-by-Step Guide to Barbecue Genius – Jamie Purviance
This is your new go-to companion from the most trusted name in grilling. Much more than just a recipe collection, Weber’s Ultimate Grilling is an entirely new take on grilling today, with every recipe step visually depicted in full-color photography. With these extensively tested recipes, anyone — from amateur to ace — can be a barbecue genius. Foundational recipes for popular grilled foods — steak, burgers, pork chops, ribs, chicken breasts and wings, and salmon fillets — are masterfully explained in this keepsake classroom-in-a-book. “Flavor Bomb” spreads offer inspiring, weeknight-friendly recipe ideas for how to create wonderful variations of the most-loved grilled foods. ORDER HERE.

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These are just a few of our favorite books for fans of barbecue and grilling. Also, don’t forget to check out our list of all-time great BBQ cookbooks for more inspiration.

Ryan Cooper (BBQ Tourist) and Sean Ludwig (NYC BBQ)
Co-Founders, The Smoke Sheet

Raikes Beef Co. offers 100% Nebraska-born and raised American Wagyu and Angus beef shipped directly from their farm to your door. Use the promo code BBQTOURIST20 to receive 20% off your first purchase. CLICK TO ORDER.

—Daniel Vaughn reports in Texas Monthly that Austin’s KG BBQ is bringing Egyptian spices and ideas to Texas barbecue. (Photo by Daniel Vaughn / Texas Monthly)—

HOT OFF THE PRESS

Texas Monthly BBQ Editor Daniel Vaughn reports that KG BBQ in Austin, Texas, is bringing new spices, sides, and ideas to the Texas BBQ world. KG BBQ owner and pitmaster Kareem El-Ghayesh fell in love with Texas barbecue on a trip to the U.S. and eventually left his Cairo, Egypt to train with some of the top joints in Austin. He said he found his cooking philosophy of blending Texas barbecue and Egyptian cuisine while working at Valentina’s Tex Mex BBQ, which blends Mexican classics with Texas BBQ staples. “Working there was why I decided to do this fusion,” El-Ghayesh told Texas Monthly. READ MORE.

Eater NY critic Robert Sietsema stopped by buzzy NYC-based Bark Barbecue’s new location at the Time Out Market in Brooklyn and came away impressed with Texas brisket, pulled pork, and unique Dominican sides. “I tried the maduros (fried sweet plantains), the torta (Dominican cornbread sweetened with coconut milk), and mac and cheese — pale and more strongly flavored than usual, with a hint of oregano,” Sietsema writes. “They were a welcome change from the usual dull barbecue sides, giving the meat some competition.” READ MORE.
 

ADDITIONAL READS

The third season of the Netflix TV series Taco Chronicles features tacos from top-notch BBQ joints Zavala’s Barbecue and 2M Smokehouse.

Kansas City Magazine interviewed Jay “Snail” Vantuyl, the inventor of the drum smoker.

A fire in the pit room damaged the popular family-run barbecue restaurant Peebles Bar-B-Q in Auburndale, Florida.

J.C. Reid writes in the Houston Chronicle that some newer barbecue joint pit rooms have added an entertainment factor.

Step up your BBQ & grilling game with a Pitmaster Club membership from AmazingRibs.com. CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE.

Gonzalo Ramirez has been making barbacoa tacos outside of Los Angeles for over four decades.—

WATCH

How A Pitmaster Has Been Making Lamb Barbacoa Outside L.A. For Over 40 Years — Smoke Point
Gonzalo Ramirez is one of the only “barbacoyeros” in the U.S. who raises and butchers his own lambs. He cooks the barbacoa in a pit, during a process that takes 24 hours. Ramirez sells his traditional Hidalgo-style barbacoa, moronga (blood sausage), consomé, and more on the corner of Canterbury Ave. and Hoyt Street off Van Nuys Blvd. in Arleta, California. WATCH HERE.

LISTEN

Chef Tom Jackson of ATBBQ.COM — BBQ Radio Network
A culinary institute-trained chef, Chef Tom Jackson always brings it to the recipes he consistently develops and unveils on YouTube. If you have a weekend BBQ with friends and family, this is the guy to listen to, and it doesn't even have to be a holiday. In this episode, he shares ideas on what to do with those leftovers that are getting to the ‘use it or lose it’ stage. LISTEN HERE.
 

READ

Flavor X Fire — Derek Wolf
In Derek Wolf’s first book, Food by Fire, he shared the how-to behind starting and cooking with various types of cooking fires, as well as skillets, skewers, and more. Now he’s ready to take you on another culinary adventure—but this time, it’s all about flavor. From instant classics like Chipotle Peppercorn Smoked Brisket to envelope-pushing Chile Con Limon Candied Bacon, the recipes offer lots of variety. All the major tastes—salty, sour, sweet, bitter, and umami—are explored in depth. Derek also leads an investigation of other components you should consider when it comes to flavors, such as aroma, heat, and texture. ORDER HERE.

—Use your leftover brisket to make this delicious Texas Chili recipe from Smokin’ Joe’s Pit BBQ.—

Texas Chili

By Smokin’ Joe’s Pit BBQ
 

For this week’s Recipe of the Week, we chose this video recipe for Texas Chili from Smokin’ Joe’s Pit BBQ. This recipe uses leftover brisket for a delicious smoky flavor that is off-the-chain delicious. Joe also wades into the great Texas chili debate by adding beans to his chili, but this recipe can be made with or without beans.

Be sure to hit up a great BBQ event this winter and start mapping out your spring.—

December 11, 2022: Slap Yo Daddy Sausage Making Class — Diamond Bar, California
In response to numerous requests for more Sausage Making classes, Harry has teamed up with award winning Sausage Sensei Bill Dumas who is his BBQ brother from a different Mother. Bill is one of the most well-known sausage master craftsmen in Texas and who will take your sausage making skills to new lengths. The bonus is Harry will be providing a championship-level BBQ lunch (brisket, ribs, sides) and other muse bouche goodies (brisket sushi, pig candy, lamb lollipops, atomic buffalo turds, Singapore Spicy Sambal Sausage) along the way. MORE INFO HERE.

February 15-18, 2023: National Barbecue & Grilling Association National Conference — Kissimmee, Florida
The National Barbecue & Grilling Association (NBBQA) will be hosting its annual national conference in early 2023. Expect great classes, speakers, food, competitions, and much more at this event. MORE INFO HERE.

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