Required Reading

After cooking with smoke, one of my favorite past times is reading. And usually when we here in NJ hit the weather where BBQ season is on the horizon, I start hitting the books to plan out 5-6 months of wonderful, wonderful, BBQ.

So my question to everyone here: What are you reading, and what should be on my shelf?

Right now I'm working through two in particular: Low & Slow, and Peace, Love, and Barbecue. This first is really different from anything else I've ever read: it's not a cookbook so much as it is a teaching tool. It doesn't go over recipes for BBQ. It teaches the art. Can't wait to get started with it, especially since I'm starting with a new SnP this summer- used an UDS before. The second is fantastic- a cookbook secondarily, but first and foremost the story of the author's life growing up, his love for barbecue, and the associated culture and lore of it.

The entirety of the barbecue shelf:

• Weber's Charcoal Grilling: The Art of Cooking with Live Fire
• Marinades, Rubs, Brines, Cures, and Glazes
• Peace, Love, and Barbecue
• America's Best BBQ
• Low & Slow
• Smoke & Spice
• Pig: King of the Southern Table

I love all of them and I'd recommend any. Any other suggestions for books to pick up?

I skimmed Adam Perry Lang's "Serious Barbeque" the other day in the book store and was quite impressed....should be for $35....and I'll probably buy it because he seems like he's actually writing about techniques that address particular challenges, ie. brisket bark, rib moistness, etc.

I've got WAY too many bbq cook books already that are more about celebrating the history and culture of 'q rather than giving up much in real bbq technique. Nothing wrong with it, mind you, but you have to wade through lots of old wive's..err..pitmaster's tales in 'em, though...like "always do this and never do that"...stuff that might work in one particular cooker but not another.

If you just want a straight-forward solid cookbook though, get Weber's Charcoal Grilling by Jamie Purvience. That's where I got my quick dry-brine technique for chicken. :thumb:

Dr BBQ's books are very imformative, as are several on your list. Low and Slow by Wiviott does a great job explaining and streesing the importance of a clean burning fire. My favorite is 'Serious BBQ' by Adam Perry Lang. He is a classically trained French chef, so there are lots of ingredients in each recipe, but my Q has improved greatly since learning some of his techniques.