Paul Kirk's Championship Barbecue Sauces: 175 Make-Your-Own Sauces, Marinades, Dry Rubs, Wet Rubs, Mops, and Salsas

asked by mattisboss on November 17, 2006 7:53 AM

Paul Kirk has been participating in barbecue competitions for 15 years. He has been named World Barbecue Champion seven times. If you are really serious about barbecuing, Paul Kirk's Championship Barbecue Sauces will help you learn about slow-cooking meat over smoke and teach what you need to know to start approaching barbecuing like a pro. Along with teaching about all the ingredients useful in making rubs, marinades, sauces, and salsas to accompany barbecued meat, Kirk's approach gives a sense of what barbecue competitions are all about. (One of Kirk's goals for this book is to help those who are interested join in and compete.) Recipes are bold and bursting with flavor.

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Reviews

You can buy lots of books on how to cook barbeque, but very few from accomplished masters such as Paul Kirk. Only two things surpass his ego in this book: His willingness to share some great recipes and insights, and his recipes themselves.

Pretty much every sauce, marinade, and relish I tried from this book turned out great. It's no surprise to me that Paul Kirk is so accomplished with several bold and unique recipes. Don't miss the orange-chile marinade, which he used to win a barbeque contest in Ireland.

I should mention that the book has a strong Kansas City-style slant to the barbeque, although Paul Kirk does make an effort to include different regional styles.

In addition to the recipes, Kirk provides "Master Classes" on barbeque sauces, rubs, and marinades. I took this opportunity to develop my special secret rub with secret spices reflecting my partly Greek heritage. Following Kirk's "Master Class" on rubs, I concocted a rub that I hoped would create gold in my Weber kettle. Have I developed a killer rub to take the barbeque contest circuit by storm? Well, probably not, but it was fun giving it a whirl, and if I say so myself, the results were pretty good.

But if you ask me, most of the fun of barbequing is coming up with secret recipes, and putting your own stamp on things, and Paul Kirk has got me going.

reviewed by iread on November 23, 2006 1:31 AM

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This great little book covers every aspect of preparation for barbeque. If you think barbeque is nothing more than tossing a few burgers on the grill, this book will open up for you a myriad of possibilities. Even experienced cooks can find plenty of good suggestions from which they can develop their own rubs, sauces & mops. I have the most fun putting together my own recipes based on his suggestions. If you aren't interested in devoting that much energy to perfecting your slow-cooking, stick with the recipes, which display an impressive variety. It doesn't hurt that this book is extremely affordable. I cannot recommend it enough.

reviewed by ragtop on November 25, 2006 10:12 AM

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add a new book!