Smoke & Spice: Cooking With Smoke, the Real Way to Barbecue 
asked by shagdag on November 5, 2006 12:51 PM
Barbecue is not about grilling food fast over high heat. That's something else, delicious in its own right, but something else entirely. Barbecue is about marginal cuts of meat (for the most part), about smoke, about fires burning so low and slow you hardly ever see the flicker of a flame. Barbecue is about succulent pork ribs as dark as sin just falling off the bone and dripping with glorious sweet pork godliness. Or enjoying the effects that 12 to 18 hours of smoking has on beef brisket.
The trick is, how do you do it? How do you master a cooking technique all but ignored in favor of fast and hot? The answer lies in Smoke & Spice. Authors Jamison and Jamison provide all the information you're ever going to need to run a real barbecue. Tips and techniques abound on every page--accompanied with countless recipes that stretch the barbecue imagination. And seeing that one cannot live on barbecue alone (though that's a challenge well worth considering) there are just as many recipes included for all the good food that accompanies barbecue--from Scalloped Green Chile Potatoes to South-of-the-Border Garlic Soup to Buttermilk Onion Rings and even Bourbon Peaches. If smoke in your eyes makes your mouth water, this is the primer for you! --Schuyler Ingle
Reviews
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OK. I know I'm about to open a religious war here. So let me define my terms: Grilling is when you are using direct or indirect heat to cook your food, usually at high temps. BBQ is cooking at lower temperatures for longer periods of time and is especially good for tough cuts (like brisket) or items needed to render over time (like pork roast). You can also apply BBQ techniques to foods usually grilled, like chicken or hamburgers.
This book will get you going in the world of BBQ. You'll learn to make your own rubs and BBQ sauces and how to get that great smoky flavor.
The Renowned Mr. Brown is a great recipe in this book. I always get compliments when I do this one. I've also learned to smoke turkeys, chickens, burgers, hot dogs, and a dozens of others from this book. I consider it the BBQ Bible (Sorry Mr. Raichen!)
If you want to learn to do 'que, this is the book for you.
This book will get you going in the world of BBQ. You'll learn to make your own rubs and BBQ sauces and how to get that great smoky flavor.
The Renowned Mr. Brown is a great recipe in this book. I always get compliments when I do this one. I've also learned to smoke turkeys, chickens, burgers, hot dogs, and a dozens of others from this book. I consider it the BBQ Bible (Sorry Mr. Raichen!)
If you want to learn to do 'que, this is the book for you.
reviewed by james58 on November 14, 2006 5:32 PM
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An excellent book with not only recipes but also the 'how to' and 'where to find' information. I was given an electric smoker and needed as much information as possible about how to use it and a selection of recipes. THIS is the book.
reviewed by janmueller on November 22, 2006 12:03 AM
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This was the first of these books that I bought and it really gave me a heads up on the variations across the country.
I have a friendly competition with my wifes brother who introduced me to smokeing. he is stricly a "Southern" style smoker. I used this book to really mix things up. I will do Kansas style Brisket, Texas style venison, and Jamacian Jerk Salmon, and serve it with a cole saw that uses a Carolina red sauce.
This book has a lot of great recipes and it also has a lot of great anecdotes that the authors sprinkle in liberally. These little bits and pieces give you a great feel for the zeal that others view this cooking style. The authors loved traveling and gathering this information, and it shines through on every page.
This book was a labor of love, of food and word and i am grateful that they under took this task.
I have a friendly competition with my wifes brother who introduced me to smokeing. he is stricly a "Southern" style smoker. I used this book to really mix things up. I will do Kansas style Brisket, Texas style venison, and Jamacian Jerk Salmon, and serve it with a cole saw that uses a Carolina red sauce.
This book has a lot of great recipes and it also has a lot of great anecdotes that the authors sprinkle in liberally. These little bits and pieces give you a great feel for the zeal that others view this cooking style. The authors loved traveling and gathering this information, and it shines through on every page.
This book was a labor of love, of food and word and i am grateful that they under took this task.
reviewed by teacher on November 28, 2006 3:39 PM
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I have several grilling cookbooks, most of which have at least vague advice for people with smokers, so I wasn't sure that I needed a whole cookbook to accompany the purchase of my new smoker. I'm glad I indulged, however, because this book has a lot of excellent recipes, and they're all written with smoking in mind.
One advantage of a smoke-centric book is that it presents plenty of choices for the items you're most likely to smoke. For instance, most grilling cookbooks (even the best) have only one or two recipes for pulled pork. Smoke & Spice has almost a half dozen. General grill books only expect you to use the smoker for big meaty items, such as ribs or brisket; this cookbook has a vegetarian smoker-cooked recipe for red peppers stuffed with corn, suitable for a summer lunch. (We had the Jamaican Jerk Pork in the smoker already, on the lower rack, so cooking the peppers was accomplished for free.)
I've tried a half dozen recipes already, and every one of them is a winner: mango-habanero sauce and Jamaican BBQ sauce were a mighty fine accompaniment to the pulled pork, and those peppers were a simple but delicious luncheon. I did expect top quality recipes, as I'm a big fan of their other cookbooks (I've worn out their breakfast book, for example); this book certainly lived up to my high expectations. Recommended.
One advantage of a smoke-centric book is that it presents plenty of choices for the items you're most likely to smoke. For instance, most grilling cookbooks (even the best) have only one or two recipes for pulled pork. Smoke & Spice has almost a half dozen. General grill books only expect you to use the smoker for big meaty items, such as ribs or brisket; this cookbook has a vegetarian smoker-cooked recipe for red peppers stuffed with corn, suitable for a summer lunch. (We had the Jamaican Jerk Pork in the smoker already, on the lower rack, so cooking the peppers was accomplished for free.)
I've tried a half dozen recipes already, and every one of them is a winner: mango-habanero sauce and Jamaican BBQ sauce were a mighty fine accompaniment to the pulled pork, and those peppers were a simple but delicious luncheon. I did expect top quality recipes, as I'm a big fan of their other cookbooks (I've worn out their breakfast book, for example); this book certainly lived up to my high expectations. Recommended.
reviewed by jazzman on November 29, 2006 12:44 PM