Book Report

Todd,that book had been an exclusive for Williams and Sonoma stores for 12 mos.

As many of us still depend on Ray's first book as our fallback for KISS,whether cater/vend/comp,

drbbq Big Time Cookbook

this new book is what most of us cook at home.

Cooks that use it and also teach classes,are dipping into it for what all you pros might cook at home.

Since Williams-Sonoma already made the money,the price is real reasonable.

I haven't checked Amazon,but they probably have some good combo buys.

Having cooked with him and eaten many home style bbq meals ,I can vouch for the fine dining.

The SL book followed Troy Black,from Birmingham,as he did the Southern bbq tour.

Troy was set up by us ,as he won Tryon,and we cooked against each other,as he did the video tour.

He was the one man force behind the Birmingham Ironworks contest,which we are still trying to find room for the huge trophies they built to celebrate.

He cooked on a trailer with FEC's and was a force in your area.

Williams Sonoma huh? That explains why i never saw it before. I can't hang out in those expensive stores like you Tom. I usually search the bargain bins at Amazon.

I've got all of Ray's books now. This new book likely has some duplication, but the photography was far better than in his earlier books. (I just noticed it's published by Chronicle. Great cook book publisher!) One thing I've always liked about his books is that his recipes seem to be original rather than some rewarmed from all the other BBQ books out there. I don't really use recipes, but several of his ideas have found their way into my "go to" dishes. His sides are always creative. You can only cook so many baked beans before you start to get queasy every time you hear them mentioned.



I've been looking at the SL book since I posted earlier, and I like it. Troy Black is all through it and Chris Lilly too. There's actually a lot of good info to be found. Great pictures too. I got a copy for a graduation present for my Godson. He's taken to cooking out every night after everyone else has gone to bed, so I figured some variety might do him good.

I think it is one of his best books so far. I am using a number of his recipes at my next cooking class this month.

Looks good, I saw it at Sam's when I was there last week and it almost jumped into my cart too. But my cart was already pretty full at the time, so I fended it off.

I'll be stopping by Sam's in a few days. This time I suspect it'll find less resistance when it tries to jump into my cart.

I bought the Ribs, Chops, Steaks & Wings and the SL book through Amazon this afternoon. $25 including shipping. I just can't help myself.

Todd G.--This is now the 5th and 6th barbecue book I've bought cause of your recommendations. Please refrain from suggesting others until at least this fall. Thank you.

Shoot, now I have to go to Amazon or Sam's this week.

quote:

Originally posted by Pags:
...This is now the 5th and 6th barbecue book ....

Only 6? When you hit 50 you can join the BBQ Book (Grillin & Smoking) Anonymous Addiction club:

As the founder, I'm currently at 97 books...

500 Barbecue Dishes: The Only Barbecue Compendium You'll Ever Need
All About Bar-B-Q Kansas City Style
All About Grilling
All-American Barbecue
America's Best BBQ: 100 Recipes from America's Best Smokehouses, Pits, Shacks, Rib Joints, Roadhouses, and Restaurants
Backyard BBQ: The Art of Smokology
Barbecue America : A Pilgrimage in Search of America's Best Barbecue
Barbecue Secrets "Unbeatable recipes, tips and tricks from a barbecue champion
Barbecue! Bible : Sauces, Rubs, and Marinades, Bastes, Butters, and Glazes
Barbecued Ribs, Smoked Butts, and Other Great Feeds
Barbecuing and Sausage Making Secrets : How to Buy Beef, Pork, Poultry, Lamb, Fish and Sausage
Bar-B-Que Our Ultimate Guide, Southern Living
Bar-B-Que, Barbecue, Barbeque, Bar-B-Q, B-B-Q
BBQ Joints: Stories and Secret Recipes from the Barbeque Belt
BBQ PDQ Twice the Flavor Twice as Easy
BBQ Sauces, Rubs & Marinades for Dummies
BBQ USA 425 Fiery Recipes from all across America
Beer-Can Chicken : and 74 other offbeat recipes for the Grill
Best Barbecue Recipes : A Collection of 200 recipes
Big Bob Gibson's BBQ Book: Recipes and Secrets from a Legendary Barbecue Joint
Celebrating Barbecue – The Ultimate Guide to America’s 4 Regional Styles of ‘Cue
Championship BBQ Secrets for Real Smoked Food
Char-Broil Grill Lovers Cookbook
Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking and Curing
Chicken on the Grill
COOKSHACK SMOKED FOODS COOKBOOK Over 190 Recipes for Authentic Pit Barbecues and Gourmet Wood-Smoked Foods
Cornbread Nation 2 "The United States of Barbecue"
Dinosaur Bar B Que
Dr. BBQ's "Barbecue All Year Long!" Cookbook
Dr. BBQ's Big-Time Barbecue Cookbook
Eat What You Want And Die Like A Man: The World's Unhealthiest Cookbook
Finger Lickin, Rib Stickin, Great Tasting Barbecue
Fish & Shellfish Grilled & Smoked
Flavored Vinegars 50 Recipes
Get Smokin'
Great Barbecues
Grill Indoors and Outdoors: Featuring recipes from Kingsford
Grill It – Seafood
Grill It: 100 Easy Recipes for Foods to Sear, Sizzle, and Smoke
Grilling For Dummies®
Herbs & Spices A Cook's Bible
Hooked on Fish on the Grill
How to Cook MEAT
How to Grill
Jack Daniels Old Time Barbecue Cookbook
Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It: And Other Cooking Projects
John Willingham's World Champion Bar-B-Q : Over 150 Recipes and Tall Tales for Authentic, Braggin' Rights, Real Southern Bar-B-Q and All the Fixin's
Kansas City Bbq Pocket Guide
Legends of Texas Barbecue Cookbook – Recipes and Recollections from the Pit Bosses
Let the Flames Begin
Marinades, Rubs, Brines, Cures, & Glazes: Revised And Expanded
Memphis Barbecue, Barbeque, Bar-B-Que, Bar-B-Q, B-B-Q
North Carolina Barbecue : Flavored by Time
Paul Kirk's Championship Barbecue
Paul Kirk's Championship Barbecue Sauces : 175 Make-Your-Own Sauces, Marinades, Dry Rubs, Wet Rubs, Mops and Salsas
Peace Love and Barbecue
Pizza on the Grill: 100 Feisty Fire Roasted Recipes for Pizza
Pizza Perfection: Pizzas, Strombolis, Calzones and more
Planked Seafood Cookbook
Ribs : A Connoisseur's Guide to Barbecuing and Grilling
Seafood Grilling: Twice a week
Serious Barbecue: Smoke, Char, Baste, and Brush Your Way to Great Outdoor Cooking
Smoke & Spice : Cooking with Smoke, the Real Way to Barbecue
Smoke & Spice : Cooking with Smoke, the Real Way to Barbecue - REVISED
SMOKE IT! 100 Succulent Recipes to Revolutionize Your Cooking
Smokestack Lightning : Adventures in the Heart of Barbecue Country
Soaked, Slathered, and Seasoned: A Complete guide to Flavor
Steaks, Chops, Roasts and Ribs
Still Smokin'
Sublime Smoke : Bold New Flavors Inspired by the Old Art of Barbecue
The All American Barbecue Book
The Barbecue! Bible
The Best Recipe: Grilling and Barbecue
The Bread Baker's Apprentice: Mastering the Art of Extraordinary Bread
The Complete Meat Cookbook
The Cook's Illustrated Complete Book of Poultry
The Flavor Bible: The Esential Guide to Culinary Creativity
The Grand Barbecue – A celebration of the History, Places, Personalities and Techniques of KC Barbecue
The Great American Barbecue & Grilling Manual
The Great Australian Barbecue
The Great Barbecue Companion : Mops, Sops, Sauces, and Rubs
The Great Big Barbecue Cookbook (also published as the Ultimate Barbecue Cookbook)
The Great Wings Book
The Grilling Encyclopedia
The Kansas City Barbeque Society Cookbook : Barbeque...It's Not Just for Breakfast Anymore
The NFL Gameday Cookbook
The Story of Meat
The Stubb's Bar-B-Q Cookbook
The Thrill of the Grill (Recipe Easel)
The Ultimate Barbecue Sauce Cookbook
The Ultimate Grill Book
They Were Smokin': Championship BBQ Tips and Techniques from Two Time Memphis in May World Champions
Uncle Billy's Downeast Barbeque Book : Adventures in Barbeque
Weber’s Big Book of Grilling
Whatcha Need to Know to Barbecue Like a Pro
Where There's Smoke, There's Flavor : Real Barbecue--The Tastier Alternative to Grilling
Women on the Bar-B
American Pie: My Search for the Perfect Pizza

Oh my! I've got 18 in total. Compared to your list, I'm just a rookie.

quote:

Originally posted by Pags:
I bought the Ribs, Chops, Steaks & Wings and the SL book through Amazon this afternoon. $25 including shipping. I just can't help myself.

Todd G.--This is now the 5th and 6th barbecue book I've bought cause of your recommendations. Please refrain from suggesting others until at least this fall. Thank you.

We're just getting started then. You are not yet fully corrupted. I have about 5,000 cook books. Should I send you a list?

Please asterisk your 20 favorites.

There is a whole different thread where we talked about my list (and others) we'll have to go look for it.

quote:

Originally posted by Todd G.:
We're just getting started then. You are not yet fully corrupted. I have about 5,000 cook books. Should I send you a list?

No, Cookbooks don't quality, they have to be about smoking or grilling or related.

5,000 books, really?

I'm an amateur.

Sure, send me the list

I feel, once again, that "I've found my people!"

When folks around me start discussing the latest book they've read, which in the 'Twilight' series is their favorite, etc. my mouth stays shut. Then somebody inevitably asks me what I read..."uh, cookbooks" ...Usually followed by dead silence with a quick change of subject!

My MAIN complaint about cookbooks.

Why, can't I get all those recipes in an electronic file that I can search on.

I'm still on the hunt to scan them all into a program, so I can search, sort, etc. I know the technology, just don't have the time.

Can you accomplish that on a Kindle type reader? That would be a great convenience. Wouldn't work with the hard copies we already have. Scanning 50 books would take some time.

Unfortunately, yes, 5000 cook books. Really. But I have no love life if that's any consolation. But both the books and the love life, or lack there of, are the result of a lifetime in the restaurant business, and 25+ years doing menu development for restaurants from coast to coast.

No list though. Since I just moved they are all in my garage packed in boxes, and when I unpack them I plan to catalog as I go. But as an indication of how deep the sickness runs, since March 1st I've added over 30 new cookbooks to the collection. Some people drink. Some people smoke. I buy books in general, and cookbooks in particular.

Here's a short list for Pags.

My favorite cookbook of all time:
Smokehouse Ham, Spoon Bread, and Scuppernong Wine: The Folklore and Art of Appalachian Cooking, Joseph Dabney

Favorite BBQ book (I'm not saying it's the best, but I love the restaurant and I've been thinking more than I should of late about how to recreate it down my way):
Dinosaur BBQ, John Stage

Neat video of Dinosaur BBQ:
http://www.imdb.com/video/hulu/vi1410924569/

Book that makes me feel good:
Staff Meals, David Waltuck

Any cookbook published by Chronicle. On Amazon do an advanced search by publisher. With few exceptions, I have every one of their cook books and they are universally excellent, with some of the best food photography ever.

Most any book by Joyce Goldstein or Paula Wolfert

And Pags, seeing how she's from your neck of the woods, you really should have everything by Cindy Pawlcyn

Lastly, if you want to feel like you've taken a trip, anything by Jeffrey Alford

If there's any particular type of food someone is interested in, PM me and I can point you in the direction of the right books.

Smokin'...as you know, I'm sure...there are online recipe sources that have compiled literally thousands of recipes that are searchable.

(recipezaar, top secret recipes, FoodTV, come to mind)

My concern with them is the actual value of the particular recipe being touted, or does Aunt Agnes just want to see her name listed as a contributor and the recipe actually stinks??

No exhaustive compilation of Q recipes online that I know of. Hey, THERE'S something you should do!!

For a lot of food I find AllRecipes.com to be excellent. While there is some duplication, and near duplication, it's not unusual to see some recipes rated by 100's of users. If a recipe has that many reviews and still has a good rating, then its likely to be pretty good. Of course you still have to weed out the recipes that came from the back of a soup can label, or some like the guy that posted the best NC pulled pork BBQ and it was cooked in a crockpot with vinegar and sugar. Yuk!

Amazing Todd. Simply amazing. You do know food. And I appreciate you throwing some information together for me. I figure picking up a couple of your favorites might be smart since I don't have enough time or money to buy 5,000 cookbooks. Obviously, this food thing is your hobby, ad-vocation and vocation all rolled into one.

Interestingly, I've eaten at Cindy Pawlcyn's Mustard Grill in Napa Valley several years back. Right on St. Helena Highway. Had the Spicy Smoked Duck. Exquisite. Place is always packed. Her Mustard Grill Cookbook looks interesting also.

Once again. Thanks.

quote:

Originally posted by Thousand Oakie:
Smokin'...as you know, I'm sure...there are online recipe sources..

Oh, I've got 10,000's of those in electronic forum and most of them are worthless.

Problem is the book is on the shelf and I'd like it to be electronically scanned into the computer and then searchable (and thus rated, commented, etc).

I could do it for myself, but couldn't share, with the copyright laws being what they are.

I'm more than halfway through Dr. BBQ's Big-Time Barbecue Book, and I'm really delighted with the purchase. It is well written and organized, has interesting cooking techniques and recipes, and follows similar barbecue styles we find here on the forum. Ray Lampe, the author AKA Dr. BBQ, knows barbecue.

Thanks to Todd G. and Tom for the recommendation. I've already made up a triple batch of Dr. BBQ's Big Time Barbecue Rub. Big Time Barbecue Sauce is next.

When I'm done reading this, I'll open Ribs, Chops, Steaks, and Wings for a little more free reading. Now that I'm smoking quite a bit, my grilled items seem to taste better. I think it's cause I'm not grilling everything, and the variety (grilling vs low and slow) compliments each other. Actually, things I've learned with this smoker and forum can be applied to grilling which has helped.

For those interested in reading some barbecue, add me to the recommendation list for Dr. BBQ's Big Time Barbecue Book.

I just don't know what is up with this Sam's around here,cause I've been trying to find DR. BBQ's new book or matter of fact any of his books?

I did get a chance to buy my 1st BBQ cookbook,Wooo Hoo!, they had KCBS's 25th anv. cookbook so there I go. My library on BBQ is now off and running.

By they way, I found this Southern Living magizine that had some BBQ in it,yep, I was there reading it and OH NO it dawned on me I can't be caught in KC looking at this! LOL

You can order Dr. BBQ online. Good reading. Buy it used from Amazon for less. I've gotten used books in great shape when I've ordered them in the past.

Okay I was fine upto this thread...but now i know the cult has got me...sigh...I "only' have 40 cook books or so...only a few(yet) on BBQ...I tend to weed through the books i don't use often and GoodWill em...no doubt there is a few more to go now that I will have to get a couple mentioned here....

mike

I just picked up Steve R's Planet Barbecue and while I like it for the pictures and variety, he mis-characterizes NC BBQ on several occasions. He's not alone among the big time BBQ book writers in doing this, but I always wonder how many other mistakes he made that I didn't catch. But all in all, I'd give the book 7/10 just for the ideas it can generate based on the variety of areas covered. FYI though, about 90% of the book falls into more of a grilling category than smoking.

Amazon has them from outside vendors for <$7 new in hardback.

Todd, stop already.

I've just finished Dr. BBQ's Big-Time Barbecue Cookbook. Am reading his Ribs, Steaks, Chops and Wings(past ribs, on steaks). I've just received Bruce Aidells's Complete Sausage Book and have The Complete Meat book in the mail.

Guess what happens next. Oh well. I just went to Lake Tahoe yesterday and broke even at the Black Jack tables. I guess not losing earns me the right to buy one more Q book for only $7. Geeesshhh.

Got his BBQ USA as a gift recently. Not sure what to use from it yet. Covers a lot of topics, which are also mostly grilling.

I do get tired of the phrases "brush and oil the grill grate" and "place soaked wood chips in the smoker pouch".

Nice pictures and stories.

Well I have read most of the KCBS's 25 anv. cookbook and what fine reading I had. Since I joined at the Judging class I had no knowledge of the background of KCBS. This went into that and some of the wild cooks of the time with little stories. That was nice. There are some recipes that I'll have to try.Not bad reading for the money,but I have to get Ray's book next.