Bbq for Dummies

The complete year-round guide to BBQ and smoking!

The BBQing and smoking industry is heating up! No longer reserved for warm weather occasions or backyard gatherings, firing up the grill or smoker is becoming ever-more popular in everyday American cooking. 

Written by America’s Pit Master and award-winning restaurant owner Carey Bringle of Peg Leg Porker, one of the most famous BBQ spots in Nashville, this book features more than 50 recipes and provides tried-and-true advice on BBQing and smoking all types of meat, seafood, chicken, pork, and veggies. 

• Choose the right wood and get the best smoker or grill
• Get recipes for marinades, rubs, injections, and sauces
• Cook up hog, ribs, brisket, and chicken, and more
• Work with certain cuts of meat

If you’re looking for a new guide to classic barbeque and more, look no further.

Introduction 1

About This Book 1

Foolish Assumptions 3

Icons Used in This Book 3

Beyond the Book 4

Where to Go from Here 4

Part 1: Getting Started with Barbecue 5

Chapter 1: Taking a Closer Look at Barbecue 7

Barbecue Beginnings 7

Barbecue in the United States and abroad 8

From humble beginnings to art form 8

Going for a Regional Spin 9

The Carolinas 9

Kansas City 10

West Tennessee 11

Texas 12

Other important players 12

Applying Heat to Meat, Slowly 13

Smoke + heat = magic 13

Keeping it low and slow 14

Starting with Great Ingredients 14

Sourcing and choosing meat 15

Keeping your spice shelf fresh 15

Preparing the Meat 16

Trimming the fat 16

Adding spices or liquid 16

The Moment (or Hours) of Truth: Cooking 17

Getting the grill or smoker ready 17

Setting up for success 18

Chapter 2: Uncovering the Science of Smoking 21

Choosing Hot or Cold Smoking 21

How Meat Changes as It Cooks 22

What to watch for when you’re smoking 23

Cooking hot and fast or low and slow 24

Muscling into structure and fibers 25

Straight Talk about Indirect Cooking 26

Debating direct versus indirect 26

Making the most of the method 27

Some Words about Wood 28

Flavoring as You Smoke 30

Adding flavor with smoke 30

Testing the effects of brines and rubs 30

Chapter 3: Stocking Up on Barbecue Tools 33

Starting a Fire 33

A Mop, Some Tongs, and More 36

The essentials 36

Nice but not necessary 38

Chapter 4: Looking at Smokers 39

Getting by with a Grill 40

Considering charcoal 41

Grilling with gas 42

Leveling Up: Considering Smokers 44

Standing up to a vertical smoker 45

Siding with an offset smoker 47

Relying on electric pits for renegade smoking 51

Spinning through rotisserie basics 53

Adding pellet smokers: A trend for good reason 54

Joining the cult of ceramic cookers 56

Building an open pit smoker 57

Buying a Cooker: What to Look For 59

Part 2: Knowing the Ingredients for Success 63

Chapter 5: Starting with the Meat 65

Making Friends with a Butcher and Other Ways to Start Strong 65

Searching for your butcher 65

Being knowledgeable about meat 66

Knowing Butt from Belly: Cuts of Meat 67

Smoking beef 67

Grilling cuts of beef 70

Cutting up chicken 72

Looking at lamb 74

Portioning pork 75

Savoring seafood 77

Chapter 6: Preparing the Meat: Rubs, Brines, and Marinades 79

Prepping Meat for Heat 79

Previewing the preparations 80

Planning reactions 80

Choosing a method 81

Melding Meat and Liquid: Brines and Marinades 82

The juice on brining 82

Making memorable marinades 83

Building a Bodacious Rub 84

Combining salt, sugar, and seasoning 85

Matching rub to meat 85

Chapter 7: Finishing Strong: The Sauce 87

Building Your Own Sauce 88

Choosing a base 88

Balancing acid, salt, sweet, and heat 90

Using seasonings and spices 91

Experimenting as You Go 91

Leaning on the experts 91

Using sauces like a pro 92

Part 3: Barbecue Recipes, Meat by Meat 93

Chapter 8: Beef 95

Chapter 9: Chicken and Seafood 105

Chapter 10: Lamb 119

Chapter 11: Pork 131

Part 4: Sides, Sauces, and Then Some 149

Chapter 12: Rubs, Brines, and Marinades 151

Chapter 13: Sauces 165

Chapter 14: Appetizers 179

Chapter 15: Sides 191

Chapter 16: Desserts 207

Part 5: The Part of Tens 219

Chapter 17: Ten Rookie Mistakes to Avoid 221

Not Paying Close Attention to Temperature 221

Not Being Prepared 222

Over-Smoking Your Meat 222

Using Too Much Seasoning 223

Not Wearing the Proper Clothes 223

Not Using the Proper Wood 224

Trusting a Bad Thermometer or Placing Your Thermometer in a Bad Spot 224

Powering through the Stall 225

Being Too Rushed 225

Stressing Out 226

Chapter 18: Ten Questions to Ask Your Butcher 227

Where Do You Source Your Meat? 227

What Interesting Cuts Do You Have Available? 228

How Do I Prepare a Particular Cut of Meat? 228

Can You Make Me a Custom Cut? 228

How Do I Slice This Piece of Meat to Make It the Most Useful and Tender? 229

Do You Have Serving Suggestions for Me? 229

How Long Will This Meat Stay Fresh? 230

Do You Have Any Aged Meats? 230

Do You Have Any Pre-Prepared Entrees? 231

What’s Your Recommended Burger Blend? 231

Chapter 19: Ten Seasonings to Keep on Hand 233

Salt 233

Pepper 234

Garlic Powder 234

Onion Powder 235

Cayenne Pepper 235

Chili Powder 235

Rosemary 235

Thyme 236

Allspice 236

Paprika 236

Chapter 20: Ten Iconic Barbecue Restaurants 237

The Rendezvous (Memphis, Tennessee) 237

Arthur Bryant’s (Kansas City, Missouri) 238

The Bar-B-Q Shop (Memphis, Tennessee) 238

Louis Mueller Barbecue (Taylor, Texas) 238

Kreuz Market (Lockhart, Texas) 238

Skylight Inn BBQ (Ayden, North Carolina) 239

Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q (Decatur, Alabama) 239

17th Street BBQ (Murphysboro, Illinois) 239

Lem’s Bar-B-Q (Chicago, Illinois) 239

Peg Leg Porker (Nashville, Tennessee) 240

Part 6: Appendixes 241

Appendix A: Metric Conversion Guide 243

Appendix B: Time and Temperature Guide 247

Index 249

The New copy of this book will include any supplemental materials advertised. Please check the title of the book to determine if it should include any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

The Used, Rental and eBook copies of this book are not guaranteed to include any supplemental materials. Typically, only the book itself is included. This is true even if the title states it includes any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.