Smoke & Spice: Cooking With Smoke, the Real Way to Barbecue

Rating:
Summary: Excellent! read it cover to cover
Review: It is a rare cookbook you read from front to back. Smoke and Spice had just as many anecdotes, tall tales, and history of "Q" as it does recipes. (Unfortuantely "Sublime smoke", it's Jamison companion, doesn't.) I now understand WHY smoking is so special, and can speak eloquently in company about how recipes came to be. Thanks guys for making me a better cook.

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Summary: This is THE book on barbecue
Review: Look, I am an Italian from New York. What the heck do I know about barbecue? Before I read this book, nothing. Then my family bought me a real barbecue, the kind you use when you cook with real wood. Some friends recommended this book to me and I started using some of the recipes. Well, now when my neighbors smell the smoke they line up by the front door ready to eat.

I work in an industry where I travel quite a bit. When I am in the south I am able to get some good barbecue, and the recipes in this book have that same genuine southern flavor. I also have friends from all over the country come and visit. Even folks from the south, where they know what real barbecue tastes like, enjoy my cooking.
The Apple-City ribs recipe in here you would not believe. It is soo good that when you taste it your lips are going to jump off your face, turn around and kiss you for eating something THAT good. Okay, writing this reivew has made me hungry for barbecue, I'm off to try another recipe out of this boo

Rating:
Summary: Offering a host of time-tested recipes
Review: Now dramatically revised and updated with one hundred new recipes, Smoke & Spice: Cooking With Smoke, The Real Way To Barbecue by outdoor cooking experts Cheryl and Bill Jamison is a superbly organized and highly recommended barbecue cookbook featuring all the truly tasty ways to prepare meats, as well as a culinary wealth of scrumptious side dishes and relishes. From Stuffed Mountain Trout; Italian Sausage Torpedos; and Smoldering Vegetable Antipasto Platter; to Sweet Sally's Sweet Potato Salad; Easy Mexican Pizza; and Cold Buttered Rum, Smoke & Spice has something for dining occasion. Offering a host of time-tested recipes (and a dose of good old-fashioned family fun), Smoke & Spice is an excellent resource for even the most novice outdoor griller determined to make the most of fine outdoor weather.

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Summary: Smoke And Spice meets the Yuppie Chef
Review: Perhaps I was wanting much more from a mere bbq book...Being from Texas I am almost ashamed to even believe that these guys consider themselves authorities on Texas cooking!! I am a big fan of rustic type cooking.....downhome cooking if you will.....Out of the hundreds of recipes listed, I may only use three or four......if that......I was also wanting pictures from the prepared recipes, but no dice!! There was good, limited information on choosing the types of wood and bbq pits....Overall, I would rate this book just average......A much better book that has numerous illustrations is "How TO GRIll" by Steven Raichlen.......I would recommend this book to anyone interested in bbq smoking or grilling......as for Smoke & Spice, lets leave it for the designing women.......

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Summary: great book
Review: read the review on www.thebarbecuemaster.com about this book where i have learned how to bbq and was happy I got this book

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Summary: If I could only own one book on BBQ, this would be the one
Review: Smoke & Spice is a recipe book for traditional low temperature long duration barbecue. If you are looking for a book on gas or charcoal grilling, look elsewhere. If you are looking for a 'how to' book on smoking, look elsewhere also. If you are looking for a picture book, this isn't it. If you are looking for a compilation of every style of open fire cooking from around the world, or recipes with dozens of ingredients and complex processes, you would be well advised to look at one of Steven Raichlen's books, as he seems specialize in "everything including the kitchen sink" grilling books.

However, if you are looking for a book at covers the bases of traditional American barbecue, sauces and rubs, 'Smoke & Spice' is the book to have. Most of the recipes here are for smokers fired to temperatures ranging from 180-250 degrees, which is the traditional barbecue method. Having traveled extensively and sampled barbecue from the various regions with the traditional methods, rubs and sauces myself, it is clear that the authors are well acquainted with the various regional styles. Sauces and rubs are very faithful to the traditional regional recipes. The updated edition also offers a number of recipes for non-traditional barbecue and complimentary side dishes, both traditional and non-traditional.

While I have many other books on barbecue, recipes I've collected on my own and my own recipes I have developed, I have found that Smoke & Spice contains the recipes that I keep coming back to. Most of the rubs and sauces have no more than a half dozen ingredients, which is the case with most traditional recipes. The great flavor of traditional BBQ comes from long slow cooking over a smoldering smoky fire using ingredients that can be found in any store, and that is what is presented here. My copy of this book is spattered with sauce and is covered with notes, and that's the highest compliment I can pay to any cookbook.

Finally, to correct misinformation offered by another reviewer, the health risks in open fire cooking are from high temperature grilling, not low temperature smoking as addressed by this 'Smoke & Spice'. Grilling produces smoke from fat dripping on hot coals or metal that contains benzopyrene, a potent mutagen and carcinogen, which then sticks to the meat. Offset firebox smokers, water smokers and Kamado style ceramic cookers that cook at temperatures lower than 250 degrees and normally use drip pans do not burn meat drippings and thus do not pose the same health risks as gas and charcoal grills do.

Rating:
Summary: If I could only own one book on BBQ, this would be the one
Review: Smoke & Spice is a recipe book for traditional low temperature long duration barbecue. If you are looking for a book on gas or charcoal grilling, look elsewhere. If you are looking for a 'how to' book on smoking, look elsewhere also. If you are looking for a picture book, this isn't it. If you are looking for a compilation of every style of open fire cooking from around the world, or recipes with dozens of ingredients and complex processes, you would be well advised to look at one of Steven Raichlen's books, as he seems specialize in "everything including the kitchen sink" grilling books.

However, if you are looking for a book at covers the bases of traditional American barbecue, sauces and rubs, 'Smoke & Spice' is the book to have. Most of the recipes here are for smokers fired to temperatures ranging from 180-250 degrees, which is the traditional barbecue method. Having traveled extensively and sampled barbecue from the various regions with the traditional methods, rubs and sauces myself, it is clear that the authors are well acquainted with the various regional styles. Sauces and rubs are very faithful to the traditional regional recipes. The updated edition also offers a number of recipes for non-traditional barbecue and complimentary side dishes, both traditional and non-traditional.

While I have many other books on barbecue, recipes I've collected on my own and my own recipes I have developed, I have found that Smoke & Spice contains the recipes that I keep coming back to. Most of the rubs and sauces have no more than a half dozen ingredients, which is the case with most traditional recipes. The great flavor of traditional BBQ comes from long slow cooking over a smoldering smoky fire using ingredients that can be found in any store, and that is what is presented here. My copy of this book is spattered with sauce and is covered with notes, and that's the highest compliment I can pay to any cookbook.

Finally, to correct misinformation offered by another reviewer, the health risks in open fire cooking are from high temperature grilling, not low temperature smoking as addressed by this 'Smoke & Spice'. Grilling produces smoke from fat dripping on hot coals or metal that contains benzopyrene, a potent mutagen and carcinogen, which then sticks to the meat. Offset firebox smokers, water smokers and Kamado style ceramic cookers that cook at temperatures lower than 250 degrees and normally use drip pans do not burn meat drippings and thus do not pose the same health risks as gas and charcoal grills do.

Rating:
Summary: A Must-Own BBQ Book
Review: Smoke & Spice is one of the most talked about and most loved books by those who are truly serious about learning the art of barbecue. Lots of great recipes and information, although many of the cooking times and temperatures mentioned are a bit on the low side, in my opinion. Still, this book is a must-buy for your barbecue library.

Rating:
Summary: BEST BBQ BOOK ON THE MARKET TODAY..MY BIBLE
Review: THE IS THE BEST BOOK ON THE MARKET TODAY TO GIVE THE NOVICE BACKYARD GRILLER GOOD DETAILED INFORMATION AND INSTRUCTIONS IN THE ART OF BBQ..I USE THE BOOK IN MY BBQ CLASS AT OUR COMMUNITY COLLEGE...A MUST!!

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Summary: Note to the hardware store cheapy and the pitmaster
Review: There is not much more that needs to be said about the book. An excellent source of recipes for BBQ and related dishes (but it can't be stated enough that while there are plenty of tips, this is not a how-to book... this is a recipe book). What I'm writing on today are a couple of statements by a novice Queist and someone on a pit team. I use a Brinkmann Smoke 'n Pit (their large horizontal grill with a side firebox) and have no problems at all following the recipes including keeping in heat and not having to go long in the cooking process (though I mop less often becasue of the steep temp drops that a light grill like that causes). Yes, most Brinkmann models do not have a thermometer, but they all have a little silver button that's built to pop out and is cut exactly right for a standard 3/4 inch grill thermometer. A good one can be had for under twenty bucks.

Now then, the only drawback is that since it's a side firebox, it seems to pump the heat directly to the top of the cook chamber... On mine, rather than the temp at the grill being hotter than the air at the top, I get much hotter readings on the thermometer than at the grill (and also since the size of even alarger Brinkmann is too small to not be bothered by atmospheric conditions, the air up there fluctuates more than grill temp). THe solution is to use one of those newfangled oven thermometers with a little box with a digital display forthe temp and a wired probe that can stand up to 4 or 500 degrees... no problem when smoking. SO that gizmo cost me about $30. I use one just sitting on the grill and one for large cuts of meat for long smoking projects.

Oh, there are a couple of drawbacks to using a Brinkmann style smoker. The fire grate is too small for long smoking sessions and gets fould easily with ashes. Solved that by using the included cooking grate for the firebox... dropped it below the retaining nuts so that it site about 5 inches above the fire grate and presto, raised firegrate with enough clearance for those long sessions with roasts or Pork Butt. Also, the fire box is just too light and small to try to use real wood, but even if you use briquettes (and you CAN get real wood briquetts with nothing but wood and a cellulose binder easily at any Tru Value hardware store... they are catalog items so if they don't stock them in your local store, ask and they will) or lump, it's easy enough. WHen cooking meats not as forgiving of that foul coal ignition smell as pork, I start my coals in a webber kettle bought for the purpose (well, and car camping) and shovel them into the firebox from there.

So there you go. Pro qualtiy is possible with a cheap (relatively) hardware store side firebox rig with just a little work (suprisingly little)... and for my taste, that's the way to go. The advice to get one of those bullet water smokers is alright as well, but I'd rather keep the flexability to add moisture as I need with a mop rather than have it on or off depending on wheather the water tray is filled or not (not to mention the flexability to grill a nice steak once in a while)... and as a personal ergonomic observation, I like the waist high working level of the horizontal smokers as well.

Clay-