Last Updated on June 17, 2014 by
I received one copy of America’s Best Barbecue for the purpose of this review but all opinions expressed are my own. This post contains affiliate links
Barbecue is pretty much a way of life here in the south. Barbecue is not a flavor…it is a style of cooking. You can not have true barbecue ribs if you cooked them in the oven, even if you covered them with barbecue sauce! As proud owners of a Green Egg ceramic grill, my husband and I grill out a lot! The patio gets a lot of use all year round but especially during the spring and summer. When I was offered a chance to review America’s Best Barbecue: Recipes and Techniques for Prize-Winning Ribs, Wings, Brisket, and More
America’s Best Barbecue
Title: America’s Best Barbecue
Subtitle: Recipes and Techniques for Prize-Winning Ribs, Wings, Brisket, and More
Author: Arthur Aguirre
Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing; 1 edition (April 29, 2014)
ISBN: 978-1626362567
Pages/Format: Hardcover: 400 pages
From the Publisher:
Barbecue contests are serious business. Major competitions and festivals now take place in twenty-eight states, and there are twenty BBQ associations and societies across the country committed to encouraging the art of smoking and grilling meat. While thousands of chefs compete for the best ribs or brisket, low-key backyard BBQ competitions are springing up all over the country, offering amateur smokers the chance to become the neighborhood BBQ king or queen.
Arthur Aguirre’s BBQ team, Major League Grilling, has won nearly twenty awards in his first two years of BBQ competition, including Grand Champion at the Soybean Festival in Mexico, Missouri. In this book he compiles his prize-winning recipes with those of competitors across the country to offer the best rib, pit-fired poultry, brisket, and pulled pork recipes. From applewood smoked turkey to Napa Valley ribs to smoked meatloaf in a bacon weave, this book has something for every BBQ enthusiast. In addition, readers will find tips for concocting the perfect rubs, glazes, and sauces.
My Review:
For those of you new to the world of barbecue, you will be happy to know that the introduction to this book gives you just about every piece of information you will need to know. There are a ton of basics like different types of grills, which type of wood chips to choose, the right temperature to cook your meat to, etc. The author also gets into things like how to make a bacon weave, wrapping things in foil before grilling, and how to make a brine. There really is a ton of information in this section!
The recipes range from simple pork ribs to more complicated things like brisket enchiladas. You will find a wide array of foods to throw on your grill from seafood and chicken, to pork and beef, and even fruits and vegetables. There is an ‘other’ section at the back of the book that includes a number of unique ideas like a key lime cheesecake and onion rings. You will also find a nice assortment of rubs and sauce to use ON your grilled recipes.
I found the recipes easy to follow and not too complicated. Instructions are very clear and the ingredient lists don’t have a lot of foods I have never heard of before! There is a picture of each recipe right next to it, although I do think the photos could have been better. These are not ‘magazine spread’ type of photos but instead they are exactly what you would expect when you pulled your dinner off the grill. Tasty looking but not necessarily ‘pretty’.
If you are looking for a good barbecue cookbook this summer, you will never run out of recipe ideas with this cookbook!