Four Essential Barbecue Books
Paul Kirk’s Championship Barbecue
Paul Kirk, aka The Baron of Barbecue, was one of the founding fathers of the modern day competitive barbecue scene.
Paul is a member of the Barbecue Hall of Fame, was a founding member of the Kansas City Barbecue Association and served as a Board Member for 24 years.
Paul has hundreds of awards under his belt including seven World Championships. Paul’s reputation as one of the world’s best brisket cooks is well deserved.
Paul’s published his book in 2004 and, in general, the recipes are not in line with what wins at KCBS competitions today. There is no Wagyu brisket or butter bath cupcake chicken thighs in Paul’s book.
What “Championship Barbecue” does have is deep barbecue wisdom that will serve you well regardless of whether you are a backyard smoker or a competition team looking to build you skills.
I don’t think Paul even offers a single recipe that says, “This is what I used to win.”
The spirit of Paul’s book is best captured by the follow excerpt:
Paul Kirk’s Championship Barbecue, pg 266
“Building a BETTER Barbecued Brisket
By now the astute reader who started this chapter and has read all the way through to this point will realize something. After yammering on about how much I love brisket and providing lots of in-depth information on how to barbecue it, I’ve given you only two barbecued brisket recipes.
Am I keeping all the prize-winning ones to myself? Am I afraid of the competition?
The answer to both of these questions in NO.
Getting really good at barbecued brisket is a hands-on thing. It’s more about technique-managing and maintaining the temperature and smoke levels-than about recipes. I want to encourage you to get into brisket like I did-by doing, not reading.
So, read this and then get busy.”
The trick to reading Paul’s book is to realize that he is understated.
Most people miss out on tricks Paul shares because he doesn’t hit you over the head with them. He tells you once. You can either choose to pay attention or not.
In addition to brisket, Paul offers up ways to barbecue and smoke just about anything else you can imagine. His section on sausage is pretty strong.
If you want highly detailed, step by step instructions for how to win a KCBS championship then this book will not meet your needs.
That being said, I will be willing to wager that the cook that takes home the Grand Championship at the next KCBS completion has a copy of Paul Kirk’s Championship Barbecue sitting on their bookshelf.
Legends of Texas Barbecue by Robb Walsh
There are a lot of barbecue books sitting around my house.
Some are great for the recipes.
Some are great for the wisdom.
Some are great for the history.
On the history front my absolute favorite is “Legends of Texas Barbecue: Recipes and Recollections from the Pit Bosses” by Robb Walsh.
Legends of Texas is an authentic look at the small bbq joints and old time Pit Bosses that truly defined the Texas regional style.
The book spans Presidential barbecue for Lyndon B Johnson all the way to how they handle barbecue in the Texas state penitentiary.
Page 84 has the barbecue sauce recipe that Barbara Bush gave to White House visitors 🙂
The recipes in the book look fine but I don’t think I have ever tried any of them.
This is the book I grab when I get nostalgic about living in Texas and want to relive a few memories.
Robb Walsh wrote a book that captures the true essence of Texas barbecue and it is beautiful.
Peace Love and Barbecue by Mike Mills
Mike Mills is rib man but there is plenty of wisdom for other aspects of barbecue passed on by the folks he interviews.
There are plenty of great barbecue recipes in Mike’s book but what makes this book special are the interviews and tall tales that Mike shares with other pitmasters.
I have read Mike’s book many times and it gets a little sweeter each time.
Franklin Barbecue: A Meat Smoking Manifesto
I’m not going to muck around and try to describe why you need this book. I will leave that job to the professionals.
“The most refreshing barbecue book to come along yet. Rather than preaching about ‘one true way,’ Aaron Franklin guides you through all the wood and smoke so that you can find your own style. And instead of just listing ingredients and rattling off generic recipes, these pages tell the story of a place and a barbecue tradition steeped in history. This isn’t just a book about barbecue;
this book is Central Texas barbecue.”
— Daniel Vaughn, barbecue editor, Texas Monthly, and author of The Prophets of Smoked Meat
“Aaron Franklin makes the finest barbecue I’ve ever had, barbecue worth waiting for. His work and his words express a truly rare level of commitment and expertise. With Franklin Barbecue, he shares it all—in a book that, fortunately, you don’t have to wait for.”
— Anthony Bourdain
“Pure genius! Aaron Franklin has distilled years’ worth of barbecue knowledge into this book. In it, he exposes the sacred insights of a top pitmaster—information that can otherwise only be learned from long nights spent staring at a fire, shovel in hand, constantly prodding and pinching your meat to figure out that ‘just perfect’ point of doneness. This book is a game changer: read it, and your barbecue will improve overnight!”
— Adam Perry Lang, chef, restaurateur, and author of Serious Barbecue