The debut title in the Anthony Bourdain Books line, The Prophets of Smoked Meat by “Barbecue Snob” Daniel Vaughn, author of the enormously popular blog Full Custom Gospel BBQ, is a rollicking journey through the heart of Texas Barbecue. From brisket to ribs, beef to pork, mesquite to oak, this fully illustrated, comprehensive guide to Texas barbecue includes pit masters’ recipes, tales of the road—from country meat markets to roadside stands, sumptuous photography, and a panoramic look at the Lone Star State, where smoked meat is sacred.

Presents stories, recipes, and photographs of barbecue cooking in the South, recording the pitmasters and legendary joints that make this food culture famous.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A complete meat and brisket-cooking education from the country's most celebrated pitmaster and owner of the wildly popular Austin restaurant Franklin Barbecue. When Aaron Franklin and his wife, Stacy, opened up a small barbecue trailer on the side of an Austin, Texas, interstate in 2009, they had no idea what they’d gotten themselves into. Today, Franklin Barbecue has grown into the most popular, critically lauded, and obsessed-over barbecue joint in the country (if not the world)—and Franklin is the winner of every major barbecue award there is. In this much-anticipated debut, Franklin and coauthor Jordan Mackay unlock the secrets behind truly great barbecue, and share years’ worth of hard-won knowledge. Franklin Barbecue is a definitive resource for the backyard pitmaster, with chapters dedicated to building or customizing your own smoker; finding and curing the right wood; creating and tending perfect fires; sourcing top-quality meat; and of course, cooking mind-blowing, ridiculously delicious barbecue, better than you ever thought possible.

This unique combination of cookbook, memoir, and travelogue features 100 recipes, photographs, and behind-the-scenes stories from legendary pitmaster Mike Mills. In Peace, Love, & Barbecue, Mike Mills, the unrivalled king of barbecue, shares his passion for America's favorite cuisine—its intense smoky flavors, its lore and traditions, and its wild cast of characters. Through conversational anecdotes and black-and-white photographs, readers meet a diverse circle of colleagues and friends and join Mills in a behind-the-scenes tour of the barbecue contest circuit, with stops at some of the best “shrines, shacks, joints, and right-respectable restaurants.” Also included are prizewinning recipes that have earned Mills his fame and fortune as a barbecue maestro. These 100 recipes will enable anyone with a grill to achieve champion barbecue flavor right in their own backyard. The selection features Mills own secret concoctions and treasured family recipes as well as choice contributions from his pitmaster friends, and it covers all manner of barbecued meat and fish, sauces and dry rubs, as well as the sides, soups, and down-home sweets that complete any great barbecue feast. With its folksy, fun tone and its unique insider’s take on a hugely popular—and deeply American—subject, Peace, Love, & BBQ is perfect for barbecue lovers, food mavens, and cooks of all stripes.

The comprehensive, must-have guide to Texas barbecue, including pitmasters' recipes, tales of the road—from country meat markets to roadside stands—and a panoramic look at the Lone Star State, where smoked meat is sacred Brisket. Spareribs. Beef sausage. Pulled pork. From the science of heat to the alchemy of rubs, from the hill country to the badlands, The Prophets of Smoked Meat takes readers on a pilgrimage to discover the heart and soul of Texas barbecue. Join Daniel "BBQ Snob" Vaughn—host of the popular blog Full Custom Gospel BBQ and acknowledged barbecue expert—and photographer Nicholas McWhirter as they trek across more than 10,000 miles to sample the wood-smoking traditions of the Lone Star State's four distinct barbecue styles: East Texas style, essentially the hickory-smoked, sauce-coated barbecue with which most Americans are familiar. Central Texas "meat market" style, in which spice-rubbed meat is cooked over indirect heat from pecan or oak wood, a method that originated in the butcher shops of German and Czech immigrants. Hill Country "cowboy style," which involves direct heat cooking over mesquite coals and uses goat and mutton as well as beef and pork. South Texas barbacoa, in which whole beef heads are traditionally cooked in pits dug into the earth. Including recipes from longtime pitmasters and new barbecue stars, The Prophets of Smoked Meat encompasses the entire panorama of Texas barbecue. Illustrated throughout with lush, full-color photographs of the food, the people, and the stunning landscapes of the Lone Star State, The Prophets of Smoked Meat is the new gospel of Texas barbecue, essential for neophytes and seasoned experts alike.

“[A] collection of barbecue memoirs, trivia and history . . . Walsh interviews the top pit bosses across the state and shares their secrets.” —Publishers Weekly If barbecue in Texas is a religion, this book is its bible. Originally published only in print in 2002, this revised and updated edition explores all the new and exciting developments from the Lone Star State’s evolving barbecue scene. The one hundred recipes include thirty-two brand-new ones such as Smoke-Braised Beef Ribs and an extremely tender version of Pulled Pork. Profiles on legendary pitmasters like Aaron Franklin are featured alongside archival photography covering more than one hundred years of barbecue history. Including the basic tools required to get started, secrets and methods from the state’s masters, and step-by-step directions for barbecuing every cut of meat imaginable, this comprehensive book presents all the info needed to fire up the grill and barbecue Texas-style. “In 2002, Robb Walsh’s Legends of Texas Barbecue Cookbook hit the sweet spot for lovers of smoked meat. The book was part travelogue, part instruction manual, with a side of history thrown in . . . If your old copy is worn, tattered and splashed, it’s time to trade up. If you are late to the barbecue and don’t know the likes of Bryan Bracewell, Vencil Mares and Lorenzo Vences, consider it an investment in your education.” —The Dallas Morning News “Robb Walsh has been there to help shape and document the evolution of Texas barbecue. This new edition is a must-have.” —Aaron Franklin, James Beard Award–winning pitmaster

The definitive guide to one of the most iconic barbecue traditions—Carolina-style chopped pork—from the third generation pitmaster of Sam Jones BBQ and the legendary Skylight Inn, featuring more than 20 family recipes for large-batch barbecue, sides, and desserts. In the world of barbecue, Carolina-style pork is among the most delicious and obsessed-over slow-cooked meats. Yet no one has told the definitive story of North Carolina barbecue—until now. In Whole Hog BBQ, Sam Jones and Daniel Vaughn recount the history of the Skylight Inn, which opened in 1947, and share step-by-step instructions for cooking a whole hog at home—from constructing a pit from concrete blocks to instructions for building a burn barrel—along with two dozen classic family recipes including cornbread, coleslaw, spare ribs, smoked turkey, country-style steak, the signature burger, and biscuit pudding.