2024 the best texas bbq review
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For bodacious, bragging-rights barbecue that's easy to master in your backyard smoker, look to Texas!
Among the proud barbecue traditions in the United States, from the Carolinas to Memphis to Kansas City—whether spelled barbecue, barbeque, bar-b-q, BBQ, or just Q—none is prouder, more deeply flavored, or rich in tradition than Texas Q. Texas barbecue is best known for beef; and beef brisket in particular, the signature dish that has been celebrated over the years by such legends as Taylor's Louie Mueller and Houston's Jim Goode, as well as by modern-day wunderkind Aaron Franklin in Austin. Cheryl Alters Jamison, co-author with her late husband Bill of the definitive Texas Home Cooking and the original bible for backyard smoke-cooking, Smoke & Spice, knows her brisket backwards and forwards and offers several delectable recipes in this exciting book.
Cheryl also knows that there's more to Texas barbecue than brisket. Among the more than 100 recipes in these pages you will find loads of ideas for other cuts of beef, as well as for chicken, pork, lamb, fish and other seafood, and vegetables,each infused—via rubs and mops and sauces and spices—with robust, distinctive Texas flavors. Here, too, you will find stunning preparations from outside the Anglo-American beef-and-brisket tradition, from the oft-overlooked Mexican-American, African-American, Eastern European immigrant, and Asian immigrant barbecue styles created by the people who make modern Texas so diverse and fascinating.
For blue ribbon brisket and a whole lot more, this is a barbecue book you will use, and use again, for years.
From the Publisher
Texas Q
THE MEDIUM IS THE MESSAGE— YOUR HEAT SOURCE FLAVORS THE FOOD
The best way to barbecue is with a log fire, which is how it all began. In the early years, the only equipment needed was an ax and a shovel. Prospective barbecuers cleared trees along a stretch of open land, cut the branches into logs, and loaded the wood into a long pit several feet deep. They burned the logs down to smoldering coals and cooked their food over the smoky fire for a full night or longer, adding wood as necessary to maintain a steady, low temperature.
The rich smokiness you want in all barbecue should come from smoldering wood, not from fat or oil dripping on coals or hot metal. The difference is enormous, both in taste and in health risk. The smoke produced by burning fat contains benzopyrene, a carcinogen that sticks to food. The effect is almost unavoidable in grilling, but it isn’t a problem in barbecuing if you have a water reservoir or pan beneath the meat, an option with much of the equipment.
Barbecuing was the United States’ original and most popular form of outdoor cooking until grilling surged into the forefront after the Second World War. Equipment was a major reason for the shift. By the 1950s, factories were turning out basic, cheap grills faster than Formica, but those who wanted a barbecue smoker for home use had to make it for themselves.
That’s still a good option for some people, even with the solid commercial products available today. A lot of barbecue cook-off champions work on homemade equipment, sometimes expensively fabricated pits in special shapes ranging from armadillos to whiskey bottles.
LONE STAR RUBS AND SEASONINGS
When I first wrote about barbecue, lots of people didn’t understand what a dry rub was. I can remember demonstrating time and again how you would really rub a good quantity of these seasoning blends into the surface of your food, not just sprinkle a bit over like you might paprika on a deviled egg.
Seasoning mixtures can take the form of dry rubs, wet marinades, or a paste of herbs with garlic or onion and some oil, but for most serious Texas Q, you want to stay dry. A few more seasonings are included in the recipe section, ones that go best with a particular dish but without as broad an appeal as those here. While your barbecue cooks, you may want to use a liquid to help keep it moist. That’s where a mop comes in. Through judicious use of layers of flavor paired with smoke, you create the ultimate barbecue.
Slather It On
Lots of pitmasters and other barbecue cooks like to slather their meat or other protein in something that will stick firmly to the surface and also will help hold a dry rub on securely. The slather can help create a tender bark that still has a good chew to it. I don’t always find it a necessity, but I do like to use the technique on leaner cuts like bison or pork tenderloin.
Mustard, usually the yellow variety, is a popular choice, especially mixed with some dill pickle juice. Sometimes, I use soy sauce with a little Chinese oyster sauce mixed in for thickness and that deep umami quality. Mayonnaise can be used too, maybe with some chili powder mixed in.Or, mix up a combination that appeals to you.
Dalmatian Rub: Elemental Salt and Pepper Pork Rib and Belly Rub Beer Mop for Beef and Just about Everything Mustard Mop for Pork and Chicken Vinegar Spritz
PARTY STARTERS AND WHILE-YOU-WAIT SNACKS
When you’re barbecuing to kick off football season via TV or stadium tailgating, celebrating a day at the lake, or simply inviting the neighborhood over for your bigger barbecued treats, you need a solid collection of smoked little nibbles. Whether you prefer melting cheese, seafood, wings, or serious meat, there’s something here in this condensed collection of every style. These are all designed to fit on the pit for a brief time while you have a longer smoking project underway. Depending on the ease and speed of firing up your smoker though, you might want to cook up a few of them for an appetizer spread. In that case, I’d recommend adding a couple of non-smoked things, maybe as simple as some crisp vegetables and dip or some guacamole and chips.
Party on!
Smokin’ Queso Brisket-Stuffed Jalapeño Poppers Port Aransas Tuna Dip Smoked Catfish Spread Smoked Jalapeño Wings with Hot Ranch Piglets in Jezebel Sauce Vietnamese Shrimp Coctel de Camarón
Publisher : Harvard Common Press; Illustrated edition (April 28, 2020)
Language : English
Paperback : 192 pages
ISBN-10 : 1558329714
ISBN-13 : 978-1558329713
Item Weight : 1.2 pounds
Dimensions : 7.55 x 0.7 x 9.25 inches
Reviewer: I Do The Speed Limit
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Outdoor BBQ'ing is heady, fulfilling, worthy, righteous--exactly what you need to embrace now!
Review: Cook outdoors. Use fire. Smell the smoke. Witness the food crisp and blacken, bubble and pucker. Listen to the sizzle. Get hot, sweaty and smokey, eyes narrowed to the smoke. Get deeply and determinedly into it. (Take a peak at your neighbors watching in envy.) Sharpen your good knives. Slice the meat and watch the ooze of fat. Embrace and luxuriate in your mouth watering. (Definitely fork the choicest morsels onto a plate and pass it under the fence to you neighbor.)This book is a god-send. Take it, embrace it, use it to get to a place where things are okay and copacetic! You can do it, and this book can help you get there. ~~~I was trying to get excited about cooking during this Spring of 2020, and not having much luck. I am--faithfully and with wholehearted support for the rules and advice--keeping my grocery shopping to curbside pickup once every 2-3 weeks. But the fact that someone else is choosing my veggies and meatsâand will continue to do so for many more months--has quashed my enthusiasm. It's not like me! To try to jump start my energy and interest, I have turned to my smokers and outside grills and fire pit. And I've got my groove back!I am back in the game! And I have found that, where I donât like someone else picking out my expensive sliced and trimmed steaks, I donât mind so much them choosing hunks and chunks of the less âpickyâ cuts of meatsâespecially those less-handled that are in cryovac packaging. Plus, there is online ordering available from great specialty farmers and butchers everywhere. (Several are mentioned in this book. Spices can be found online, too. So all necessary ingredients are at hand.)Luckily, while I was waiting for my pre-ordered, paid, copy of this book, I had a temporary download of this Texas barbecue cook book to work with--written by one of the Jamison's that I have respected for many decades. (I think I have a copy of every cookbook they've written.) So, ordering this was a no-brainer: I knew it would have worthwhile content.There is something in this book for every experience level:Novice Qâers will find all the basics: How-to, techniques, great spice rub blends, and recipes that wonât intimidate. There are recipes that give an idea of all the possibilitiesâfrom appetite teasers like hot dogs, deviled eggs, queso, and smokey dips, to all the favorites that come to mind when you think of Texas Q.People who have some experience under their belts will also find plenty to get excited about. There are, really, some interesting recipes, history and insight that will pique your interest. And the tips and resources that are amply scattered throughout the pages are worth the price of the book. (Buy it. Donât try to get away with checking it out of the library, because you will be transcribing half the book at least.)And there are recipes for all time frames: 45 minutes up to more than a half day.Regarding brisket recipes: You will find one for âclassicâ Central Texas, another one from central Texasâ Camp Brisket in College Station, and one from West Texas. Thereâs burnt ends, El Paso Salpicon, fajitas, dino ribs, and more than a dozen other riffs. There are other beef recipes, too, for: Cheek meat, rib roast, burgers, links, and tenderloin.Plenty of recipes (16) for pork and lamb and gameâand even one for my favoriteâgoat.Another chapter for chicken and turkey, with a few token duck and quail recipes. Thereâs a good poultry rub included with the beer can chicken recipe.There is a chapter for seafood. Itâs not so much the ingredient lists that are valuable, but the instructions, timing and prep.One terrific chapter contains recipes for sauces, a salsa and a vinaigrette.I cook outdoors quite a lot. Time after time, Iâve turned to the Jamison books for their side dish recipes. Oh, how many times their side dishes have made the meal, or have been the hit at a neighborhood party or pot luck! Here, Chapter 10 hits the spot with âSides: Beans, Greens, Salads, and More From Insideâ.So glad the book is finally available for shipping. These are trying times--and I waited patiently for the official publication date to be allowed to post my review. But I have my book in hand now. Glancing through it to see that it's close to what I worked with in the temporary download, I can say that it is everything I hoped it would be. Don't count on a lot of pictures. Over the decades, the Jamison's books have never been full of pictures..... You really don't need them--instructions, directions, explanations are more than enough to give your mind's eye a full-blown picture of what's going on in these recipes!In my mind's eye right now: Take my hand, please. Grab it firmly and shake it! Give me a hug--I need one badly. And I'll give you my best hug ever in return!
Reviewer: Julie S.
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Easy & Delicious Smoking Q!
Review: Cheryl Jamison nailed it with this book! I'm not the most avid cook or Q maker, but I really enjoy eating it! This book gives you all the information for the newbie like me to start, as well as no doubt even for those with a great deal of experience. The recipes are creative and OMG to eat.The book easily tells you how to get started smoking for any level you care to dive into. She provides a very interesting history and good tidbits with each of the recipes. I've attached a picture of El Paso Salpicon, and it was a big hit for the family to enjoy. One of the other to-die-for recipes was the Espresso Rubbed Pork Chops (pic also attached). I was concerned I wouldn't be too thrilled with it as I don't like coffee, but it was wonderful and I was lucky enough to cook it the right way per her instructions!Kudos to Cheryl for making it easy for us to make great Texas Q. I used to live in Houston, and I have missed it!
Reviewer: Esther Schindler
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: A worthy barbecue cookbook for anyone with a smoker
Review: I own at least five cookbooks by Cheryl (and Bill) Jamison. Each of them is branded with the important marks of honor: food splattered recipes, and the books open to favorite recipes. I think Smoke & Spice was the first cookbook we purchased to accompany our first electric smoker; certainly, I've made Willie's Wonderful Rub a dozen times.So it was easy for me to say YES when Amazon Vine offered me this new smoking cookbook, which promised "100 Recipes for the Very Best Barbecue from the Lone Star State, All Smoke-Cooked to Perfection." Given the excellence of the author's earlier cookbooks, I was confident this would be earn its space on the cookbook shelves.A-yup.Chapters are devoted to BBQ history; equipment; rubs and seasonings; appetizers and party-starters (snacks for while you wait); beef; pork (plus lamb, goat, and game); chicken and other birds; Gulf seafood and other lake fish; and indoor-made items, such as sauces and condiments; sides (beans and salads); a handful of desserts.I've got about a dozen smoking and grilling cookbooks. What makes this one different?First: It's all smoking. No grill in sight. Also, it's all Texas recipes. Nothing from Kansas City or Santa Fe or other locales.Another thing I appreciate about these recipes is that you don't need to cook for a crowd. There's an old definition of "forever" as "two people and a turkey." With just two of us in the house -- and, alas, no opportunity for big parties these days -- it's hard to justify making a brisket. But you can make dinner. You can make up a batch of Jamison's spice rubs -- which are absolutely reliable -- and use 'em over time.Another advantage: Most dishes that go into the smoker take relatively little prep time. Sure, it might cook for several hours, but if you're home anyway (as most of us are), that's no big deal. Few of these need more time in the kitchen than "Make the rub, press it into the meat, fling it into the smoker, go back to the baseball game on TV."As a result, we've made two dishes, both suitable for smaller meals (or at least leftovers you use up before you get tired of them.) The espresso-rubbed pork chops uses a "Jolt" rub composed of ground coffee, brown sugar, salt, pepper, and cayenne. Smokin' burgers are ground beef mixed with the "chile dust" rub (salt, cumin, garlic powder, and ancho chile powder... or whatever you've got on hand). It's less than 10 minutes in the kitchen, and both take about an hour in the smoker. Another relatively-quick dish I have my eye on is a chicken breast recipe that uses orange juice and tamarind. For bigger time investments, I'm looking at a venison pate that has a long pile of ingredients (shallots, dried peaches, pistachios, mustard, and a whole lot more), and pork belly burnt ends with jalapeno jelly glaze.Sure, there's East Texas spare ribs, and Back Ribs, and Boudin Blanc, and brisket... but I already had recipes for those. This push a bit past the obvious suspects.
Reviewer: SFLarry
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: An instant Star in my cookbook collection
Review: First five recipes I made were all winners. That may be a first for me with a new cookbook. Never been really pleased with my smoked briskets, but the Salt & Pepper Central Texas Brisket is a gem!! Enjoy, Larry
Reviewer: Dave Douglass
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Good Read
Review: This was a well put together, interesting read on TX BBQ recipes, and history. Recommended.
Reviewer: D. Banas
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Great Book
Review: Easy to follow recipes. Great book.