Smoking Food: A Beginner's Guide
Detailing the various types of smokers, from smaller electrical contraptions that require only a minimal time commitment to full-on homemade smokehouses, this informative guide shows the advantages of each as well as what you need to successfully smoke with them and methods to improve the quality of the end product. A generous portion of the book is dedicated to recipes, for want of a better word, of smoked foods (including wild game, sausages, and cheeses in addition to your more well-known smoked meats), but these are mostly general game plans rather than play-by-play instructions. A chapter on curing, brining, and marinating is a natural accompaniment, as the authors’ note that “the art of smoking food is also the art of curing food.” Some of the photographs seem a bit like filler (do you really need a photograph to accompany the equipment note about a cutting board or a wooden spoon?), but a number of helpful illustrations round out the wealth of information found in this guide. For novices and tried hands alike. --Ian Chipman