14 Best BBQ Books

Meathead Goldwyn examines how heat, smoke, and ingredients affect barbecue and grilling. Scientific explanations and tested recipes address equipment, temperature control, brining, marinades, and common cooking beliefs, helping readers understand the reasoning behind techniques for meat, seafood, and vegetables.

Aaron Franklin and Jordan Mackay explain the craft behind Central Texas barbecue, drawing on Franklin's Austin restaurant experience. The book follows equipment, wood, fire, smoke, and meat selection through the cooking process, with particular attention to preparing and smoking brisket.

Steven Raichlen gathers grilling recipes from his travels around the world, pairing international dishes with explanations of outdoor cooking techniques. The collection includes meat, seafood, vegetables, sauces, sides, and accompaniments, with stories about the places and traditions behind the food.

Steven Raichlen explains hot-smoking, cold-smoking, and other techniques for bringing smoke into home cooking. Equipment and fuel guidance accompanies recipes ranging from meat and seafood to vegetables, cheese, and desserts, with photographs illustrating preparations and finished dishes.

Steven Raichlen presents illustrated instructions for outdoor cooking, from setting up a grill to preparing meats, seafood, vegetables, and other foods. Recipes accompany demonstrations of techniques, with guidance for both gas and charcoal equipment.

Rodney Scott combines his life story with the traditions and techniques of South Carolina barbecue. This cookbook explores his family heritage and devotion to whole-hog cooking while sharing food rooted in fellowship and years at the pit.

This all-purpose grilling guide covers meat, fish, vegetables, breads, and even dessert. Bittman explains both the basics and the variations, so the book works as a primer and a deep bench of ideas.

Michael Symon and Douglas Trattner present barbecue and live-fire recipes inspired by American regional traditions and Symon's Cleveland restaurant. Guidance on grills, smokers, woods, meat cuts, rubs, sauces, and sides accompanies dishes that connect those influences with his hometown flavors.

Chris Lilly shares recipes and techniques from Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q in Alabama. He explains seasonings, cooking woods, and heat management alongside preparations for pork, brisket, poultry, and ribs, with side dishes, desserts, photographs, and stories from the restaurant's history.

Mike Mills and Amy Mills Tunnicliffe combine barbecue recipes with memoir and travel writing. Stories and photographs introduce pitmasters, restaurants, and the competition circuit, while recipes share the dishes and seasonings connected to their experiences of American barbecue culture.

Bill Kim and Chandra Ram build a grilling cookbook around seven versatile sauces and Korean-American flavors. Recipes adapt those foundations to meats, vegetables, and other dishes, with ingredient substitutions and techniques designed for cooks using a home grill.

Chris Schlesinger and John Willoughby combine outdoor-cooking techniques with recipes from appetizers to desserts. They discuss grills, fuels, fire management, equipment, and regional barbecue traditions, offering guidance for both direct grilling and smoke cooking across a range of ingredients.

Greg Mrvich explores American barbecue through recipes for sauces, marinades, rubs, brines, and glazes. Regional styles and basic pantry and equipment guidance help home cooks choose seasonings and flavor combinations for different meats and approaches to outdoor cooking.

Nadine Horn and Jorg Mayer offer a vegan approach to barbecue through recipes for grilled vegetables, tofu, mushrooms, and other plant ingredients. The cookbook includes main dishes, sides, sauces, and globally influenced preparations for building a complete meal around the grill.