This is the book that is responsible for me dropping hundreds of pounds on a Weber Smokey Mountain.
Again, its a BBQ book, again, in the sense of low-n-slow, smoked food BBQ (not hot-n-fast we are more used to in the UK). Its from a popular London restaurant Pitt Cue that serves, low-n-slow BBQ food. And again, its not really one I have followed recipes for, then the bulk of the recipe is cook it for 8+ hours, its not really something you necessarily follow. I mean, I don't really think any BBQ books are really step-by-step guides. They are good to read, and understand the steps people take in cooking things, and they are useful to get an idea for the range of temperatures and times that people usually use (temperature guidance can vary up to 150 degrees fahrenheit variance, and cooking times can vary by hours between acclaimed, often competition winning, chefs), but experience is king - and I think any given recipe may work or fail disastrously depending on a whole host of factors, not least of all: the piece of meat that you have, your individual BBQ & setup, the ambient temperature outdoors. So really, they are good to read, but practice and repetition are the only ways it seems to get good BBQ. For example, their brisket recipe above simply says to cook the brisket at 115 degrees, until an internal temperature of 86-88 degrees, and when its ready if you prod it, it should have a "somewhat sexy wobble" - and thats basically the recipe.
However, as I said, this is the one that converted me. I first bought the book when the hardcover suddenly appeared on Amazon for £10 (I don't know how I came across it, but it seemed like a good price, so went for it). All the recipes are either pretty complicated (several recipes rely on the product of other recipes in the book - there mac'n'cheese recipe sounds amazing, but includes smoked pork offcuts and their bacon rub) or are long cooks, and me, not having a smoker had to sit there dreaming, and working out how I could get around the need.
Its a good book to skim, for inspiration and to get in the mood for BBQing, although I haven't directly attempted the BBQ recipes* it did send me towards beef short ribs (which at the time, weren't as trendy as they are now - you can get mac'n'cheese with beef short rib in high street sandwich chain Pret these days!). Given their restaurant is owned by proper restauranteur-chef types, it might be no surprise that this leans more into fancy-experimental dining, rather than just meat (lots of BBQ books are just variations on pieces of meat) - featuring recipes like fennel cured scratchings, or pulled duck and caviar buns - they sound (and look) very tasty, but not the kind of recipe you are likely going to be reaching for if you are planning a large family/friends BBQ gathering.
*Whilst I haven't tried the BBQ recipes, or at least following to any real detail, the first 60 pages or so are dedicated to cocktail recipes, which I have tried a couple of, which are also great - both reading for inspiration (if you have the ingredients, or are a regular cocktail maker) and trying. My favourites were their Cherry cola, Hard lemonade and their Trash cocktail, which are also (relatively) easy to try at home.
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