Book: Franklin Barbecue

Lets get one thing straight, first of all. Whenever I talk about BBQ on here, its almost certainly going to be referring to the low'n'slow style that is more commonplace across the US, as opposed to the hot'n'fast sausages and burgers that we are more used to over here in the UK.

I am a big fan of BBQ, have grown up on summers full of hot'n'fast (not just burgers and sausages though - fish, pork chops, lamb cutlets etc) and have since got into smoking food, that is the US, low'n'slow, pitmaster BBQ approach of cooking large, relatively tough cuts of meat for long periods of time (hours). For this, I own a Weber Smokey Mountain, which is a large smoker that is capable of easily holding a decent low temperature for hours, and have cooked a range of things (pork ribs, beef short ribs, pork shoulder etc).

To be honest though, BBQ books are a bit of a strange one. I own several BBQ books (including Aaron Franklin's book), and regularly pick them up and peruse them, but the thing is, there isn't that much to it, and whats more, lots of the books will give you quite different, often contrasting advice. Really, when it comes to low'n'slow BBQ, its not so much about recipes, its about technique, experience and patience - stuff that a book can't really teach you. Most BBQ recipes you might see, let's say for beef brisket, will follow something along the lines of: trim the fat off the meat, salt + season the beef with a preferred dry-rub (this is where there maybe some variation, everyone will have their own special dry-rub ratio, but it will likely be some variation of each other), cook for some hours (they might recommend anything between 10 and 18 hours). They might also recommend wrapping it mid way through, but really thats all there is to it. And given the contrasting advice, and the differences in BBQs, pieces of meat, etc,  I have concluded it comes down to experience. Cook a piece a few times and you will get to recognise the feel, look and temperatures that work for you.

But that said, I still enjoy reading my BBQ books - both for inspiration, aesthetics and to get into the mood to BBQ!

This book, specifically, has some nice history and Aaron talks about how he first got setup by cooking for the neighbourhood, and challenges the restaurant has faced (it got burnt down), along with some recipes and techniques. Not my favourite BBQ books, but there is no denying he knows his stuff - and he comes across nicely, so its a nice addition for a BBQ fan (not necessarily a good first book for someone starting out in BBQ) - if you want quicker insight into the how-to of BBQ, Aaron has published lots of videos on his Youtube channel of him actually cooking stuff, which are worth a look.

Book: Pitt Cue co

This is it.

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.

Book: Ruhlman's Twenty

Probably my second favourite of my food-books, at least those to just pick up and read.

Let's get this out the way first of all, its a beautiful book. The typography, the colours, the blocks (its almost like it anticipated the flat-design trend that we have seen the last few years). Visually, all the little touches are a delight.

But that's not the only reason I enjoy it. It's another book that nicely combines readable and accessible food science theory along side recipes (like The Foodlab). The book is broken down into 20 different techniques (maybe thats a bit of a stretch - its broken down into techniques and large/core ingredient groups) - covering water, salt, onions, acid, butter etc - a bit like an extended run on Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat (the book, more recently made famous through its Netflix series - it covers these, in specific forms, but also covers other core areas).

Each section starts with an overview of the area, and ends with a handful of recipes. Easily readable and just simple things will stay with you and improve your cooking (the stage at which you salt & his tomato experiment - the implications of over-bubbling/spilling a liquid when you are supposed to be reducing it etc)

Blade Runner inspired T-Shirt

If we are talking Blade Runner, then lets talk lastexittonowhere.com - they are an awesome site with loads of great movie-nerd clothing stuff.

Their angle is they take logos/themes/signs from movies and make the into a t-shirt, so only the most dedicated movie fan can notice. I would have the entire catalogue if possible, and already own several (including a yellow variation of this t-shirt) and the collections just keeps on growing - including t-shirts based on the sequel Blade Runner 2049.


(in case you were wondering, the design is based on the origami unicorn that Harrison Ford's character made several times in the film)