WHERE THERE'S SMOKE THERE'S FLAVOR
By Richard W Langer

This is a perplexing book. It seems to swing from page to page between well-informed comment and surprising ignorance. Some of the recipes are truly superb (the pecan pork roll with maple sauce is an absolute bottler) but then you arrive at a section that tells you to 'parboil ribs in a large pot'. Presumably you then pour all the flavour down the kitchen sink along with the water.

The very superficial chapter on barbeque equipment is also full of contradictions. The author describes the Brinkmann vertical smokers and the fact that the common kettle barbeque can be used successfully for low and slow smoking. But he fails to make any mention whatsoever of one of the most popular smokers of all time - the Weber Smoky Mountain. And, despite what the author claims, you cannot successfully slow smoke on most gas barbeques.

Other clangers include stating that natural lump charcoal burns for longer than briquettes (it most cases it doesn't) and that cherry wood 'tends to produce an acrid smoke' (it's used by some of the most successful teams on the giant US BBQ competition circuit).

However, my biggest concern is with his often repeated phrase that 'low heat, a long time, and lots of smoke are the keys to good barbeque'. Lots of smoke is the key to inedible, creosote-tasting food and that's a fact.

I have used this book frequently over a long period of time for food ideas and I have made some memorable meals based on the author's recipes (the seafood and vegetable ones are particularly good). But I've never been able to fully trust the information it contains. For that reason, this is not a good book for slow smoking novices.

ORIGIN: United States
FIRST PUBLISHED: 1996
VERDICT: There are many better bbq books out there.