These reviews are of books I have bought and read from cover to cover. Because they are not made up of words copied from the dust jacket or a publicist's blurb, they might have the potential to offend some authors. So be it.

DR BBQ’S BIG-TIME BARBECUE COOKBOOK
By Ray Lampe - aka Dr BBQ	TOP

The barbecue publishing phenomenon of 2005/2006 - Ray Lampe aka Dr BBQ - has been working towards his overnight success for nearly 25 years.

A Chicago truck driver through the week and a keen participant in the challenging ‘take no prisoners’ US competition barbeque circuit on weekends and holidays, Ray first started pitting his cooking skills against all comers in 1982 with a borrowed kettle.

When his trucking career came to an end in 2000, Ray simply changed gears and let his fanatical hobby become his full time career. To mark the milestone, he had a watch tattooed on his wrist that pointed to 5:01 – quitting time. He moved to Florida and added many more top awards to his already impressive list of barbecue cookoff wins.

In this cookbook Ray shares many of the tips and techniques that took him to the top of the competition ladder. He details what goes into rubs marinades, mops and sauces that give barbeque that championship flavour. These range from a whiskey mop that has only three ingredients right through to sauces that use nearly 20 different elements to build up an amazing depth of flavour.

He gives blow by blow guides for slow smoking America’s all time favourite bbq items – beef brisket, pork shoulder and ribs. Ray offers alternative flavourings and even techniques for reducing the very long cooking time normally required.

While much of this book is aimed at those who use pits to cook low and slow for many hours at a time, Ray also includes indirect and grilling sections which take readers through roasting a beer can chicken (without the beer can), cooking a pork roast on a rotisserie and even direct cooking ‘Spam au Poivre’.

He also gives plenty of recipes for using up the substantial amount of meat that is often left over when big briskets and pork butts are cooked. There are also some excellent recipes for side dishes and desserts and heaps of information about smoking and grilling concepts, techniques and equipment.

ORIGIN: United States

FIRST PUBLISHED: 2005

VERDICT: It’s very rare to find a national BBQ champion prepared to share his winning recipes and techniques.

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