Cool Smoke: The Art of Great Barbecue

Stone and his Cool Smoke barbecue team have won five world grand championships on the competitive barbecue circuit, and in this enjoyable first cookbook he thoroughly explains his prep, offering 16 rubs, 19 sauces, and five different ways to start a fire. The poultry chapter stands out above other meats for its creativity, with options including goose pastrami, dove breast, and chicken-fried quail. The pork chapter provides hearty dishes like thick-cut pork chops in mustard sauce, as well as a very brief tutorial on cooking a whole hog in a cinder-block pit. Patience and a good basting, rather than complicated machinations, are the keys to these exercises, Stone suggests. The beef section is full of deep, earthy flavors, with selections like coffee-rubbed cowboy steaks and New York strip with brown butter-bacon sauce. Seafood gets short shrift, stuffed into a brief catch-all chapter along with lamb and venison. Providing balance to the smoky flavors are such tart desserts as frozen coconut lime pie and gingersnap cookies. His accessible cookbook features more than 20 photos of him in action—slinging ribs, wrapping pork butt, and brining chickens. Stone is an exuberant, knowledgable guide to backyard barbecuing (May)