The Complete Idiot's Guide to Smoking Foods

I've smoked a few things on my charcoal grill but wanted to do more for longer lasting food stuffs. I started with bacon...making my own instead of relying on commercial processed. What a difference! I have since done turkeys, pork sausage jubs, beef ribs, pork ribs and a ham (called twice smoked ham - not in the book). I needed the basics, timing and temperature for various items. I found that and more in this book. I now have a propane smoker (bought through Amazon) that is ready at a moments notice to begin. The book has numerous recipes that I will be trying. The rubs and sauces work well with what I have done so far. I would recommend this to anyone who wants to enhance the flavor of what they are grilling or if they want to go all out and smoke for future meals.

I am totally new to smoking. I checked several books out of the library to find one to buy as a reference. Most of the books I found were so basic that they weren't much help. Some were really into equipment - which wasn't relevant for me because I'd received the equipment for Christmas and I wasn't going to buy anything until I had some experience under my belt. Finally, some books just seemed to be "brag" books for famous BBQ people I'd never heard of who mostly discussed their prowess in smoking and only gave recipes that would sell their premixed spices, sauces, etc.This book hit the sweet spot for me because it discusses the basics and gives me some recipes to get me started. It has nice time and temperature charts that I use nearly every time I smoke. It even has some side dishes that have turned out to be pretty amazing.

I wanted a book that went into detail on smoking and curing meats. I chose this book over others because I LOVED the book 'The Complete ldiot's Guide to Sausage Making'. Of several sausage making books that l have, it is my go-to book. Recipes and information is spot on and provides chapters of very useful infrmation. This book on the other hand, is almost completely useless. Unless you've just landed from another planet and never heard of a smoker, then this book is probably not for you. I really wanted to like this book but l expected useful information that would help me achieve better results with my smoker. This book read almost like a children's book..... Some smokers use charcol. Some smokers use gas. Be sure to follow your manufacturer's direction. Seriously.... I gave it two stars because it does have a lot of recipes in it and they may be good (have not tried them) but l wasn't looking for a recipe book. For example, l usually smoke a turkey for Christmas. Was hoping to get some good info on smoking poultry but almost no usable info. There was a recipe for smoked turkey drumsticks, but thats about it. Instead of techniques for smoking different types of food, it is mostly recipes. Everything else was basicaly explaining what a smoker is and saying stuff like - some prefer this, and some prefer that. No reasons why one method may be better than another. For example - names all of the hard woods used for smoking, but basically just tells what they are and says some prefer apple wood... Some prefer hickory. This book is truly geared towards idiots.

This is concise and simple book, not an encyclopedia like some I've read.

I found this an interesting read being I have never smoked anything before. I found there is more to it than throwing a hunk of meat into a smoker and expect it to be great. I was really looking for more of a recipe book for dummies. Don't get me wrong, there are several recipes in this book but they seem a little overwhelming to a starter like me and that's why 4 stars. This book does cover every way of smoking ie.: gas, electric, wood, etc. so by all means find out what it's all about.

I am a complete stranger to smoking meats but found myself owning a horizontal smoker with no idea how to use it. Even the srarter books on smoking were to advanced for me and left some unanswered questions, This book answered a lot of those questions in a manner that even I could understand. I'm feel like I have learned a lot from the book and have some idea of what I need to do to turn out tasty smoked meats. If I like it so well why didn't I give 5 stars? Because I grade hard.

I wasn't sure what smoking book I wanted so I went by price. For someone who has smoked meat for many years (but by no means an expert) this has a lot of stuff I didn't need along with quite a bit of useful info. a lot of what I didn't need, however, is still interesting info (for most part). many of the recipes looked quite good. overall a good book, especially for someone thinking of starting a "smoking habit".

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Smoking Foods [Paperback] [2012] (Author) Ted Reader This is a well written book for people who are trying to learn how to smoke food. My husband and I bought a smoker and had no idea how to use it. By following the guidelines in this book, we were not only able to learn how to smoke food but also become better at barbecuing. I would recommend this book to first time smokers or anyone wanting to improve on their smoking skills.

published for the north american market.more about the smoking equipment and very little about how to smoke food,timing, temperature etc

It's a christmas present for someone. Thank you

brill just what I wanted

book was as good as it said it was, very useful info for the beginner to learn as they smoke

Quick delivery and looked good. A great birthday present