Smokehouse Handbook

Smokehouse Handbook is a niche technique and recipe collection for adventurous cooks. Due out 30th April 2019 from Storey, it's 200 pages and available in hardcover and ebook formats. Author Jake Levin is a 'nose-to-tail' butcher and traveling educator.

There is something very special about feeding our friends and families. Most of my best memories in the company of other people has at least some component of shared food.  There's this visceral connection which bonds people over really good shared food.  This book, and this author, clearly 'get it' when it comes to making shared memories with others over food.  The very act of preparing and eating food, especially in company, gives a shared experience that can be enriching and nourishing physically and mentally.  In the introduction, the author talks about backyard cooking with his family and:

 "...talk about chemistry, biology, and physics; describe simple
building techniques; and breathe in a lot of smoke. But, in the end,
this book is about being in your backyard with your loved ones,
eating delicious food you’ve smoked in a smoker you built."

That's exactly what it's all about.

The book is split into logical parts. The introduction discusses a little bit of the philosophy and history of preservation and smoking techniques along with rubs and brining.  The next section discusses equipment choices and acquisition of tools.  The third section is full of recipes; enough to keep an adventurous cook experimenting for a long while. The fourth part has advanced and specific plans with materials and supplies list to enable readers to build and use purpose built smokers for their own use.

There's also a resource list and index.  For readers outside North America, supplies and hardware can be sourced online without any trouble.  For meat and other comestibles it's probably worthwhile to build up a relationship with an old-fashioned butcher or farm supplier (or family member who is a hunting enthusiast).

The included recipes and instructions are logical, easily followed, and complete. Admittedly many of the recipes take time.  There's no 'quick fix' here.  Most of the prep-work can be done ahead of time, making star meat ingredients to be used later.

Wonderful book, definitive instruction. Good tutorial photographs and plans.

Five stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.