Smokin' Hot in the South

WOW! What a great cookbook! I not only found some amazing delicious recipes, I also learned a lot about BBQ...if you think you know it all, get this book and see that you really dont!

Fantastic recipes! Makes my mouth water every time I read it.

Fantastic book with amazing info. You don't realize how much technique goes into smokin' and having the right equipment, rubs/sauces and knowledge is important. There are a variety of recipes for different tastes which is noted be regions which I really like. Sometimes I like a tart BBQ but sometimes I prefer more savory. I also had no idea what you could cook on a grill or in a smoker. It's an outdoor kitchen!

This was a really fun cookbook! The photos were vibrant, tasty recipes were presented, all with a female perspective set in the south. I am looking forward to trying out some of these recipes this summer!

I love to read cookbooks but especially ones that are about grilling. This is my first one by Melissa Cookston. I really enjoyed reading through the tools and wood choices. The recipes look delicious and I cannot wait to try them. Since we are just now getting into grilling season I will definitely be pulling this book out. I love how the pictures show what the food is to look like. I can only hope that mine will look that delicious. I received a copy through netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

Melissa Cookston certainly knows her way around a grill, and her excellent cookbook, Smokin’ Hot in the South has information, recipes, and helpful hints for everyone who wants to successfully barbecue and smoke. There is a chapter called Pitmaster’s Basics; it has everything you need to know to start. There is another chapter on Rubs, Seasonings, and Sauces. I made the Basic Memphis Style BBQ Rub; it was great on a smoked pork butt, as well as on some baby-back ribs.

The recipes in this book aren’t your run-of-the-mill offerings. These recipes are unique and are dishes that most people will be excited about. How about Grilled Lime-Cilantro Slaw? It was good; the dressing was delicious, and the grilled cabbage made for a different texture than most coleslaw. Cookston’s Pimento and Cheese is excellent, and really made the Deep South Burgers with Pimiento and Cheese and Fried Green Tomatoes a culinary masterpiece. The next dish in the queue is Smoked Chicken Bacon Bobs – my family can’t wait.

There are excellent pictures of most of the dishes, plenty of variety in rubs, seasonings, and sauces, and dozens of great ideas for your smoker or grill. There are easy-to-follow recipes for poultry, meats, and seafood. Every recipe I have tried has turned out perfectly. I would have preferred a picture of every dish, but I figure I’ll just make some of the dishes and take my own pictures. The book is well-written, informative, and fun to read.

This book is highly recommended for anyone who loves outdoor cooking. The variety is such that there is something new to cook every day of the outdoor cooking season. I’ll be cooking from it not only during the summer, but throughout the entire year. Cookston has outdone herself on this book.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this excellent cookbook.

What makes a smoking book so cool? It's because you know the food is good and as the weekend griller you actually think you could do it too! Smokin' Hot in the South is full of terrific insights and recipes that make the experience of cooking with fire fun and rewarding.
The fact that it is written by Melissa Cookston, the woman who broke through the Boy's Room only attitude that comes with grilling all the better. Cookston was doing this before the Food Network make women grillers popular.
A terrific and fun read.

Awesome cookbook!

This is a very comprehensive book on using a smoker for cooking. Melissa Cookston gives great instruction on all the different ways to use a smoker, expensive and inexpensive. Then she goes on to give a lot of recipes for Rubs and sauces. Then gives recipes and tips on cooking chicken, pork, beef and seafood using these as a basis for them. I've marked a number of them to try myself. I don't use a smoker but I can use the recipes as a great basis for using a slow cooker or oven. There are recipes for sides and desserts as well.

This is an essential book for anyone who is really serious about barbequing. Melissa Cookston lives and breathes barbequing in all its multitudinous facets, and her “gear” must be a wonder to behold. She enthusiastically goes into great detail about all the “tools you absolutely need to get” and the “tools you will wonder how you ever did without” – many of which I had never heard of before, and a lot of which I am sure will be difficult to obtain in Britain. Her enthusiasm is catching, and reading the book has made me really excited about trying out some of her suggestions on our much underused barbeque. Unfortunately, I live in London, and even though it is technically spring, the outdoor temperature has yet to get above 160 Centigrade (about 610 F), so barbequing is not really a viable option at the moment.
Luckily though, many of the recipes can be adapted to indoor cooking – though I am sure that the author would see that as sacrilege. The various rubs, seasonings and sauces go just as well on grilled and roasted meats – I can definitely recommend the “Southwest Spice Blend” on pork chops and roast duck, and the “Homemade Steak Sauce” is a great addition to steak, how ever you cook the meat. In a barbeque cookbook, you expect a lot of meat recipes – and here you will not be disappointed – but the author does not stop there. EVERYTHING can be barbequed! With our trusty grill, we made the “Grilled Lime-Cilantro Slaw” and the “Grilled Potato Salad” – both very interesting and tasty. Probably everything would taste better on the barbeque, with the smoke adding flavour, but the recipes we tried worked well in the house too, and gave me a lot of new ideas.
I always associate barbeques with loads of friends and family, and these recipes are designed in quantities to feed an army. The biggest problem in adapting them for indoor cooking is in reducing the amounts to suit a dinner for two people. So, even if you live in cooler climes, this book is a good one to have around. If you live in barbeque country, how could you do without it?

Oh, my goodness ~ Smokin' Hot in the South is ... BBQ HEAVEN!

After reading Melissa Cookston's book, I can definitely understand why she is "winningest woman in barbeque". It not only is chock full of wonderful, delectable recipes but it is also full of grilling and smoking tips, tools, advise on grilling and smoking! Some of my favorite recipes from this cookbook are bacon wrapped scallops, fresh herb rub, Moppin' dry rub, and oh, so many more. I have made a whole list of recipes we're going to try out this summer and I can't wait! :) If you love to BBQ, then this book is for you!

Thank you to Andrews McMeel Publishing and Netgalley for the gift of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was an outstanding barbeque cookbook. The author first goes over everything you should have on hand in your pantry, and items to make you’re grilling less stressful. She goes over all the different types of equipment from the simplest to the professional. She does recommend to read her first book about pro barbeque if that is what you are looking to get into, for she went up against the best and won. Now this book she will give you recipes to cook, but for me the real meat of this book was her giving out the recipes of her rubs, and some barbeque sauce. One important part also that was helpful was writing down the measurements as you go along so you can change ingredients if needed and also you will not get the flavor you are looking for the first time you start putting together different items to come up with the taste you want. I have found this to be true in other items that I have cooked also. I really was not into all of the items that she was making but everyone has different likes, so that is really not a big deal for me. her direction in what to have on hand to make a rub, or the basic ingredients to begin a sauce, and her explaining the difference in all of the different grills out there, and how she was wanting you to get comfortable with one before thinking on moving on to a bigger one. She also shows you how you can get the same flavor without having to buy a big grill just by adding different wood. Overall those were the items that made this a very good book for me.