Chapter 26 — Further Reading

Beginner

  • Meathead Goldwyn, Meathead: The Science of Great Barbecue and Grilling (2016). Excellent science-grounded BBQ reference. Hugely influential.
  • Aaron Franklin & Jordan Mackay, Franklin Barbecue: A Meat-Smoking Manifesto (2015). Texas brisket pedagogy from a master pitmaster.
  • Rick Bayless, Mexican Everyday (2005). Includes grilling as Mexican cuisine practices it.

Intermediate

  • Aaron Franklin, Franklin Steak (2019). Companion to his BBQ book; covers steaks, chops, and other grill applications.
  • Adam Perry Lang, Charred & Scruffed (2012) and Lang's other books. Approach to live-fire cooking that's philosophical and practical.
  • Steven Raichlen, The Barbecue! Bible (1998 and updates). Massive global tour of grilling traditions.

Advanced

  • Adrian Miller, Black Smoke: African Americans and the United States of Barbecue (2021). Essential history of African American contributions to BBQ — credit where credit is due.
  • Howard Conyers's research and articles. Engineer-turned-pitmaster; serious work on whole-hog tradition.
  • Daniel Vaughn, The Prophets of Smoked Meat (2013). Texas Monthly's BBQ editor on the central Texas tradition.
  • Steven Pyles, The Texas Cowboy Kitchen (2010). Cowboy and pit traditions in Texas.

International Grilling Traditions

  • Francis Mallmann, Seven Fires (2009). Argentine asado and live-fire cooking philosophy.
  • Cheryl Sternman Rule, Yogurt Culture (2015) — includes Persian, Turkish, Indian grilled traditions.
  • Maangchi, Maangchi's Real Korean Cooking (2015). Korean BBQ (galbi, bulgogi) tradition direct from a Korean source.
  • Edward Lee, Smoke and Pickles (2013). Korean-Southern American hybrid; thoughtful on cross-cultural BBQ.
  • Dan Toombs, The Curry Guy: BBQ (2020). Indian/Bangladeshi/Pakistani tandoor traditions adapted for home grilling.

Classical Sources

  • Curnonsky (Maurice Edmond Sailland), Cuisine et vins de France (early 20th century). French traditional grilling.
  • Brillat-Savarin, The Physiology of Taste (1825). Includes thoughts on roasting and grilling that have aged well.

Cultural Reading

  • Toni Tipton-Martin, The Jemima Code (2015) and Jubilee (2019). African American culinary history with significant BBQ chapters.
  • Michael Twitty, The Cooking Gene (2017). Foundational on African American foodways including BBQ.
  • Pat Martin, Life of Fire (2022). Tennessee whole-hog pitmaster; technique + tradition.
  • Sasha Issenberg, The Sushi Economy (2007). While it's about sushi rather than grilling, instructive on global supply chain affecting cuisine.

Useful YouTube Channels

  • Aaron Franklin's Franklin BBQ YouTube series — Brisket pedagogy at scale.
  • Mad Scientist BBQ — Jeremy Yoder's BBQ experimentation.
  • Smoking Dad BBQ — Methodical approach.
  • Joshua Weissman — Various grilling videos.
  • Glen and Friends Cooking — including older techniques.
  • Diaspora Co. — Indian spice content with relevance to tandoor and grill traditions.

Technical Resources

  • The Smoke Shop's pitmaster's workshop — Tennessee, in-person classes (hands-on learning).
  • AmazingRibs.com (Meathead's site). Active Q&A and rigorous testing.
  • Serious Eats grilling section. Kenji's grilled chicken and steak pieces are particularly good.

🔗 See also: Chapter 4 (Heat Transfer — radiation specifically), Chapter 8 (Maillard Reaction — the chemistry of grill marks), Chapter 11 (Fats and Oils — fat smoke point and what happens when it hits flame), Chapter 15 (Meat — collagen-gelatin conversion), Chapter 26 + Chapter 27 (sous vide as the technological opposite), Chapter 36 (Smoking as Preservation), Appendix G (cultural traditions).