(Part 2) Reddit mentions: The best meat & game books

Venison has such a long tradition in the U.S. that while it's beloved and widely hunted/eaten, it's surrounded by myth. Many of those myths have popped up in this post. Luckily, the top post from /u/TheMostlyOkayGatsby covered most of it, and accurately. There's a growing movement in today's connected world, with the increased focus on sustainable/organic/local foods, among chef/hunters and hunter/chefs to take a fresh look at wild game generally, and venison particularly.

First, dive in here: Honest Food Dot Net from Hank Shaw. Complete, science-based discussion of this exact topic. I can also highly recommend his book Buck, Buck Moose. It's not just recipes, but also food safety, handling, history, etc.

In the U.S., you can't legally buy wild game meat from your friend. They can give you some as a gift. This is due to the way our wildlife management works. At the turn of the last century, market/commercial hunters had almost wiped out North America's wild game species. Outlawing the practice has allowed them to recover to where they are today, where we can hold sustainable hunting seasons for personal use. There is some wild game farming (mostly elk) in the U.S. but it's the point source for all/most chronic wasting disease infections, which threaten wild game populations nationwide, so I don't recommend supporting the practice.

If you do get some meat from your friend, and I hope you do, ask some questions. What part of the country is it from? What kind of deer is it? (Whitetail, mule, elk?) What was its habitat like? (A farm-country corn-fed deer will taste different -- not necessarily better -- than a wilderness swamp-country deer.) What cuts are you getting? When/how was it processed? How was it frozen?

If you can't get this info, you'll have to wing it. If you unwrap and find clean, red/purple meat, cleanly cut and sweet smelling, you're in luck. Enjoy. If you unwrap it and find freezer burn, grey/dried edges/crust, crumbs of tallow, hair, and/or bone dust on the meat, that's a bad sign. Wash it well and hope for the best.

Assuming we're talking about North American whitetail/mule deer, and assuming proper handling and care before you get your hands on it, the following is true: There are no significant parasite or pathogen risks that you're not familiar with from handling beef, and wild venison can be safely eaten medium rare/rare/etc, just like beef. It does not need to be frozen first. Chronic Wasting Disease is a worth mentioning, but it's highly regional, and your state wildlife management agency will have advisories if it's a concern in your (hunting friend's) area.

Generally it's very lean meat, especially the "steak" and "chop" cuts. It's not marbled with interstitial fat in the same way that pork and beef are. Because of this it's extremely easy to overcook. You want very high heat to get a good crust/char on the outside while the inside stays nice and red. Maybe even a touch purple in the middle. Same if you're roasting a big chunk of loin. That's why sous vide is getting really popular with hunters -- it's easy to not overcook the meat. But it's doable in a skillet or on the grill with a little practice. I like to get mine finished on the outside (crust/char, kosher salt and butter/evoo coated) and pull from the heat with the center at about 110 degrees.

Regarding venison fat. There's a few types. On the outside of body, underneath the skin, is a thick layer of insulating fat called tallow. This is the stuff that folks hate. It's waxy and not-that-good-tasting and can coat your mouth in an unpleasant way. Hank Shaw writes that this is because its melting temperature is very high, higher than our mouth temp -- unlike beef and pork, which have fat that melts at our body temp, and therefore tastes great. Think chocolate bar: no good when cold, and taste amazing once it melts in your mouth. Same idea.

You can do two things about tallow. First, trim it off. As much as possible. Before freezing if at all possible. Second, if you're doing a braise or stew, skim the fat as much as possible as it cooks. Lastly, if you want to experience the true flavor without the gross mouthfeel, serve your steaks at super high temps and eat it while still crackling hot.

The other kind of fat is the "marbling" that you often see in beef and pork. This is not the same as tallow, and in fact generally does not taste bad. But you want to cook it low and slow. Think braise. This will be from the shanks and neck, especially, and these are my favorite venison cuts to cook right now. Steven Rinella's osso bucco is just astoundingly good with either shanks or neck.

If you only take one thing away from this post, remember this: Don't try to make it taste like beef. It's not beef. You wouldn't try to make pork taste like beef, right? You'll often see recipes that include wrapping in bacon, for example -- these are shortcuts for folks who don't care to learn why venison is different. Wild venison can be one of the best red meats you can eat, in all senses -- healthiest, lowest carbon footprint, most ethical, tastiest -- if you treat it like its own animal. Pun intended.

That said, any recipe that works for beef can work for venison. Just take into consideration the fat aspect. You'll need to add some (butter) or adjust cooking times and moisture accordingly. This can be tricky... hence using Hank Shaw's excellent cookbook linked above to help.

Good luck! Here's hoping you ask and your friend is a real friend and hands you 10 cleanly-frozen pounds of the best meat money can't buy.

Okay, you've caught me; there's beer and wine books, too. Here's what you're looking at:

I run a cocktail bar, and I've been meaning to share my library for some time, but I have a knack for lending my books out to friends and colleagues so I keep waiting for it to be complete. Then I realized my collection keeps growing and will never be complete, so I may as well just share a snapshot of it.

Top row:

Sippin' Safari: In Search of the Great "Lost" Tropical Drink Recipes... and the People Behind Them by Jeff "Beachbum" Berry

Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails: From the Alamagoozlum to the Zombie 100 Rediscovered Recipes and the Stories Behind Them by Ted "Dr. Cocktail" Haigh

The Joy of Mixology: The Consummate Guide to the Bartender's Craft by Gary "Gaz" Regan

The Flavor Bible: The Essential Guide to Culinary Creativity, Based on the Wisdom of America's Most Imaginative Chefs by Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg

The World Encyclopedia of Beer by Brian Glover

How to Brew: Everything You Need to Know to Brew Beer Right the First Time by John J. Palmer

Jigger, Beaker and Glass: Drinking Around the World by Charles H. Baker, Jr. (aka The Gentleman's Companion Volume II)

Tasting Beer: An Insider's Guide to the World's Greatest Drink by Randy Mosher

Michael Jackson's Complete Guide to Single Malt Scotch by Michael Jackson

The Ultimate Guide to Spirits & Cocktails by Andre Domine

New Classic Cocktails by Mardee Haidin Regan and Gary "Gaz" Regan

The Book of Garnishes by June Budgen

World's Best Cocktails: 500 Signature Drinks from the World's Best Bars and Bartenders by Tom Sandham

The Complete Book of Spirits: A Guide to Their History, Production, and Enjoyment by Anthony Dias Blue

Cocktails & Amuse-Bouches for Her & For Him by Daniel Boulud and Xavier Herit

Imbibe!: From Absinthe Cocktail to Whiskey Smash, a Salute in Stories and Drinks to "Professor" Jerry Thomas, Pioneer of the American Bar by David Wondrich

Middle Row:

Hemingway & Bailey's Bartending Guide to Great American Writers

The New and Improved Illustrated Bartenders' Manual; or: How to Mix Drinks of the Present Style by Harry Johnson (Espresso Book Machine Reprint)

Michael Jackson's Bar & Cocktail Companion: The Connoisseur's Handbook by Michael Jackson

The Craft of Stone Brewing Co.: Liquid Lore, Epic Recipes, and Unabashed Arrogance by Greg Koch, Steve Wagner & Randy Clemens

The PDT Cocktail Book: The Complete Bartender's Guide from the Celebrated Speakeasy by Jim Meehan

Bitters: A Spirited History of a Classic Cure-All, with Cocktails, Recipes, and Formulas by Brad Thomas Parsons

A Taste for Absinthe: 65 Recipes for Classic and Contemporary Cocktails by R. Winston Guthrie & James F. Thompson

The Bartender's Guide to IBA Official Cocktails by Jenny Reese (Espresso Book Machine Printing)

Punch: The Delights (and Dangers) of the Flowing Bowl by David Wondrich

The Home Distiller's Handbook: Make Your Own Whiskey & Bourbon Blends, Infused Spirits and Cordials by Matt Teacher

A History of the World in 6 Glasses by Tom Standage

The Decorative Art of Japanese Food Carving: Elegant Garnishes for All Occasions by Hiroshi Nagashima

What to Drink with What You Eat: The Difinitive Guide to Pairing Food with Wine, Beer, Spirits, Coffee, Tea - Even Water - Based on Expert Advice from America's Best Sommeliers by Andrew Dornenburg & Karen Page

The American Cocktail: 50 Recipes that Celebrate the Craft of Mixing Drinks from Coast to Coast by The Editors of Imbibe Magazine

The ABC of Cocktails by Peter Pauper Press

How to Make Your Own Drinks: Create Your Own Alcoholic and Non-Alcoholic Drinks from Fruit Cordials to After-Dinner Liqueurs by Susy Atkins

How to Make a World of Liqueurs by Heather Kibbey & Cheryl Long

I haven't been cooking much lately, but...

Get [this book.](http://www.amazon.com/All-About-Braising-Uncomplicated-Cooking/dp/0393052303 "'Uncomplicated' is a lie.") Make all the foods. Pepperonata is one of my favourites, along with the cabbage recipes, then the chicken with prunes & olives, pork with milk, and pretty much all the beef recipes are the ones I made regularly. Having a braising pot is an absolute requirement, though [preferably a cast iron enamel one].

This is one I used to really like--before I learned how to actually cook. It was easy & good, but sometimes the difficulty came in when trying to find the correct type of seasoning packet at the store.

Huevos rancheros: make sure you have lard to fry the tortillas in.. and you might as well use that for the eggs, too. If you've never made it, it's basically a breakfast tostada with a corn tortilla piled with [refried or black] beans, salsa/pico de gallo, a fried egg, and cheese or sour cream on top. It's barely more complicated to make than eggs on toast, as long as you have some leftover beans, but much more rewarding. It's not too hard to make homemade refried beans, either, especially if you use canned beans--make a big mess of 'em & then use the leftovers for all kinds of snacks for days.

Carnitas: the secret ingredient the recipes don't tell you about is using some Coke in the cooking liquid.

Diana Kennedy has some good books if you want more Mexican foods.

.... There are lots of things I like to make. I dunno. Hummus & falafel. [Beef with broccoli.](http://rasamalaysia.com/beef-and-broccoli-recipe/2/ "This is my go-to Chinese recipe site.") Butter chicken [just buy the seasoning packet at the Indian market]. Saag. The hard thing about making different ethnicities is how many different seasonings you have to keep in the pantry, and then there are the essential varieties of rice. Usually jasmine & basmati are enough, though; jasmine for all East Asian foods, basmati for Middle Eastern & South Asian. Mexican can be pretty much any kind; I usually go with jasmine, I think. Sushi, tho, that requires another variety entirely. Picking one ethnicity at a time to master makes pantry building easier.. more gradual.

Oh, yeah, also Epicurious is a great site for recipes with lots of search parameters. Recipes are generally from Bon Apetit or Gourmet magazines--the recipes published in Bon Apetit are simpler & more reasonable than the ones in Gourmet. I would like to go to America's Test Kitchen, but that, like, costs money or something, so screw them.

"Mastering the Art of French Cooking" is her classic, in every library and its pretty easy to find at a used bookstore for next to nothing. Quite a few of the sauces will involve some creative keto work to get aroud the roux but at least it'll be an interesting experiment.

I just picked up How To Cook Meat second hand and have been working my way through the cuts of meat I would've been less likely to buy on my own. Combine it with a former favorite from my past life, Veganomicon and I've got a nearly limitless supply of new meat and veg dinners.

I'm lucky that vegan years helped me out in the "omg this food is so boring" phases so now I've got all kinds of methods to deal with it but getting a cookbook and plowing through every recipe in it is still one of my favorites. Modifying recipes to be animal product free before and carb and sugar free now makes it all the more interesting. Last month I got on a medieval cooking kicking and started making the amazingly named: Grave of Small Birds.

I'm wondering if you might like MEAT: Everything You Need to Know more than the ATK book.

ATK is solid, but not bullet proof. I made a stir fry dish out of one of their books the other night, and I knew the sauce was going to be too watery. I made it as is anyway, as it called for more cornstarch than I thought appropriate as well. In the end, it was indeed too watery.

Comes down to how much exposition you like in your cookbooks I reckon. I find ATK to be pretty light in tangential details, but they're very recipe rich. Depends what you like. I'm not sure which way 'MEAT' leans.

You can't really go wrong with the Franklin Barbecue Manifesto mentioned by /u/OmegaDriver.

It's written by a guy that runs a restaurant where people start lining up outside his restaurant at 6 AM on Saturdays. He doesn't open until 11.

He does a lot of helpful online videos that you can find on YouTube, but the book really is something every smoker should have. It goes into the details and even science of smoking, and can get geeky in parts, but I love that. The more understanding you have of what is going on with your food, the better you'll be at being able to get steady, reliable results when you can make changes on the fly to deal with changes in outdoor temperature, humidity, wood flare-ups, etc.

In chapter 6 he gets into the details of Brisket, Ribs, and Turkey breast, but that's about it as far as "recipes" goes, but it's SUPER detailed and describes EXACTLY how to get the results you're looking for. Once you've got those 3 things mastered, you're not going to really need a cook book anyway, other than to find some new flavor profiles for your rubs and marinades.

Can't recommend it enough.

Butchering I don't know much about, but is crucial for the final product. I'd hire someone to walk you through it the first time, regardless of how much you have read by then. To produce charcuterie, you'll need a curing chamber that can handle volume, and have it tuned in to handle the fluctuationsin humidity that will occur when adding so much product. You could freeze some and do it in batches, as processing a whole hog into charcuterie is a massive endeavor all at once.

I'd start looking for a butcher or abattoir that will give you a hand with the butchering and teach you, and start reading. And start building a curing chamber of appropriate size for your needs.

You could get the chamber built and start with making a smaller run out of a portion of one hog, sell the rest and scale up next slaughtering time.

Marianski is a reference for production of cured meats, I'd read it a few times before starting.

Charcuteria is also excellent, about Spanish style cured meats, but has a lot of valuable info.

​

edit - spelling

The Art of Living According to Joe Beef - A Cookbook of Sorts I grew up outside of Montreal, and while I've never eaten at this particular restaurant (I don't live there anymore) I loved the pictures and stories.

Because of where I live a lot of the ingredients are hard to get (like I can't just ORDER hare/rabbit like they do. I have to wait for a friend of mine that hunts to have a spare rabbit from his trapline he can spare me).

But the recipes in the book like fantastic and I do intend to try and make some of the foods I've read through.

The Meat Buyers Guide is a good resource.

I also enjoyed The Butcher's Guide as a general introduction to the business.

I recently attended a workshop by master butcher Kari Underly and her book looks pretty awesome although I don't own a copy.

Rachel Ray's 30 minute meals is a great cookbook that is exactly laid out like you are asking. It can be had super cheap used from Amazon as well.

In addition to the book /u/sporkwobbler listed (which is great!), I like The Butcher's Guide to Well-Raised Meat and The Art of Beef Cutting

The first one touches on everything a little bit, gives you some to go on if you want to research in depth about a variety of meat-related things. The Beef book is a textbook for beef-breakdowns. My only complaint is that there's not much about the diaphram meats (hanger, skirt, flank, flap). It's absolutely fantastic otherwise. Breakdown by primals, subprimals, and lists ethnic cuts on the side too.

That all being said, they're all helpful as a guide, but I never fully learn until I've cut something up a couple times. Best of luck to you!

I’d highly recommend checking out Honest-food.net for a variety of venison recipes. The author, Hank Shaw is my go-to for anything wild game. I own several of his books, including Buck Buck Moose which I highly recommend. It is all about everything antlered. Great info on butchering and breaking down a deer, and recipes for every part of a deer. Corned venison tongue sandwiches is one of my favorites.

Schmaltz is a staple of several region cuisines. It is generally just rendered and clarified/strained. You can buy tubs of it, but if you can make your own, why not?!

Michael Ruhlman has a book dedicated to it, and ask anybody who was raised with Jewish/kosher food in the kitchen, and they'll know what's up.

OP, save it just like bacon fat or tallow or duck fat. Use it when roasting veg or pan frying. Once rendered and the water removed and other bits strained out, it freezes well to keep on-hand for the future.

According to the schmaltz cookbook I have (which I totally recommend if you're interested in a making schmaltz from scratch), it will keep a week in the fridge, but may pick up flavors from other things in the fridge. If I want to keep it longer, I put it in a quart ziplock bag and freeze it. It will keep for quite a while frozen.

You can fry or sauté anything in it - it's especially good with mushrooms and onions. We've used it to make a roux before making a sauce as well. You can bake with it (instead of butter) and you could fry latkes in it if you had enough.

This book is one of the better kept secrets of pit design if you want to get a deep understanding of the subject: https://www.amazon.com/Smoking-Smokehouse-Design-Stanley-Marianski/dp/0982426704

The good thing is that no matter what style you go with, there are numerous ways to produce great BBQ. I have a custom build Lang 60" smoker, but if I had the room I'd eventually want to build a traditional cinder block/brick style pit for whole hogs.

Here is a cinder block design I really like with an excellent build guide and parts list: http://caughtsmokinbbq.blogspot.com/p/bbq-pit.html

I've not tried dry-cured meats, but here's a stuffer for $40US. I just use my grinder to stuff the sausages I make (bratwurst, andouille, boudin) and it works just fine. The piston press stuffer really shines for emulsified sausages like bologna and franks.

As for recipes, I have this book and this one and they are fairly comprehensive. Read the Ruhlman first for the broad strokes, then the Marianski for some more in-depth theory and practice, along with what seems like a thousand recipes.

Thank you for the suggestions, I especially like the idea of Henderson's but the books I find by him are called Nose to Tail Eating in two volumes and a complete version. Is this the same book to your knowledge just published differently in the UK?

Definitely getting Kent's book for myself once Uni finally ends and that high paying job (I'm sure it's in the works) comes along.

Have it, it's yours.

Cooking is the only part of hunting I'm actually good at, and I don't have recipes so much as I fuck around in the kitchen for a couple hours and it usually turns out nicely. If you want some great game-cooking stuff, here's some of my favourites:

1. The River Cottage Meat Book, 2008, $21.12
   
   
2. The L.L. Bean Game and Fish Cookbook, 1983, $0.01
   
3. Afield: A Chef's Guide to Preparing and Cooking Wild Game and Fish, 2012, $31.76
   
4. The Joy of Cooking, 1943, $39.98

OP's book/media suggestions, formatted with links:

• People start with Ruhlman's Charcuterie, but quickly learn it's heavy on salt.
  
• For some slightly more esoteric recipes, check out In the Charcuterie by Taylor Boetticher and Levonia Miller. I absolutely "butchered" those names, btw.
  
• Also, get a book called Pig Perfect by Peter Kaminski... Not a lot of recipes, but it will enamor you with all things pig.
  
• Show... There's a series on BBC called <Time Period> Farm]... Edwardian, Victorian, Jacobean, etc... Where a group of historians run a farm for a year by the standards of the time period. It's cool and they do some pig stuff.

Want to make it perfect? Get a roasting pan with rack like this and a Thermopen.

Preheat your oven to 400F. Dry the meat with paper towels and then rub with salt and pepper. Place the meat standing up on the rack with the bones facing down and put it in the oven. Cook until the outsides are brown then reduce the temp to 300F. Use the thermopen to check the temperature at the thickest part (dead center) early and often. Let the thermopen sit for 5 seconds. Temps are: 120F for rare, 126F for medium-rare, 134F for medium, 150F for medium-well, 160 for well-done.

When it reaches the temperature you desire, pull it out of the oven and take it out of the pan/rack and place it on a platter. Cover it loosely with foil and let it sit for 15-20 minutes to rest.

Source: Very slightly adapted from How to Cook Meat by Christopher Schlesinger and John Willoughby. The thermopen recommendation is mine. You can get any roasting rack, the one I linked isn't a recommendation, just an example.

My first pick always is the Marinski Books....


Charcutier. Salumiere. Wurstmeister - Francois Paul-Armand Vecchio
http://www.amazon.com/Charcut.../dp/0615720846/ref=sr_1_1...

The Marinski Books : http://www.amazon.com/.../e/B001JRXURI/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1

In the Charcuterie from The Fatted Calf: http://www.amazon.com/.../dp/B00C0AO18U/ref=pd_sim_kstore_1

Pig Perfect - Peter Kaminski: http://www.amazon.com/Pig.../dp/1401300367/ref=sr_1_1...

Charcuterie and French Pork Cookery - Jane Grigson : http://www.amazon.com/Charcut.../dp/B004SHJJ44/ref=sr_1_6...

The Art of Charcuterie - John Kowalski: http://www.amazon.com/Art.../dp/0470197412/ref=sr_1_sc_1...

Professional Charcuterie: Sausage Making, Curing, Terrines, and Pates - John Kinsella & David T. Harvey: http://www.amazon.com/Profess.../dp/B0032UXZ4S/ref=sr_1_1...

Great Sausage Recipes and Meat Curing - Rytek Kutas : http://www.amazon.com/Great.../dp/0025668609/ref=sr_1_1...

Bruce Aidells's Complete Sausage Book: http://www.amazon.com/Bruce.../dp/B007WKE2J6/ref=sr_1_1...
Patés & Terrines: http://www.amazon.com/Pat%C3.../dp/0688038964/ref=sr_1_2...

Hank Shaws Page: http://www.amazon.com/Hank.../e/B004OBEILI/ref=sr_tc_2_0...

All About Braising
Do yourself a favor and buy a dutch oven and this book.

I also love Larousse Gastronomique

The Complete Meat Cookbook by Bruce Aidells. It looks like he has a newer one out but I haven't read it.

I like it because it teaches you how to buy meat. If you want to make a pot roast, for example, it gives you the common cuts of beef for that and the pros and cons of each one, then gives you the recipe and variations.

Since meat is good for you, I consider it a healthy cook book.

Deer hunter, butcher, bbq'r here too.

I'd follow Hank Shaw's advice (Buck Buck Moose cookbook) for a roast - here is in short:

Rub the the roast with salt 30 minutes or so before you're going to cook it. I put these on a wood smoker and cook til the internal temp is 120, incidentally, keeping the temp in the 300-325 degree range.

Back to prep: use a sharp knife to put a bunch of little slits in the roast and insert a sliver of garlic. Wipe the entire roast well with oil.

If you're using an oven, do it at 325 degrees and, as with wood, cook til the internal is about 120. If you want a crust on it, pull it early from the oven, add some wine to the pan, increase the heat to 450, and cook til it's brown.

Regardless of how you cook it, if you let the internal go beyond 130-140 degrees the meat will be gray and tough. Venison should be eaten rare or medium rare.

And marinade? you can go for it although down here in Texas we rarely use more than salt and pepper so that you can really taste the meat.

And if you roast it in a pan, make sure to make a tasty pan sauce.

Sorry for the horrible recipe writing!! Get Hank's book - I've made several recipes from it and it's great.

If you are looking for a 1930's drinks guide, THIS is your book, I inherited a copy from my uncle. They have some amazing recipes, including absinth frappées, and Gin fizzes. Beyond that the writing is spectacular the book is more of a novel about how they drank their way around the world on a boat in the 1930's.

Sadly, in the USA, nose to tail seems to be for “high brow” folks.

https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Nose-Tail-Fergus-Henderson/dp/0062282611

> Adventurous palates as well as some of the most famous names in the food world—including Mario Batali, Anthony Bourdain, Jamie Oliver, and Daniel Boulud—flock to Fergus Henderson’s London restaurant, St. John, to indulge in his culinary artistry.

Poorer countries seem to be less picky-wasteful. Last last week, I saw a couple of episodes of that Taco series on Netflix. Mexicans seem to like eating heart, liver, kidney, etc. with their tacos.

Maybe check-out Mexican restaurants in your area.

The 12 Bones cookbook is a really great, too!

http://www.amazon.com/12-Bones-Smokehouse-Mountain-Cookbook/dp/0760347263

Although, one thing, regarding "Cheap Fast Good" Its only time saving if you have made the "basics" and frozen them for use later. Like the ground beef, or chicken, and so on. Otherwise the recipes can take a little longer.

You can even scratch both of those books and pickup any of the Rachel Ray 30-minutes or less cook books. I used a lot of recipes from that book when I was learning to cook too.
http://www.amazon.com/30-Minute-Meals-Rachael-Ray/dp/1891105035/ref=sr_1_8?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1370293556&sr=1-8&keywords=rachel+ray+30+minutes+of+less

https://www.amazon.com/12-Bones-Smokehouse-Mountain-Cookbook/dp/0760347263 $16 hardcover with recipes for all their best stuff--smoked potato salad, jalapeno cheese grits, the cornbread.. mmmmmmmmmm

Skip the rubs/spices. Salt and pepper are the best. Check this book out: https://www.amazon.com/Prophets-Smoked-Meat-Journey-Barbecue/dp/0062202928.

Here is the proof, straight from Daniel Vaughn (BBQ Editor for Texas Monthly + author of soon-to be-released "The Prophets of Smoked Meat")

I think the thing to remember about Salt Lick is that it may make decent BBQ (not IMO), but it doesn't make real Texas BBQ. Especially like some of the places I or u/bartink posted

Whoaaaaaa...that looks amazing!

Is this the cookbook? - https://www.amazon.com/Art-Living-According-Joe-Beef/dp/1607740141

Do you guys have a family butcher shop that's been around forever with people who really know their meat? Has no one put out a Meat book with all the various cuts of meat and popular recipes? If not maybe you should? Pat LaFrieda just put out a cook book that I am definitely going to get, http://www.amazon.com/MEAT-Everything-You-Need-Know/dp/1476725993, He's the guy everyone goes to for proprietary blends for your restaurants burger as well as any kind of meat.

The Bacon Cookbook, Ratio, and because I'm obsessed with New Orleans food, The Court of Two Sisters Cookbook.

Also someone else mentioned the Cook's Illustrated cookbook which is absolutely amazing.

Thank you for the lengthy reply, Well I have a slow cooker and an air fryer, plus I found a store today that sells all of the above (Frozen), so I look forward to trying these.

I also just purchased 2 books by Fergus Henderson.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Complete-Nose-Tail-British-Cooking/dp/1408809168

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Book-St-John-British-cooking/dp/1529103215

A few things that should be addressed, I hope this doesn't come off too negatively.

• Don't tell people they're eating veal when it's pork
  
• It would be a bad idea to use the fat-cap from the loin in sausages, there is way too much silver skin and sinew, grind it and render for lard.
  
• Braising a loin is an affront to the animal that died for it, it tastes sad, dry and stringy.
  
• DON'T TELL PEOPLE THEY'RE EATING VEAL WHEN IT'S PORK.
  
  
  I get that you want to make a Youtube tutorial series, but you need more experience in both the cutting an the cooking of meat. Take a break from making videos to spend time reading/cooking/editing videos.
  
  RESOURCES TO CHECK OUT!
  
  One of the most straight foreward books on Butchery
  
  Amazing techniques on utilizing the whole animal
  
  Great technique for the weird parts
  
  Great foundational stuff as well as a bit about ethics
  
  YOUTUBE VIDZ!
  
  A short series on cool butchery techniques
  
  A well-spring of meat knowledge, dude knows his stuff

Thanks! I developed mine from trial and error with the help from the book: All About Braising. The polenta was all me though!

Wow, I'm sorry. I completely linked the wrong book. Women everywhere will want this.

Much better.

How to Cook Meat by Schlesinger & Willoughby. Recipes by cut, includes pork, veal, etc.

Love that book.

Very edible!

Afield: A Chef's Guide to Preparing and Cooking Wild Game and Fish
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1599621142

Has some great info in it on cooking & cleaning wild pigs.

I will disagree with some of the other posters that males are inedible.

This book will help this discussion:

Meat: Everything You Need to Know https://www.amazon.com/dp/1476725993/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_yeWQyb3HDRHZZ

https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Meat-Cookbook-Bruce-Aidells/dp/061813512X

The description is a little far-fetched (or at least inaccurate). Being that it's almost 20 years old, it doesn't go into organic and grass-fed much, if at all. So don't buy it for that.

EDIT: You can see the table of Contents at the Amazon link. That may be a little deceptive, too. It's probably 3/4's recipes and 1/4th advice/information. But the recipes are matched with the subject/cuts being discussed and give you a a good idea of how to cook (and how not to) most cuts. Wich is most of what you need to know. You don't have to follow recipes (I never do), but pay attention to the techniques rather than the ingredients in the recipes.

I've read that smoke will stop absorbing well once the exterior of the meat reaches a certain temperature. Maybe that's part of it?

Offsets provide the best flavor due to science. Burning wood gives off a sweet smoke while smoldering wood is bitter smoke. Reference: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00N6PFBDW/ref=dp-kindle-redirect/189-3796810-6372614?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

Experience: my backyard.http://imgur.com/g7cMTZs

The one thing he is right on, if you want a decent offset, you can make a cinder block one like mine for under $300 that will cook 150 lbs of meat or find one made of at least 3/8" steel. Anything less is junk and a waste of money.

I've never tried it before, usually stick to meat or cheese.

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All joking aside, check out Aaron Franklin's book...

Modernist cuisine at home o se hai il grano, Modernist cuisine

Under Pressure

Meat

quanto arriverà (ancora senza data né titolo definitivo) il libro di Dave Arnold sulla carne rischia di essere anche quello imperdibile

come sempre, esplorare i related può darti anche altre idee validissime.

All about Braising, and All about Roasting by Molly Stevens are my most used books. Changed my life.

http://www.amazon.com/All-About-Braising-Uncomplicated-Cooking/dp/0393052303

https://www.amazon.com/Smoking-Smokehouse-Design-Robert-Marianski/dp/0982426704/ref=mp_s_a_1_25?keywords=meat+smoking+book&qid=1559301632&s=gateway&sr=8-25

Carnitas!

Braised Pork Belly and Braised Short Ribs from Molly Stevens' Cookbook All About Braising

https://www.amazon.com/Buck-Moose-Techniques-Antelope-Antlered/dp/099694480X

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https://www.amazon.com/Book-Schmaltz-Love-Song-Forgotten/dp/0316254088

I've got this book pre-ordered.

The Prophets of Smoked Meat: A Journey Through Texas Barbecue

Recommended

The Meat Cookbook http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Meat-Cookbook-Bruce-Aidells/dp/061813512X

Also, The Silver Spoon

Check this book out if you haven't already: All About Braising: The Art of Uncomplicated Cooking

Besides bread, here is the only book on the topic you will need.

i'm just gonna leave this here for you

This probably won't help you now, unless you get a digital copy, but check out the book "Buck, Buck, Moose" by Hank Shaw

https://www.amazon.com/Buck-Moose-Techniques-Antelope-Antlered/dp/099694480X

Well, it has the benefit of being true. When you say "I trust what my mom does over science-based stuff" then that's just one example I have to offer.

See, your mom and family might have done things for years and years, but that was back when you could eat raw eggs safely and didn't have to worry about chicken making you sick for three days. We didn't have the factory farms even 30 years ago that we do today. Pigs are raised in conditions so appalling that pig farms sterilize nearby rivers and prevent farms from growing crops. There's a great book called Pig Perfect that goes into all sorts of detail about that. So no, I wouldn't eat anything but farm-raise pork that's been at room temp. Even then I'd want to know how and where it was butchered.

I have been sick from undercooked chicken, and I don't wish to repeat my experiences with food-borne illness. So it's an easy choice for me: defrost at cold temperatures and there's no risk of being sick. Why roll the dice?

I tried once, but I didnt do a very good job of it. I'm willing to give it another shot at some point. I followed the directions in this book but I think I was too impatient.