Tom Schneider: Tom's passion for authentic barbecue arose during his high school days in Oklahoma and burgeoned over 20 years of uncovering traditional barbecue joints while traveling the United States. Tom is primarily a self-taught cook who, for the past decade, has leveraged his commitment to barbecue into award-winning barbecue recipes while competing in sanctioned barbecue competitions and formal barbecue judging. Tom is owner and pit master for Poppi-Q Bar-B-Que, a specialty catering business in the Indianapolis market.

Introduction 1

Part I: Centuries of Barbecue Smarts in Four Chapters 7

Chapter 1: Faces of Barbecue: A Pit, a Plateful, a Party 9

Chapter 2: Gathering Must-Have Equipment 23

Chapter 3: Collecting Ingredients and Using Them Wisely 39

Chapter 4: Barbecue Methods, Art, and Science 53

Part II: Preparation Prevails: Using Rubs and Marinades 67

Chapter 5: Mixing and Matching in Rubs and Marinades 69

Chapter 6: Crafting Dry Rubs for Any Meat or Taste 79

Chapter 7: Mixing Tried-and-True Marinades 93

Part III: The All-Important Sauce Story 107

Chapter 8: Sorting through the Sauce Story 109

Chapter 9: Crafting Barbecue Sauces Traditional and Unusual 117

Chapter 10: Getting Saucy while You Cook: Mop Sauces 133

Chapter 11: Sauces and Relishes for Dipping and Dashing 141

Part IV: Entrees and Sides and Then Some 155

Chapter 12: Something(s) to Serve with Your Barbecue 157

Chapter 13: A Melange of Main Dishes 179

Chapter 14: Great Dishes for Leftover Barbecue 193

Part V: The Part of Tens 201

Chapter 15: Ten Ways Rookies Ruin Good Meat 203

Chapter 16: Ten Truer Words Were Never Spoken 209

Chapter 17: Ten (Or So) Places to Turn for Tips 215

Chapter 18: Ten World-Famous Barbecue Events 221

Appendix: Metric Conversion Guide 227