The Prophets of Smoked Meat: A Journey Through Texas Barbecue – The Anthony Bourdain Books Guide to Brisket, Ribs, and Lone Star BBQ

by Daniel Vaughn, Nicholas McWhirter (Photographer)

The debut title in the Anthony Bourdain Books line , The Prophets of Smoked Meat by “Barbecue Snob” Daniel Vaughn, author of the enormously popular blog Full Custom Gospel BBQ, is a rollicking journey through the heart of Texas Barbecue. From brisket to ribs, beef to pork, mesquite to oak, this fully illustrated, comprehensive guide to Texas barbecue includes pit masters’ recipes, tales of the road—from country meat markets to roadside stands, sumptuous photography, and a panoramic look at the Lone Star State, where smoked meat is sacred.

Genres: Cookbooks, Food, Nonfiction, Travel, Cooking, Food and Drink

384 pages, Hardcover

First published May 14, 2013

Reviews

[Robyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun book for the summer. I especially enjoyed the road trip aspect. Being at least a fifth generation Texan it was enjoyable to be immersed in traditional, old-school Texas culture. Got to catch up on some places I ate as a kid. Learned about some great places to try and chuckled at the horror show that is (most, not all) east Texas BBQ. Owners microwaving their meat was especially hurtful to read. I mean, c'mon! Effort, people, effort.

I think a few got short sheeted when he visited right before closing. The meat won't be on its best behavior that late in the game. If he only has time to visit once, it seems a bit arbitrary to hit a joint in the evening because of where it falls on your tour. He certainly said as much, but still, for it to be put in print for the world to see is tough. I am looking forward to seeing when he revisits these places to see if there is redemption. Nothing better than a redemption tale.

And the stand outs are truly that good. Franklin is otherworldly. Louie Mueller, Snow's, Pecan Lodge, Lockhart "rib jam" Smokehouse. Truly some of the best food in the country.

[Lori Korleski · Rating 1 out of 5]

I turned this book back into the library after reading about 10 pages. I just couldn't get into the writing. "Smokestack Lightning" by Lolis Eric Elie (1996, 2005 by Ten Speed Press) was far superior. Sorry, Tony B.

[Kimberly · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was hoping for some history, or cooking techniques mixed in with this book. There are a couple, but it’s pretty much just: we drove to this place, I ate this, it was dry or moist.

There are some recipes at the end. I wish I could just buy a smaller book with those.

[Kristi · Rating 4 out of 5]

First off, and this probably goes without saying, do not read this book while hungry. It is just a bad idea. Also, don't read this book before or after eating something you're only just "meh" about, as it will do nothing to help your mood. I wasn't sure how much I would actually enjoy reading about someone else's journey through the great state of Texas while eating mass amounts of BBQ, but this is actually a really fun book. There is quite a but of repetition as Vaughn goes from restaurant to restaurant saying what was good, bad, or maybe even mediocre about what they had to offer, but it was actually never bored while reading it. Each chapter deals with a certain section of the state, which works out well considering that Texas is slightly larger then the entire country of France. I got the chance to root for my favorite places and cities, and also make serious notes about the places I want to try myself. It isn't just a book about Texas BBQ, but also the joy of the road trip, and the diverse population that calls this great state home.

[Rory · Rating 2 out of 5]

If Anthony Bourdain only published this for the photos, I understand, but besides learning about the basics of barbecue, as well as bark, the text made this a very boring book. Texas barbecue deserves better, and it has had better. This isn't it.

[Ed · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very descriptive. I felt like I was in TX with them. However it got a little repetitive.

[Morgan · Rating 2 out of 5]

A series of extremely well-written and well-photographed Yelp reviews.

[Michael Filippini · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first saw this book on a website called "uncrate" and it is now 20 years strong. I got it when it first came out under the guise it was going to be a cookbook. I was misguided but it does tell a very good story about a journey through Texas BBQ. a few things before I begin; I come from California. Great marijuana (I don't smoke) great wine and beer (if you drink), they don't have a clue when it comes to food. Sure they have high end chains such as the laundry's select club and a grip of Michelin starred restaurants none of which originate from California. As in the food itself not the establishments. Texas BBQ was always from Texas. New York Pizza was always from New York. Along with Cajun food from the south. Santa Maria seasoning for a tri-tip came out of central, CA. One spice, good for you cali! As someone who appreciates good BBQ, which you guessed it; California doesn't have....Texas nails it right on the head. Every time I have had Texas BBQ whether it be amateur or professional I was never disappointed. North Carolina's Sam Jones let me down, Kansas City BBQ was a hype. Georgia was superb. Texas is the ultimate authority and I'm not just talking about Franklin BBQ either.

One other major thing I wanted to disclose about this book. I kept in on the shelf for 13 years because I noticed that this was one, not a cookbook and a story and two this was an Anthony Bourdain sponsored book. Mr. Bourdain, god bless his soul had one of the worst ego's in the culinary universe. I have read Kitchen Confidential, a book where he called virtually every noteworthy celebrity chef out including Wolfgang Puck out, who is a sweet old man even if cooked for the Third Reich I wouldn't belittle him on principal. So anytime I see Anthony Bourdain's mark on a book I raise an eyebrow. I'm glad it was just his blessings and not his commentary.

This book takes on Texas from west to east and everything in between covering the four major types of Texas BBQ which you will learn the differences in this book. When I would drive through Amarillo, I knew of the Big Texan but I wouldn't eat there until my second time there over a year and a half later in 2024. I agree with the primary author of this book; Daniel Vaughn that the Big Texan doesn't really provide quality BBQ as much as their steak. I went to Smokey Joe's right north from that location and the general coconscious was that Big Texan is a a tourist trap as opposed to flavorful BBQ. I did have the 72OZ steak as opposed to their BBQ and I was happy as I left. That being said I feel that Daniel Vaugh and Nicholas McWhirter do have valuable opinion's aside from Mr. Bourdain's good graces.

What I appreciated most about this book was the authors wit and professional critism of the establishments he goes to. Not all of these venues 13 years now after the writing of this book are still open yet alone operate as BBQ joints. He is able to take the good and bad of every restaurant he enters and eats from. We learn that even Texas Santa-Maria tri-tip which you don't generally find outside of California is better giving me more of a reason to visit Texas. I don't see eye to eye with exactly everything our author has to say especially how he rules out chicken as a BBQ sustainable medium for food. Chicken should always be direct heat when used in BBQ. It might go quick but that's not a reason to dislike BBQ chicken. Outside that I don't have too many other stones I want to throw at this book. If you disagree with his opinions supported by the operations of the establishments then of course you may.

He does explain his reviews and I would recommend the BBQ profiles at the end of the book as they contain recipes. On page 356 you will find the "best" list to visit should you want to see for yourself the caliber of the Texas BBQ trek the authors took. If your a fan of salt lick just be sure to take it with a grain of salt. National Chains of BBQ just simply don't compare....I learned a lot from this book and so will you!

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Talk about a literary palate cleanser (one of my shelves)! This book made me so hungry.

As an avid BBQer, owning two grills and two smokers and using them regularly, this book was right up my alley. Its commentary about preparing and cooking good BBQ is spot-on. The not-so-eye-opening revelation was that there is a whole lot of mediocre BBQ out there. Most times we'd rather eat BBQ that I make. But finding a good or great BBQ joint is pure gold, and not easy throughout the country. But heck, in Texas, it should have been easy. Not so, it appears.

Still, it was fun to travel with Vaughn and friend and experience BBQ all over Texas. It was interesting to see how the prep and smoking styles changed from one part of the state to the next. It was amazing that they could eat that much BBQ at such intensity. Talk about a labor of love.

I skimmed over the "this was good" or "this was bad" parts of the food evaluation at many of the joints because it got so repetitive, especially the bad reviews. The section at the end where the BBQ chefs comment is quite enjoyable.

The photos are great as well. They show a real slice of Texas, smoked low and slow and served without fanfare.

[Dave Anderson · Rating 2 out of 5]

You would think with a food tour, you might have a plan. A plan slightly different than randomly stopping at every BBQ place on the map. Your incessant complaining about nearly everything you ate does nothing for you, the book, the readers or the establishments you visited.

It’s like going on an ugly tour, stopping at every dive bar trying to pickup the ugly patrons. And then you write a book about them, complaining because they are cranky and ugly.

I will keep reading for a while, but if you are looking for an enjoyable book about fine cooking, don’t bother.

Interesting to be writing a review that is as acerbic and disrespectful as your book!

[Dom Mahoney · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are some interesting historical anecdotes and lore bits here, but the vast majority of the book consists of repetitive whining about pretty much every BBQ joint they come across.

There are significantly more poor reviews in this book than there are good ones, and it’s incredibly boring on Kindle. I guess if you’re buying this as a hardcopy for a coffee table book, it’s fun to look at… But this isn’t the love letter to Texas BBQ it looks to be, it’s a pretentious memoir of a road trip where they barely enjoyed anything they ate.

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book. So many great stories and excellent pictures. Note that it is not a cookbook though there are a handful of recipes in the back. Interesting to hear how many places are out there that are tiny little joints and just because a place is in Texas doesn’t mean it’s going to put out great que. I kept finding myself starting to plan out my own Texas bbq roadtrip.

[Justin · Rating 3 out of 5]

An exploration of the current state of texas bbq via road trip. No recipes though.

[Cade · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really appreciated the bluntness of Vaughn's reviews. If the BBQ was bad, he didn't pull any punches, regardless of the establishment. For me, that really builds the credibility of the accolades when he hands them out. He is certainly a BBQ aficionado. After eating at Gatlin's, a place he recommends in Houston, my BBQ meter has been re-calibrated, and I understand how good BBQ can be. My previous level of Good, is what Vaughn would consider "Passable". Ignorance was bliss.

There are several criticisms regarding the physical size and layout of the book, such as the butcher paper toned pages. I agree that theses can be distracting, but I kind of liked the tone of the pages by the end of the book. Also, I would have liked to have seen more of the photography featured in the book. Lots of talk about the photography, not much display. Please reference the age-old saying, "A picture is worth a thousand words." He mentions the photography book of work, "Texas BBQ" by Wyatt McSpadden, and it would be an excellent companion piece to this book, featuring some amazing photographs of places reviewed.

I will admit that the writing can seem a bit repetitious as well, but it is BBQ. When you are writing about about looking for the best brisket in Texas, you have to try the brisket at every BBQ joint; therefore, every review is probably going to mention the brisket. That all being stated, I really did like the book. I was fascinated by the scale of the entire endeavor. While not taken in one grand trip, the feat of sampling 186 BBQ joints across the state in only 35 days (over 5 per day) seems more than daunting. When you factor in the scale of the State of Texas and realize that it took more than 10,300 miles of driving, the task seems Herculean. I have ambitions of hitting the BBQ trail and discovering some of what Texas has to offer. This book has made me realize that it will be very important to get to the places early and to be prepared to wait. It also has helped narrow down the options (a little). Then again, the hole-in-the-wall joint in the off the path town could be terrible, or it could be BBQ bliss waiting to be discovered, so it doesn't narrow the search, it just adds a couple of places to the 'bucket-list'.

[Janie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vaughn, Daniel & Nicholas McWhirter (photogs.). The Prophets of Smoked Meat: A Journey Through Texas Barbecue. Ecco: HarperCollins. 2013. 384p. bibliog. index. ISBN 9780062202925. $29.99; ebk. ISBN 9780062202956. HOME ECON
This exploration of barbecue by Texas Monthly magazine barbecue editor Vaughn reads more like a love story than a cookbook. With a restaurant guide and collective bibliographies of the who’s who of pit masters and some of their secret recipes, Vaughn’s homage to smoked meat is full of cadence, and the accompanying photos are so luscious and seductive they will tempt even the least likely fan of smoky brisket, pulled pork, beef sausage, and ribs. In this first book in Ecco’s Anthony Bourdain series, Vaughn describes place by place the fare he encountered as he traveled throughout the state. According to the author, there are four major types of barbecue: East Country (smoky with sauce), Hill Country (cowboy style), South Texas (barbacoa, or whole cow heads cooked in pits), and Central Texas (rubs and indirect heat). Whether readers are looking to replicate these techniques, experiment with different woods, or take a trip to Texas for themselves, this book is likely to be the closest thing most will have to visiting the mecca of meat in person.
Verdict A great gift for the barbecue enthusiast and a gorgeous book for display.—Jane Hebert, Glenside P.L. Dist., Glendale Heights, IL

[M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay, the first thing you need to know about this book is that is contains a LOT of food. Meat, sides, meat, beers, roadside stands, milkshakes, meat ... there's food in every sentence. When I first picked it up, with the intention of reading it cover to cover, I had to put it down after about 10 pages. I felt over-full just looking at the pictures! But when we went on a 10-day road trip across Texas I brought it along and devoured every page and picture as we traveled. What a book! It was the single best resource on our road trip. Mr. Vaughn's writing steered us off the main highway and onto wonderful side trips, to delicious dives, and kooky corners of Texas. We ate the best BBQ we've ever had (Louie Meuller! Pecan Lodge!) and visited interesting landmarks (Dr. Pepper Museum! Cadillac Ranch!) Know anyone who lives in Texas or is planning a trip there? Buy this for them. Now.

[Bryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I grabbed this without really looking at it and didn't realize it was simply a list of barbecue joints that Daniel Vaughn, the barbecue editor of Texas Monthly, has encountered on his Texas travels, with a brief review of each (sometimes exceedingly brief for the crappy ones). There's essentially no narrative, which sort of makes it difficult to read through in a sitting. The real problem, though, is that Texas barbecue joints are so ephemeral that Vaughn himself acknowledges the book was out of date before it was written, much less published. Still potentially worth it if you live in Texas as a sort of overview of the smoked meat scene. I've got a few places added to the list of joints to try, but in general you'd do better just reading the magazine column.

[CW · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having enjoyed Daniel Vaughn's barbecue blog for some time, I was excited to read this book. I enjoyed reading about the various barbecue joints in my home state and the barbecue road trips that Vaughn took with his friends. The pitmaster profiles and recipes from the pitmasters was a nice touch at the end of the book. I do wish that he would have had maps in each chapter that showed readers the routes he took on each trip. It would have also been nice to have captions under the photos, because I often wondered which barbecue joints the photos were taken. Despite these two faults, The Prophets of Smoked Meat is a good read for anyone that likes barbecue.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

a narrative tour of 182 bbq restaurants, stands, and trucks throughout the state of texas. it's very thorough and engaging though somewhat bloggy in style and there aren't really that many words to describe eating approximately the same meal 180 times. the inset sections are particularly useful, giving history, detail, or anecdote in support of other details. extra bonus in the tips and tricks from top pitmasters in the last section.

i've only been to maybe 5 or 6 of the places listed here, as well as a few more they don't deign to visit. next time i'm traveling around the state i'm certainly going to up that number.

[Didi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don't expect any recipes for great Texas BBQ in this book. It is a story of a journey to find the best BBQ joints in Texas.

The story to be honest was flat. If you get bored easily, you might drop off midway. However, its merit lies on how it gives you nuggets of Texas history and culture and nuggets of the secrets on how to make the best BBQ.

I hate the size of the book, large and unwieldy like the state of Texas I suppose. It could've been printed in a smaller size. Oh and I would've loved to have read headings for the photos to identify which pitmaster, which BBQ joint, which BBQ dishes, etc were on the photo.

[Mark Wright · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really good read if you're a big fan of barbecue. Probably not a major book for others--there's only so much casual readers will want to know about yet another BBQ stop. You definitely learn what Vaughn's preferences are for optimal doneness and amount of smoke for the different types of meat. Just looking at the pictures will likely make you hungry. Very skim-able with a decent index and good "Pitmaster Profiles", a Hall of Fame section. This would be a good book to have on hand if you ever find yourself in Texas, looking for recommendations on barbecue joints.

[Shulan Xiao · Rating 5 out of 5]

I expected a lot of interviews with pitmasters, old-timers and the like but it seems that at most places the guy who knew what he was doing is long http://www.cardecalsus.com/tech-2-flash dead and the current owners are relatively hapless. There is little here in the way of secrets, recipes, behind the scenes knowledge, or classic stories and legends. And apparently a shocking number of the places they stopped closed down shortly thereafter.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

It might seem obvious, but my rating is for the "whole package" rather than just the words themselves. While the travelogue and descriptions of BBQs both good and bad only go so far and can get repetitive, the photos and book design take this up a notch and make the photos of even "subpar" meals look drool-worthy, and the sidebars detailing some of the science and specifics of both meats and processes are informative and interesting.

Now someone get me some meat...

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

A surprisingly engrossing read. You'd think that reading about a man's journey of 10,000 miles; eating basically the same 3 things at each stop would get boring - but it doesn't!

Foodies, BBQ fiends, and travel lovers will really like this book.

[Jessica - How Jessica Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't even like barbecue (I'm not much of a meat eater), and yet I found this road trip memoir / guide to Texas barbecue oddly compelling.

[Shawna Hartley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very entertaining and informative - even if you are a vegetarian living in Australia. There is something about a person being passionate about an obscure niche that I find irresistible.

[Larry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome stream of consciousness on BBQ and various techniques. It really gives you a good sense of what differentiates excellent brisket.

[Casey Seabolt · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great collection of reviews for Texas BBQ joints. A the bonus pit aster profiles and recipes are a great way to make those profiled a little more personal.

[Emily Joyce · Rating 3 out of 5]

A travel memoir coffee table book, and a few "recipes" at the end, but nothing out of the way drool worthy. I didn't find it to the Bible/guide to cooking BBQ in any way.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed the stories and inside the road trip like format. Surprisingly entertaining.