Extreme Barbecue

Book excerpt: This cookbook and travelogue profiles daringly inventive grill masters with “colorful characters, inventive techniques and lip-smacking food” (Publishers Weekly, starred review). Twenty whole chickens bathed in garlic on a rig that resembles a cast-iron satellite dish . . . this is Extreme Barbecue, a tribute to the derring-do behind the craziest grilling contraptions in the country. Through in-depth profiles, outrageous photographs, and nearly one hundred personal recipes, this unique cookbook exalts in unprecedented cooking techniques and junkyard serendipity. These devices range from the Zen-like simplicity of a tin can on two heated flat stones to an awe-inspiring two-story mobile smoker complete with winding staircase. Whether it’s a front-end loader serving as a grilling rig in Kansas City or a 4,500-pound mobile bread baker in Portland, Oregon, this is BBQ like you’ve never seen—or tasted—before.