The Southern Foodie’s Guide to the Pig is perfect for people who are obsessed about everything pork, people who will sacrifice a day in the pursuit of the perfect piece of meat. Chamberlain spent over a year researching the most delectable ways of preparing pork. The book is broken down by parts of the pig, as well as a geographical travel guide, including recipes from the most lauded barbeque restaurants in the south. The book includes a myriad of brines, marinades, rubs, and sauces, as well as a few side dishes that pair well with pork. Just reading this book and looking at the pictures will get your mouth watering. Pro tip: Most of the recipes in this book require you to let something sit overnight, and or cook it all day. You must plan ahead, but it will be worth it. I tested two recipes from this book and found both to be very good. I cannot wait to utilize the travel guide and dine at some of the restaurants showcased in the book. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves pork, barbeque, and foodie road-trips.

Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q Championship bbq pork butt

I tested the Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q Championship bbq pork butt recipe, which includes an injection and a dry rub. I injected my pork butts with the concoction of juices, salt and sugar. I learned very quickly that most of my injection would not stay in the muscle tissue, and would seep its way out. The recipe has a technical flaw in that in the left column where it lists ingredients it states 2 cups of barbeque sauce, but did not include the sauce in the directions. I added it to the rest of my dry rub (as it was listed under the dry rub ingredients). I am fairly certain that this is what the recipe intended for me to do, as the end result seemed right. I rubbed the dry rub over my pork butts and then got my grill going with some mesquite wood chips in the smoker box. If you do not have a grill or a smoker, you can roast your pork butt in a very low oven (between 200- 250 degrees).

If you are using a smoker box in a grill, prepare to add an hour or two to your total cook time as you will be losing heat every time you put new wood chips in. I cooked two 6 lb pork butts using indirect heat in my grill with my smoker box over my one lit burner and it took 12 hours to cook. It was worth every minute of cooking time. The pork had a nice subtle smoky flavor and a beautiful crust from the dry rub. The meat was very moist, though did not taste particularly like the juices in the injection. The spice rub added great flavor, but did not overpower the flavor of the pork. Once you have your meat cooked and rested, you can slice it, pull it, or chop it. You can add your favorite barbeque sauce to the meat, if you like something saucier. As a side note, this meat freezes and reheats well.

Sausage Cornbread
This book features a few cornbread recipes. The sausage cornbread piqued my interest because I like sausage and cornbread, so I figured that I would enjoy the combining of the two. This cornbread was less bread and more a vessel for cheese and meat. The end result was slightly sweet but mostly salty cheese and sausage enveloped in bits of corn and golden yellow cornbread. I found that ultimately the cornbread tasted good, but I had issues with the amount of cheese in the dish. In my opinion, it was a little too cheesy for my tastes. I wanted to taste the sausage and cornbread more, and the cheese obscured that somewhat. I would make it again, but maybe tweak it to my tastes. However, I found it to still be a delicious dish, and it is hearty enough that you could serve it as a main course or as a hefty side.

-JHC (Jennifer)

Disclosure: From time to time, we are given free items (like this book), meals, or entry to events.