Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing Hardcover – Illustrated, September 3, 2013

I especially appreciate the repeated references to specific techniques whenever needed for a recipe. Definitely worth while for any and all.

I read through most of this book twice, before my 14 year old son and I took a whole hog butchering class at a local butcher's shop. Two weeks before the class, we used the author's bratwurst recipe to make sausage from store-bought meats for practice. It turned out perfectly. Following our butchering class, my son and I purchased a whole pastured hog from a local farmer and butchered it ourselves. We saved 20 pounds for sausage making. We used the author's recipes to make breakfast sausage, Mexican chorizo, sweet Italian sausage, and smoked andouille. We cooked samples of the sausages before casing them, in order to check the seasonings (as instructed in the recipes). Every one of the recipes produced exceptional flavors that were beyond my original hopes. We spent no small amount of money and a good deal of sweat equity to get our pork. I am glad that I found this book and trusted the recipes within it. We would have been sorely disappointed if all of our work would have ended in mediocre sausage that we could have found at the local grocery store. Instead, we have made something special that everyone with whom we share our labor recognizes as such. I am eager to see how our pancetta turns out!As the author states early in the book, these are not recipes for the person seeking a quick, time-saving meal. It has been my experience, however, that the effort and patient processes laid out in this book result in a finished food that is worth all you put into it.

Unravels alot of questions I had. I have been smoking meat for decades, but never really understood cured meats. Going to come up with some tasty creations out of this book!

The information that provided in this book is Priceless ! The explanations about salt and how different brands of salt have different weights was an enlightenment to say the least. This book covers everything you need to know to make any type of cured food.From vegetables to fish , meat to marinades this book has it !!! Fantastic read!

i have offered it as a gift to a chef friend(cia) and he like it.

I absolutely love this book. It's accurate, informative and well-written. The section on sausage-making is particularly good. All of the essential techniques are well-explained and the recipes are excellent. Whether you're a novice or a pro with years of experience, you'll learn a great deal from reading this book. The author rejects the notion that this is "the bible" for sausage-making and charcuterie but many of us disagree. It deserves its reputation as a "bible" for those of us interested in the craft and deserves all of the praise it has received.Unfortunately, the ebook version isn't a very good reference book because it doesn't contain real page numbers. Since the index is only by page number and isn't hyperlinked so that you can jump directly to an entry, it's very difficult to find the indexed entries. Also, within the text there are numerous cross-references to other sections of the book and although they DO contain hyperlinks, many of them are wrong and don't take you to the correct page.Do yourself a favor and buy the hardbound edition. I'm certain you'll find it to be much more useful and well-worth the price.

My friend graduated from culinary school. This was on her wishlist so I got it for Secret Santa. She loves it.

This has answered so many questions for me and taken my game to the next level. It is written in plain English so a home cook can develop the skills and confidence to experience.