Life of Fire: Mastering the Arts of Pit-Cooked Barbecue, the Grill, and the Smokehouse: A Cookbook

by Pat Martin, Nick Fauchald

“The most important book on cooking over live fire in decades. Life of Fire illuminates it all, from coal beds, to home-built pits (in minutes!) to simple, delicious, recipes and enough whole hog know-how to impress the weekend warriors without intimidating newcomers.”—Andrew Zimmern

One of the few pitmasters still carrying the torch of West Tennessee whole-hog barbecue, Nashville’s Pat Martin has studied and taught this craft for years. Now he reveals all he knows about the art of barbecue and live fire cooking.

Through beautiful photography and detailed instruction, the lessons start with how to prepare and feed a fire—what wood to use, how to build a pit or a grill, how to position it to account for the weather—then move into cooking through all the stages of that fire’s life. You’ll sear tomatoes for sandwiches and infuse creamed corn with the flavor of char from the temperamental, adolescent fire. Next, you’ll grill chicken with Alabama white sauce over the grown-up fire, and, of course, you’ll master pit-cooked whole hog, barbecue ribs, turkey, pork belly, and pork shoulder over the smoldering heat of mature coals. Finally, you’ll roast vegetables buried in white ash, and you’ll smoke bacon and country hams in the dying embers of the winter fire.

For Pat Martin, grilling, barbecuing, and smoking is a whole lifetime’s worth of practice and pleasure—a life of fire that will transform the way you cook.

Genres: Cookbooks

320 pages, Hardcover

Published March 15, 2022

Reviews

[Annie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Originally posted on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Life of Fire is a tutorial and cookbook for live fire cooking pit-fired barbecue, grilling, and smoking foods with recipes by Pat Martin and Nick Fauchald. Released 15th March 2022 from Penguin Random House on their Ten Speed Press imprint, it's 320 pages and will be available in hardcover, spiral bound, and ebook formats.

This is a very well written and graphically appealing ode to open fire cooking. The authors write accessibly and clearly about the subject. It's very clear from the first page that they have the requisite expertise and knowledge and the included recipes are a lot more than just pulled pork sandwiches (though they are to be found here as well), and this is one of the few barbecue books I've seen which thoroughly discusses cooking whole animals and ash/ember cooking.

The introduction covers materials choice, building, maintaining, and containing fires, sourcing wood, safety issues and more. The following chapters delve in depth on everything from game birds to roasting a whole hog. The recipes are scattered throughout the book. Each has an introduction, bullet list of ingredients on the right side of the page and general prep and cooking instructions. Recipe ingredient measures are given in imperial (American) units. Most ingredients will be easy to find in local grocery stores. The authors have included resources and links lists for sourcing large cuts of meats, specialty equipment, rubs, and sauces (for readers who prefer to buy them).

The book is absolutely *full* of beautiful photography, including action shots of prepping and cooking as well as atmospheric landscape shots. The food is appealing and appetizing and never overstyled or frou-frou.

Five stars. Definitely book on barbecue and live fire cooking. There are a number of really good dessert recipes here as well, in addition to the comprehensive barbecue. Highly recommended for library acquisition, homesteaders, grill-lovers, and home cooks.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

[Kerry Croucier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pat Martin’s LIFE OF FIRE: MASTERING THE ARTS OF PIT-COOKED BARBECUE, THE GRILL, AND THE SMOKEHOUSE is a well-written, beautifully photographed, and comprehensive guide/look at cooking with fire. It is also an homage to West Tennessee whole hog barbecue before it disappeared forever, as he is one of three that continue the process.
Martin says in the introduction he wanted to teach everything he knows, similar to the way Julia Child’s books teach French cooking and I think he done a fine job. Each page shows the love and respect he has for what he’s doing. The chapters are titled with each step of a fire’s life and the chapters include step-by-step instructions for using the fire at the level, as well as recipes to cook. I think comprehensive might be an understatement with the level of detail Martin provides.
I read this cookbook with interest with my stomach grumbling, wondering how much of my Southern California yard I could dig up to create a large grill, and maybe even a pit. If you are interested in cooking with fire, don’t miss this cookbook!
Thanks to Clarkson Potter for the gifted copy. All opinions are my own and freely given.
#LifeofFireMasteringtheArtsofPitcookedBarbecuetheGrillandTheSmokehouse #PatMartin #WestTennesseeWholeHogBarbecue #cookingwithfire #ClarksonPotter

[Karen Hancock · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anyone who is serious about real barbecue, including grilling, and smoking will want to immediately pick up
Life of Fire: Mastering the Arts of Pit-Cooked Barbecue, the Grill, and the Smokehouse.

While this excellent cookbook doesn’t have an abundance of recipes, it has enough to keep barbecue chefs both happy and busy, but the information is absolutely invaluable. There are actually great photos, plans, and instructions for building a barbecue pit and even a smokehouse.

There are recipes for the items that most of us barbecue on a small basis, such as ribs, brisket, pork shoulder, chickens, turkey breasts and vegetables, as well as instructions on doing whole pigs, including sources to get them. It seems that this cookbook covers almost everything anyone will need to know to successfully prepare food in a pit, whether above the ground or underground. The recipes are written in such a way that cooks, both beginning and advanced can follow them. Building a pit is another story, and most of us will need help building a pit and a smokehouse.

The included photographs are beautiful, and will make barbecue lovers’ mouths water. This cookbook will inspire everyone to learn the basics of cooking over a fire. It will be helpful at home as well as when camping.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

[Serena · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was so intrigued to read this book as I've never picked up a grilling cookbook! What is so wonderful about this book is that it defies expectations- contrary to what you might think, the book starts out with grilled vegetables, cooked just enough to get a char and then plated to serve. The seasonings are simple, as evidenced by a recipe for Collard Greens with just olive oil, fleur de sel, and lemon zest. As Ina would say, how bad can that be? This book is also presented very masculine- making it a great gift for the cookbook averse, like my husband for example. Overall, this book was really interesting and gave a great introduction to the world of grilling!

Thanks to NetGalley and Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed for my copy for an honest review!

[David King · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to say that I don’t prefer whole hog bbq; it has such a light smoke that it tastes more like roast pork to me. I like a pretty heavy smoke flavor in my que. Martin’s explanation of pit grilling/smoking was clear, but way outside my comfort zone. I have a hard time wrapping my mind around the inefficiencies. That being said, Pat Martin knows his stuff, and I learned a lot from working my way through this book. I can’t say that I feel a draw toward his style of bbq, but he is a master of what he does. He also includes a number of recipes, several of which are worth trying.

[Bonnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

After having read through this book, I would definitely agree that Pat Martin is a master in the art of pit-cooked barbeque as well as grilling and in smoking meats. I'm a novice when it comes to grilling. I've done the basic grilling in a Weber Original Kettle. Martin has clearly provided an in-depth look at how to prepare a fire and the different stages of cooking from hot to cooling down ashes and embers. He has included some mouth-watering recipes along with some eye-pleasing pictures. I've received a free copy from Clarkson Potter in exchange for a free and unbiased review.

[Asha Butterflys · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved all the information that was in these book and as well as would be a great addition for anyone that likes cooking outdoors. I love this book because I want to make a pit in my backyard and it help me by tell so much information on creating my very own pit. I also like that it talks about both seasoned wood and green wood because I did not know the different before but I do now. It also has so many more great useful tips and so many recipes to have some delicious food that have been grilled over a fire.

[michael brekke · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the book (really a cookbook). As a transplanted Nashvillian of 8+ years, I’m very aware of Pat Martin and his restaurants and enjoy them. There was a relatively short autobiographical section. I can’t blame him, having not lived a really exciting life myself, but it’s pretty simple. The whole cookbook is really a documentation of open pit whole hog (and sides) cooking. Cool, but not really practical for me living in a suburbs. I liked everything, but not applicable to me, unfortunately. Maybe someday. I like to grill, have three in my backyard now, in fact.

[Justin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoy low and slow smoking in an offset and am not much for direct heat Grilling so I was hesitant to give this book a try, but I'm glad I did. Between pat Martin's story and his skills, this book was one of the most entertaining books I've looked at in a while. So many good recipes. The section on whole hog cooking is the most thorough I've ever seen. Plus, this book just feel like it has soul. Like pat martin had a story to tell when he wrote it.

[Joni Owens · Rating 4 out of 5]

We love barbecue so I had to check out this book. Tons of great information and recipes. This takes you back to the basics and teaches you everything with barbecue.

Great for Father’s Day or any barbecue fan in your life.

[Clay Burns · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't plan on doing much pit cooking but still loved this book. Pat is a legend and he uses West Tennessee terminology which was nice to relate to (calls lima beans butter beans, knows purple hull peas aren't the same as black eyed peas, etc).

[Aasinathena · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is everything for pit BBQ lovers

[Beth SHULAM · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you Ten Speed Press for the ARC to read and review.

Considering I have a Martin's Barbecue in my town, I was excited to receive Pat Martin's Life Of Fire. This is a magnificent resource for anyone who wants to learn the methods of cooking with open fire.

Beautiful photography and written by a true master of the craft of barbecue.