The Best Meat Cookbooks for the Home Chef

Michael Ruhlman explores the world of cured meat in this book for the home chef. From proper salting to stuffing sausages and understanding the different types of terrines, Charcuterie is your resource.

Aaron Franklin, the owner of a wildly respected Austin BBQ joint, explains the art of meat smoking and the techniques of Texas-style BBQ. Smoking meat well takes decades of practice, but this book offers Franklin’s experience to cut years off of the learning curve.

Deuki Hong and Matt Robard explore the meat-centric culture of Korean cooking in America through recipes and stories from L.A. to New York City, Atlanta to Chicago. The book explores protein’s starring role in popular dishes like bulgogi and kalbi, especially its powerful blend of sweet, savory and umami flavors.

Pat LaFrieda’s meat-packing business has been at the top of the game for three generations. In this book, he shares trade secrets — the inexpensive and less-known flavorful cuts to buy, the knife work for preparing various cuts and some time-tested family recipes.

James Peterson’s book is study of the fundamentals: an encyclopedia of 175 recipes for cooking a wide range of meat and poultry cuts. Peterson examines nearly every type of meat consumers can source from the butcher, and, in the final section, explores the basics of making sausages, terrines and broths.

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s ode to meat focuses on three main sections: sustainable meat production, sourcing and storing meat, and how to cook various cuts. Recipes in The River Cottage Meat Book cover roasting, barbecuing, preserving and how to get the most from your leftovers.

Marissa Guggiana profiles 50 butchers from around the country, and shares their favorite dishes and cooking techniques. The knowledge is golden: from unconventional meat cuts to the best way to order at the meat counter, the book is an insider’s guide to the art of butchery.

For full immersion in an old craft, Whole Beast Butchery by Ryan Farr can’t be beat. With 500 step-by-step photographs, a primer on tools, techniques, and meat handling, along with master recipes for main cuts, this is the manifesto for new butchers everywhere.

Key terms like “grass fed” and “free range” are commonplace on menus across the continent, and Good Meat explores sustainable meat, and how to source and enjoy it. The book also includes 200 recipes for pork, beef, lamb, poultry and game.

Fergus Henderson, the chef of St. John in London, compiled two previous cookbooks into one with The Complete Nose to Tail. A joining of Whole Beast and Beyond Nose to Tail, this book is the guide to eating part of an animal — and enjoying every bite.

Crafted Meat is a visual compendium of new developments and products in the craft meat scene. It’s backed by a number of profiles along with recipes and answers to questions like, “What should be served with blood sausage?”

Au Pied De Chochon, fronted by chef Martin Picard, is an iconoclastic Montreal restaurant with a knack for indulging. Meat-centric is an understatement. Baked pie stuffed with a hare, duck, beef marrow, quail and pork shanks? Beans and meatballs made with piglet heads? Multiple takes on pig feet? They’re just the tip of the iceberg.