Weekend Cooking: BBQ&A with Myron Mixon

Have you heard of Myron Mixon? He's one of the BBQ kings of the South. His website says he's "The winningest man in BBQ," and he has the trophies to prove it.

We grill out all year round and have even have developed our own fish rub. But truth be told, everything we do on the grill was learned through trial and error (lots of error), and we've mastered only the basics.

Because we've always talked about upping our BBQ game, I was thrilled when Myron Mixon's BBQ&A (written with Kelly Alexander) appeared on my doorstep, thanks to Abrams Books and the Abrams Dinner Party.

There are a few things that make BBQ&A stand out for me. First is the format, which indeed consists of a series of questions, then answers, and then a few recipes to put the techniques into action.

The questions range from how to get a spice rub to stick to your chicken to what cuts of meat to buy and how to get a smokey flavor when you don't own a smoker. I haven't read through the entire cookbook yet, but we've already implemented some of Mixon's tips and tricks, and our BBQ IQ has definitely jumped up to a new level.

Another plus to BBQ&A is that you don't have to own a smoker or a fancy grill. You can grill over coals or gas, and some recipes either were developed for the kitchen oven or can be adapted for indoor baking.

I especially love the variety of spice rubs, glazes, sauces, and so on that can be used in so many ways. For example, I made the meat rub (recipe given below) for a flank steak dinner, and then used the same rub for Mixon's potato salad (you heard me right) and then for his cheeseburgers. All three recipes earned a giant thumbs up.

Then I mixed up a batch of Mixon's chicken rub for grilled skin-on, bone-in chicken breasts, which were some of the best grilled chicken we've ever had.

We made two different BBQ sauces (one for the flank steak and one for the chicken), which were delicious as mopping sauces, as dipping sauces, and for leftover meat sandwhiches.

Mixon's macaroni and cheese, which didn't have any spice rub in it, was the side dish for our grilled BBQ flank steak, and my husband thought it was delicious and a total keeper.

Vegetarians won't find much in BBQ&A, but if you like pork, beef, poultry, and fish, you'll find a lot of inspiration and many delicious dinners ahead. I'm really looking forward to exploring all the different rib recipes because what's a summer without way too many BBQ rib dinners?

I also have a chicken wings recipe marked and at least one for shrimp. Finally, I was even inspired to use some of the leftover chicken rub for a sheet-pan dinner from a different cookbook, and I don't think I'm ever going to back to basic seasoning.

You'll be hearing a lot more about this book as the summer progresses . . . I dare you to resist getting your own copy of BBQ&A by Myron Mixon--whether from the store or from the library.

Here's the promised meat rub (shown in the photo above right, along with one of the BBQ sauces).

Meat Rub
This rub is a good basic rub for almost any food you want to smoke. You can use it as a jumping-off point or a template, then once you've mastered it, you can use the basic formula to create your own rubs.

• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 2 tablespoons mustard powder
• 2 tablespoons onion powder
• 2 tablespoons garlic powder
• 2 tablespoons ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 tablespoons kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons coarsely ground black pepper

In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients. Stir to combine thoroughly. You can store this rub in an airtight container indefinitely, but it'll begin to loose its strength after about 3 months--and if I had any left after 6 months, I'd make a new batch.

BFR'S NOTES: I made a half batch of this spice rub and cut down on the salt a bit.

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