Cooking from 12 Bones Smokehouse by Bryan and Angela King feels like being at the best backyard family reunion. Imagine a classic Southern pitmaster teaming up with a creative cousin who loves experimenting with bold flavors.
This cookbook showcases the flavors of “Asheville-style” BBQ, a regional take from the Blue Ridge Mountains that skips the usual debates between Eastern and Western Carolina styles. Rather than picking sides, Asheville-style BBQ has a creative spirit, using global ingredients, craft beer, and sweet-and-spicy flavors.
You won’t have to babysit a fire all night with these recipes. Every dish bursts with flavor and lets the meat shine. Bryan and Angela treat barbecue like a fun art project, not a list of rules. Their style is bold, sweet, tangy, and full of layers—just how I love it.
Here’s what makes these recipes stand out:
The Building Blocks of Flavor
These recipes skip the usual hickory and salt, bringing in homemade touches and bold flavors that make every bite pop.
The Rubs: Forget plain salt and pepper. These rubs are a party in a bowl. Brown sugar and paprika team up with fun surprises like celery seed, ground mustard, garlic powder, and a good kick of cayenne or chili powder. You end up with a thick, caramelized crust that stands up to any sauce you throw at it.
The Mops and Sops: Some folks skip basting, but at 12 Bones, it’s the main event. They brush on cider vinegar goodness while the meat cooks, keeping everything juicy and adding a tangy bite that balances out the rich pork.
The Sauces: Bryan and Angela don’t hold back. Their sauces are thick, sticky, and packed with flavor. Molasses and honey blend with tangy acids and just a touch of heat. Making them gets your hands messy, but every sweet, glossy glaze is worth a few sticky fingers.
Smokehouse Tips and Techniques
Think you need fancy gadgets? Don’t worry. These recipes are made for home cooks. You can whip up their signature dishes right in your own backyard, no matter what you’ve got on hand.
The Two-Stage Method: Their best meats, like Blueberry Chipotle Ribs or Brown Sugar Hard Cider Ribs, use a simple two-step process. First, cook the meat slow and low over indirect heat on your grill or smoker with a little wood for smoke. Then, wrap the meat in foil with a splash of liquid and finish it until it’s tender and juicy.
Accessible Timelines: With tricks like wrapping and basting, you won’t be stuck at the grill all day. Most recipes, like their crowd-pleasing Smoked Potato Salad, break down into easy steps. You’ll have them ready before the sun sets.
Scratch-Made Sides: The sides are treated like stars, not afterthoughts. No shortcuts or cans here. Their Jalapeño Cheese Grits mean tempering eggs and slow-cooking cornmeal for a fluffy, light bite. Even the Brown Sugar Sautéed Apples get the full treatment. Nothing is just tossed in a pot and called done. The food is cozy and rustic, but you’ll roll up your sleeves and do some real kitchen work.
At the end of the day, cooking from this book means getting your hands dirty and loving every minute. You’ll smell the tang of cider vinegar, hear sugar crackling on the grill, and see the bright colors of fruit glazes. This is barbecue for folks who care about flavor, not rules.
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