Anderson, Warren R.

PERSONAL: Male.

ADDRESSES: Home— Aloha, OR.

CAREER: Author.

WRITINGS

Mastering the Craft of Smoking Food, Burford Books (Springfield, NJ), 2006.

SIDELIGHTS: Warren R. Anderson is a longtime enthusiast of the art of smoking food—that is, preserving meats using burning wood under controlled conditions. It can be a difficult technique for people to master, and if it is not done correctly the food can spoil and cause illness if eaten. Therefore, Anderson provides readers with meticulous details on how to preserve meat in this manner in his Mastering the Craft of Smoking Food. For some reviewers, his great attention to detail goes overboard. For instance, a Publishers Weekly contributor felt that the book “suffers from an excess of explanation,” and sometimes Anderson’s recipe descriptions can go on for pages. The critic found the second part of the book, with its information on brining and curing meats, “more enticing.” A critic for The Smoke Ring online was puzzled by the Publisher Weekly reviewer’s complaint, praising Anderson’s book as “probably the most complete, detailed book available on smoking food” that will be useful for anyone who is “serious about smoked food.” A writer for Chef Talk online admitted that Mastering the Craft of Smoking Food is “definitely not for everyone,” but added that for those who are serious about smoking meats for themselves at home then it is “a must have book.”

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES

PERIODICALS

Internet Bookwatch, May, 2006, review of Mastering the Craft of Smoking Food.

Publishers Weekly, February 27, 2006, review of Mastering the Craft of Smoking Food, p. 53.

ONLINE

Chef Talk, http://www.cheftalk.com/ (November 25, 2006), “Backyard Creations—A Review of Two Cookbooks,” review of Mastering the Craft of Smoking Food.

Smoke Ring, http://www.thesmokering.com/ (November 25, 2006), review of Mastering the Craft of Smoking Food.