Here, Pat reveals all he knows about the art of barbecue and open-flame cooking, in all the stages of a fire’s life. Life of Fire is available today!

Life of Fire illustrates Pat’s lifelong passion and dedication to live-fire cooking through detailed instruction, deep procedural guidance, and recipes. Here, Pat takes the reader on a tactical journey across the old ways and traditional practices of authentic American pit barbecue in its purest form.

Life Of Fire follows all the stages of a fire’s life - from a young, erratic hot fire to the dying coals and ash - and offers down-to-earth, step-by-step direction to successfully accomplish time-honored preparations and recipes of true American pit-style barbecue.

Through beautiful photography and detailed instruction, the book thoughtfully breaks down everything you need to know, including the fundamentals of wood selection, how to build a pit, a spit and a smokehouse, while also diving deep into the true essence of cooking authentic pit-cooked barbecue, with West Tennessee-style whole hog serving as the backbone of the book. It intends to be a definitive guide to real pit barbecue, live-fire cooking, and cold-smoking meats.

With over 65 recipes, this photo-forward book holds the hand of the home cook through all the procedural layers of live-fire cooking, pit-cooked barbecue, and the traditional wintertime Southern smokehouse, enabling them to expertly coax incredible flavors out of the simplest [seasonal] ingredients.

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