Where to Start with Michael Ruhlman & Brian Polcyn
Michael Ruhlman is a food writer whose books have shaped how a generation of American home cooks think about technique. Brian Polcyn is a chef and charcuterie instructor who spent decades teaching the craft at Schoolcraft College in Michigan. Together, they wrote the book that almost single-handedly sparked the modern American interest in homemade charcuterie. Ruhlman brings clarity and narrative skill, Polcyn brings deep hands-on expertise, and the combination produces writing that is both authoritative and genuinely engaging. Their collaboration has produced several books on meat craft, but “Charcuterie” remains the one that started it all.
Start here
Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing
Michael Ruhlman & Brian Polcyn · 320 pages · 2013 · Challenging
Themes: charcuterie, sausage making, curing, smoking, preservation
The book that launched the modern American charcuterie revival. Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn first published “Charcuterie” in 2005, and it almost single-handedly inspired a generation of home cooks and professional chefs to start curing their own bacon, stuffing their own sausages, and hanging their own salami. The revised 2013 edition updated the recipes and techniques while keeping the book’s authoritative, passionate voice.
Why Start Here
For Ruhlman and Polcyn specifically, this is their essential work and the obvious starting point. The book covers the full scope of charcuterie: fresh sausages, smoked sausages, dry-cured salami, pates, terrines, confits, and more. Their explanation of how curing salts work, why fat-to-meat ratios matter, and what actually happens during fermentation is among the clearest ever written for a general audience.
The sausage-making chapters alone are worth the price. Polcyn, who taught charcuterie at the college level for years, brings a teacher’s precision to every instruction. The recipes are reliable, the technique sections are thorough, and the book treats sausage making as part of a larger tradition of preserving and transforming meat.
This is not a quick weekend read. It demands patience, and some preparations require equipment like a dedicated curing chamber. But the depth of knowledge it provides is unmatched, and it rewards repeated reading as your skills develop.
What to Expect
A comprehensive hardcover reference organized by technique: salting, smoking, sausage making, dry curing, and pates and terrines. Each section opens with clear explanations of the underlying science before moving into recipes. The revised edition includes 75 detailed line drawings and updated guidance on equipment. At 320 pages, it is the kind of book you grow into over months and years rather than reading cover to cover in a weekend.