Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing

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 This One

This is not a beginner’s book in the strict sense, but it is the book that many serious sausage makers eventually want on their shelf. Ruhlman and Polcyn cover 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.

If you have already made fresh sausages and want to explore dry curing, smoking, and more advanced preparations, this is where you go. It demands more patience and equipment than the other books on this list, but the depth of knowledge it provides is unmatched.

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 substantial, and it is the kind of book you grow into over months and years rather than reading cover to cover in a weekend.