Acknowledgments

Many people contributed—sometimes unwittingly!—to the making of this book, which was in many ways the most difficult of the three we’ve written. Some of this can be chalked up to the general weirdness inflicted by the pandemic, some to timing—we ended up building a lot of fires and doing lots of cooking in very hot weather—and some to life, as we and our families both experienced moves during work on this book. In the end, though, it was a great experience that we thoroughly enjoyed.

The first person we must thank is Wyatt McSpadden, yes, for his transcendent photography, but also for his sparkling personality and overall Wyatt-tude. Equal parts curmudgeon and comedian, he’s simply a joy to be around, and his very presence while we’re cooking and setting up a shoot gives us the confidence that it’s all going to be okay. Throw in the hilariousness of his buddy act with his able and knowledgeable assistant Will Phillips, and we were always laughing even during the strenuous moments. Thanks, Wyatt and Will (and Nancy too!).

Of great help during some of those moments was Ha Lam, an experienced photographer and editor herself. What a boon to have her assisting on several shoots. Of course, David Hale Smith—skier, fisher, literary agent—thanks for building the foundation of all this, with a hat tip to all the other folks at Inkwell.

We also want to offer deep and sincere gratitude to the good folks at Ten Speed Press, who are truly responsible for this book. Namely, Julie Bennett, our editor who did an amazing job on the text while also bringing the project to life and remaining calming and patient throughout. What a pleasure it was to get to work (for the third time!) with designer Betsy Stromberg, who understands these books better than we do. Thanks so much to copyeditor Sharon Silva for literally thinking of everything, and to Doug Ogan, for offering some very useful edits. Thanks to Kathy Brock, proofreader extraordinaire, who worked magic down to the last comma. And to the amazing associate editor Ashley Pierce, who was always there: abiding and guiding, editing, and holding it all together. And thanks to Allison Renzulli, Joey Lozada, and Kristin Casemore for getting the word out, as ever.

Several people and their companies supported us in various ways with product. Notably, Alfonso Terrazas from Creekstone, a company that continues to support us generously with some of the best product in the world. Likewise, Aaron wants to acknowledge Anthony Charles, who has helped out often and on short notice, when we really needed to find certain items. And Jake and Chip from Made In were more than generous in supplying us with whatever sort of kitchen equipment we might have needed or even just wanted to try.

In Austin, Aaron offers a sincere declaration of gratitude to the whole staff at Franklin Barbecue, who not only helped out in numerous ways on many occasions, but are just awesome in general and manage to maintain good attitudes even when it’s 105 degrees out. Likewise the entire office staff supplied endless and thorough support. Matt Gase and Jared Harmeier do way more than just make the Franklin Pit business go; they helped out a ton on this book in little ways that are greatly appreciated.

We thank Terry and David from the Little Longhorn Saloon on Burnet Road for the morning beers, when we got a couple of photos and had a pleasantly relaxed moment after some long days of shooting.

Vivian Franklin, what can we say? She made a great assistant and was full of creativity and energy and never hesitated to get involved. The ever vigilant Honey Franklin didn’t set too many Honey traps in the backyard, starting in 2022.

Stacy Franklin—there no words. People tend to give Aaron credit for everything, missing the fact that almost nothing in the extended Franklin multiverse would happen without her industriousness, guile, intelligence, good sense, hard work, and heart. Jordan agrees, but also notes the importance of her wickedly sharp sense of humor, easy laughter, and intuitive sense of when it’s time to stop fretting, sit back, and have a glass of wine.

With deep gratitude, Jordan wants to thank the Franklins for making him feel like family, as he lived in the Airstream in their backyard for weeks on end during production of this book. He felt like a welcome hobo every morning as he stumbled out of the trees and into their kitchen, poured himself the excellent coffee Aaron made (shout-out Travis Kizer of Barrett’s Coffee), and chatted with them as they began their day.

Finally, Jordan, as ever, thanks his wonderful wife, Christie, for allowing him to own five grills that clutter the garage and also letting him make frequent trips to Austin to dwell in a backyard. A quick wink as well to Stanley Fallot MacDuf, whose relentless desire to walk and play usefully pried Jordan away from his well-worn laptop several times a day.