Low and slow or let 'er go?

[TexasBorn]

Take a hunk of meat.

- Pop it in the oven and most recipes would call for temperatures between 325F and 375F.

- Put it in the crock pot and take your pick. Put it on high for 6 hours or low for 10 hours. ---no idea of the temps there.

- A lot of folks here on the board cook (indirect heat) the same hunk of meat at 200F to 250F, but books like Legends of Texas Barbecue and some web sites list champion cookers using higher temps, 250F to 300F for shorter periods of time and one is mentioned cooking at 500F (for everything but brisket).

So, It looks like you can cook at most any temperature if you are cooking indirect. What are the advantages of one temp over another?

TB

[Mic]

Just guessin here TB cause I'm certainly no expert, but it seems to me the cut of meat itself would have a lot to do with the temps it's cooked at. I mean some cuts are just naturally tender and cooking at high temps for short periods doesn't hurt it whereas tougher cuts require longer cook times to tenderize the meat. Higher temps would cook it fine but ya probably couldn't chew it. I'm sure you know this but it is an interesting question and I just wanted to throw in my $.01 worth! Now the experts can have at it!!! :wink: :wink:

Mic

[TexasBorn]

Mic
I don't know - 'tis why I asked the question.

A roast in the crock pot, for example, needs to cook till tender, but you can do that in 10 hrs or 6. One difference is that meat is braising in a crock pot.

I'll bet that I could cook a brisket in the oven at 325F or even 350F, foil it at 160F and cook till tender at 190 - 200. I think it would be fine.

I'm just looking for advantages for the 200-250 F temp range.

TB

[Mic]

Mic
I don't know - 'tis why I asked the question.

A roast in the crock pot, for example, needs to cook till tender, but you can do that in 10 hrs or 6. One difference is that meat is braising in a crock pot.

I'll bet that I could cook a brisket in the oven at 325F or even 350F, foil it at 160F and cook till tender at 190 - 200. I think it would be fine.

I'm just looking for advantages for the 200-250 F temp range.

TB

More time to drink beer? :shock: :shock: :roll: :wink: Good question though. I don't have an answer but I'm sure you will get lots of opinions from this group. :)

Mic

[jshively]

I believe it has something to do with the slower temps allow the callagon and muscle fibers to actually break down. The types of meat that are typically smoked such as pork butt and brisket are tough and difficult. The brisket is a chest muscle and the butt is a shoulder two things if you look at are good size muscles and have a lot of muscles tisues running through them.

I think cooking it to fast will not allow that to breakdown. It would cause the fat to definately render out but that is more of an internal temp almost like boiling.

[BBQ101]

:lol: I smoke low and slow because it is true smoking. Yes it is a cooking method and there are many ways to get the meat to the same tenderness. The flavors for cooking methods will never be the same as a smoked slab of meat. I have heard it said to smoke for 2 hours and finish in the oven. Thats just wrong to me but do what you want. These are just my thoughts. As for how you Q thats up to you but me I am a purest. Good topic though this should stir things up around here. :wink:

[TexasBorn]

101 I agree that low and slow is true smoking. That's really where my pit likes to go anyway. I'm not sure I could maintain 300 for hours at a time, I'm just trying to determine the science behind it, I guess.

If the smoke ring is complete when the meat is at 140 F, and most of us here foil at 160, then it seems there's an excess of smoke during the cook. My wife complains about the smoke flavor being too strong, so I'm cutting back on the smoke anyway.

TB

[Mic]

Greg in Jersey sent this to me and I thought it pretty interesting. You may too!

http://www.barbecuen.com/champ-brisket.htm

Mic

[TexasBorn]

Yeah, Mic. That's a cool site. It makes a big deal out of not oveer-smoking the brisket. It also says 8-10 hours at 225F and the brisket is done. That's got to be under an hour a lb. I've had briskets done in 8 to 10 hours but I've had 'em underdone in that time also.

I wonder if "low and slow" didn't come from the smokehouse days. My grandfather's smokehouse sure didn't look like it could get up to 250F with all those loose boards!

TB

[Mic]

I wonder if "low and slow" didn't come from the smokehouse days. My grandfather's smokehouse sure didn't look like it could get up to 250F with all those loose boards!

Good point, TB. Makes sense too. I mean some of them old smokehouses ya see pictures of do look ta be in pretty sad shape so gittin any high temps was probably not feasible anyways. Low and slow was the standard.

Mic

[BBQ101]

:lol: This sounds like a good question for Alton Brown. He likes to explain food science. :lol: I just know it taste good. 8)

[TexasBorn]

:lol: This sounds like a good question for Alton Brown. He likes to explain food science. :lol: I just know it taste good. 8)

Alton's web site offers no email address or I would. By the way, if you're an Alton fan check this out:

http://www.channelguidemag.com/brown/

TB

[windracer24]

The way I understand it, if your smoking, the smoke ring stops forming after the meat reaches 140° F. So the longer you have the meat in the smoke before it reaches 140° then the more smoke ring you get. As far as tenderizing, the longer you cook it proportional to the temp breaks down the collagen and makes it tender. Higher temps need shorter times to make it tender.

If you like all that meat science, this is the best site I have found for meat info.

http://www.hormel.com/templates/knowledge/knowledge.asp?catitemid=5

[Michael]

TexasBorn, the Alton Brown article was a nice read. I've really grown to like and respect that guy.

Michael

[BBQ101]

I do like his show and he does keep it simple. We have tried a couple of his recipes and they all turned out good. Now Paula Dean knows how to cook old school the Mrs and I love her show.

[Michael]

And it's about hospitality. I remember when I was young -- the way my parents entertained is very different from the way we entertain today. People used to get together at the table and have a pot of chili and be thrilled to death. Because it was about the getting together. And somewhere along the line -- and I won't say who I think did this -- it became about impressing each other. About "look what I can do." And then the whole nature of hospitality changed. I know people who refuse to entertain because they are afraid that they can't live up to this or they can't live up to that. And that's a shame.

I did an interview with Bride's Magazine and they asked me -- because they were doing a whole thing about the registry -- they asked me what's the most important tool in the kitchen. And I thought for a second and I said the kitchen table. Because without a place for people to come together -- without that whole community thing -- it doesn't matter what kind of tools you're cooking with, if you don't have a place where people can sit down en familia as it is, then why have a kitchen?

[TexasBorn]

....Now Paula Dean knows how to cook old school the Mrs and I love her show.

Yeah, I love Paula. I wus hopin to get my teeth fixed and run away with her but she up and got married. :)


Michael: That's a great quote, idn't it?

TB

[Michael]

Paula happens to be another Food Network personality that it took me a while to adjust to, but after watching several of her shows, I really began to appreciate her style.

TB,

I think we all BBQ (and cook, in general) because we enjoy it, but in the end, it really is about the fellowship more than about the food.

Michael

[BBQ101]

I have 2 of her cook books and will pick up the new one from footv.

[TexasBorn]

Do you mean FOODTV?

Would that be Paula Deen & Friends Living It Up Southern Style Cookbook or a newer one?

TB

[BBQ101]

:lol: Yes that would be FoodTv and Ms Paula H. Deen. Its a 2 book set we have they are Lady + Sons and Lady + Sons 2

[Buckeye]

Whudda bout Lady & tha Tramp? Got that one? :twisted: :lol:

[TAR RIVER RAT]

All they be eatin is long pasta and ham bones.
Tar

[BBQ101]

:lol: