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Your preferred cooking temps

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    Your preferred cooking temps

    Interested to see how widespread the old and new ways are.
    Not considering poultry, what temps do you cook at
    64
    Always 225
    10.94%
    7
    Always Higher Than 225
    9.38%
    6
    Mostly 225
    39.06%
    25
    Mostly Higher Than 225
    37.50%
    24
    About Average At Each Temp
    3.13%
    2

    #2
    225-400, sometimes wrapped meat just got to get done.

    Comment


      #3
      I cook on the Pit Barrel Cooker and find it hard to keep the temp down at 225 without some serious tinkering. It naturally wants to run about 240 - 280.

      Comment


        #4
        Reverse sear on the gasser: 225
        Poultry on the gasser: 325
        Pit Barrel Cooker: pretty much what the PBC decides

        Comment


          #5
          Thanks to this site I monitored my GMG grate temp and found areas 15 degrees hotter than controller read out so I've been starting slow cooks @ 180 for the first 1-3 HR, then increasing to 225, sometimes 250 to power through a stall.
          Doubt I'd master stick & charcoal cookers well enough to be able to do that. Definitely wasn't able to due that on my old vertical Brinkman.

          Comment


            #6
            I'm steady at 240-250, but I do use the hot spots in the cooker.

            Comment


            • _John_
              _John_ commented
              Editing a comment
              I tried adding a couple more temps in there but it kept giving errors until I got down to 5.

            #7
            Butts: Kettle + SnS: ~225 (grate level). BGE: ~245. Both yield ~12 hour cooks.
            Ribs: ~225.
            Pork Loins: ~325-335.
            Chuckies: ~225-235.

            Comment


              #8
              Low temp.......219°-230°
              High temp......300°-340°

              Sometimes things don't work and you have to wing it.

              Comment


                #9
                I go for 225, but it doesn't really matter if it goes up to 250. So I clicked "mostly 225".

                Comment


                  #10
                  The only way! 225-250

                  Comment


                  • bbqoaf
                    bbqoaf commented
                    Editing a comment
                    Agreed, anything in this range is fine.

                  #11
                  Before I found this site, I cooked at whatever temp my kettle decided (two zone). When I finally put a grate probe on there, I realized I was cooking at 325 which explains why my chicken always came out awesome. Now I have the Sns and I will adjust to whatever it is I'm cooking. low n slow, reverse sear, etc. My PBC cooks at whatever temp it wants to and I have yet to be disappointed.

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                    #12
                    it depends on what I am cooking. With pork I try to stay with the 225 to 250 range but with poulty or fish I push it up to 325 to 350.

                    Comment


                      #13
                      Howdy,

                      Forgive my newbie question, I haven't been around here too long!

                      I noticed that the majority of (non-poultry) recipes here on the site talk about using 225F.

                      Would anyone care to say a few words on what other temp(s) they'd cook at, and why?

                      The original post above mentioned a new way and an old way, which is which? :-)
                      -Eric

                      Comment


                        #14
                        Ok... I'm an old guy. I've been learning about BBQ for 40 years.

                        Before I found AR I had already figured out that big clods of high fat meat needed to be smoked at low temperatures for a long time. I didn't have the desired temps or the times. I didn't know there was such a thing as a meat thermometer. I didn't know about dry brining. I bought rubs off the shelf. I bought BBQ sauce off the shelf.

                        Basically I had no clue about what was going on in my smoker. When I read Meathead's first article about the Stall, that was a head slapper.🙈

                        But... Here's the deal, the way I see it.😉

                        The ESSENCE of BBQ, the WORD's that define it are... Low and slow!

                        At the end of the day... Those that find a need to reinvent the essence of BBQ by speeding it up, turning a 16 hour cook into an 8 hour cook, I say your mission is admirable but... I have NO INTEREST in going there.😳

                        The way I see it personally... The ONLY thing I need to know before I start a low and slow cook is, when do I want to serve it?

                        I've smoked enough meat to know about how long it's going to take at 225°. I also know that EVERY clod of meat is different. I also know that pulling meat off of the smoker hours before you want to serve it is MUCH better than being an hour late.

                        So... Those that fail to plan a cook properly are forced to turn up the heat or wrap it in foil. Then there are those that chose to defy the concept of cooking it slowly thinking it will taste just as good. Then there are commercial enterprises that CAN'T allocate 12 to 18 hours to serve great BBQ.

                        My method for PLANNING a low and slow cook is fail proof, for me.😎

                        Most pork butts are about 8 pounds & most full packer briskets are about 12/15 pounds. I know those clods of meat at 225° are going to take ABOUT 14/16 hours give or take an hour 1 way or the other.

                        I also know that wrapping those clods after pulling them off the smoker and putting them in the faux cambro for 1, 2, 3 or 4 hours makes the meat better.😆

                        So... To figure out WHEN I should start the cook based on when I want to serve it I just back it off 18 hours.👍 if the cook takes 14 hours I'm ok. If it takes 16 hours, preferred, I'm good.

                        Remember... I'm old, I don't bother wearing a watch anymore and I never get in a rush.😁

                        My logic is... It takes EXACTLY the same amount of preparation time and the same amount of hands on time in your smoker no matter how long it takes to reach 203°.

                        Waiting is the majority of smoking big clods of meat.😉
                        Last edited by Breadhead; January 13, 2016, 10:54 PM.

                        Comment


                          #15
                          So Breadhead what temp do you smoke at?

                          Comment


                          • Breadhead
                            Breadhead commented
                            Editing a comment
                            I smoke at 225°. I don't ever wrap my meat during the smoking process. I've never powered through the stall. I read about all of those techniques and I understand them clearly but I have no desire to utilize them unless I must.

                            It's become much easier to adhere to the low and slow concept with the invention of very accurate temperature controllers. I used to stay up late to monitor my cooks. Now a days I comfortably sleep through the night without worrying about my smoker maintaining an accurate temperature. I don't worry about going about my business during a cook while running errands or meeting friends for activities.

                            I do most of my smoking on a BGE with a DigiQ Dx2 so there is no need to spritz or fiddle around with the meat during the smoking process. I never need to add lump or wood chunks.

                            The key is I know my smoker. Rarely do I get surprised. Cooking on the same device for 5 years gives you great familiarity.

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