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The Great Temperature Debate

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    The Great Temperature Debate

    Cooking temperatures for smoking meats is a topic of great discussion, debate and (good-natured) disagreement for my friends and I. When I began seriously digging into smoking, I almost always sought out that sweet spot at 225 for true low and slow cooking for ribs, pork butt and brisket. Most, if not all, of the recipes I find on this wonderful site and others typically abide by this tried and true methodology. I have had what I consider very good results with pork butt and brisket, but ribs had always been something I wanted to improve on. With this in mind, I recently started exploring other methods and found that some of the greats like Tuffy Stone and Aaron Franklin were advocates of cooking at higher temps (275-300) for ribs, butts and brisket. Tuffy's competition pork butt recipe calls for 300 degrees! Mind blown!

    Yesterday, I experimented with 2 3lbs racks of nicely marbled St. Louis spareribs. I smoked them at 275 for 2 hours until nice and mahogany, then wrapped meat side down with a little liquid (I used melted butter, honey, and a little of my sauce) for approximately 2 more hours. Absolutely the best bark and the most tender ribs I've ever done. I've done this exact same technique multiple times for longer cooks at 225 and could never get this degree of tenderness or bark development. Now I'm questioning everything I thought I knew!

    Curious to hear everyone's preferences.

    #2
    I personally haven't gone much higher than 250. 225 or 250 doesn't make any difference to me except maybe done a little sooner at 250. Check out this method.

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      #3
      More then 1 way to skin a cat love I got time low and slow sometimes 300 feels right. This group of pit cookers will help no matter what side of the temp your on and most will tell you it’s heat and time.

      Comment


        #4
        It really depends on what you're cooking. Until recently, I was cooking beef and pork at 275-290 on a PBC and poultry at 350-375. Now, on the pellet smoker, I'll probably drop the beef and pork cooking temp down to around 250 but still cook poultry at 350+.

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          #5
          I always try to go 350-375 with chicken. Gets done quickly, nice crispy skin, and just the right amount of smoke.

          For beef and pork as long as I am somewhere between 225-275 I don't sweat it too much. I have a nice pork shoulder in the freezer I think I want to try at 300 to see what happens.

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            #6
            I've shifted to cooking at higher temps.

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              #7
              375-400 for chicken
              225-275 for "low and slow"
              dont sweat it!

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                #8
                I have also have started cooking @ higher temps. 275-300*. The few cooks like this so far have 1 cut down on cooking times and 2 I haven’t noticed any difference in taste or texture.
                These temps are for beef and pork. Chicken and turkey I like to be around 350-375*.

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                  #9
                  I too am in the higher temp crowd (?) when cooking clods, 275-300. I still like 225-250 for ribs and the 1st half of reverse sear

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                    #10
                    I used to strive for 220-250. Then I started seeing people achieving great results in the PBC at much higher temps - pushing 300. So now, I like to be in the 220-300 range knowing that I can lean as little or as much necessary within that range on wrapping...maintaining good bark, limiting the overall duration of the cook, etc.

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                      #11
                      I cooked 2 racks of ST Louis ribs Sat. I’ve just finished Aaron Franklin’s book and tried the higher temps. I got busy and left the ribs wrapped about a half hour too long, other than being about to fall off the bone they were the best I’ve ever done. I use a kamado cooker and unless I get the temps and airflow up I have trouble forming bark. At 225 F there’s very little air flow. My first brisket was done at 225. When it hit 195 internal I opened the cooker and found a very wet, grey and brown mess. The last one I did was done at 275, wrapped in pink butcher paper at 180 internal, took it on to 200, in the faux Cambro for 2 hours, it was great. I’m certainly not saying it’s the only way to go, but on my cooker it has really helped.

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                        #12
                        I think wrapping is more necessary at higher temperatures than a classic 225. I can’t imagine doing a turbo brisketvwithout wrapping.

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                          #13
                          I've observed that the biggest difference between low and slow versus hot and fast is the amount of attention you have to give to the cook. Low and slow seems to be a lot more forgiving due to the low climb in internal temperatures. Conversely hot and fast happens a lot faster with overshooting occurring without notice.

                          There is a margin of diminishing return however. In other words you can't take a brisket and cook it at 400* and expect the fat or connective tissue to render out or the proteins to change as well as at lower temperatures. It's a time versus temp dilemma. You might end up with a burnt meteorite that has a raw and tuff interior.

                          Having said that, I have seen guys cook briskets (as an example) at 350* and have them come out just fine. The trick is to wrap with some sort of liquid and count on steam and braising to get the thing tender. That changes the game and effects the overall flavor profile in my opinion, achieving what I would call a pot roasting effect. I think for most large hunks of meat that need time to render will do just fine at temperatures between 225* and 275* without much of a noticeable effect (other than less time of course). Getting into the 300* plus range requires some degree of trickery such as braising to make it happen. Just my observation and opinion.

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                            #14
                            I like to cook pork ribs at 250-275, Chicken 350-375, pork butt 275 and brisket at 300.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              I don't really try to cook at anything below 250 F. Most cooks just take too long at those temps. I like to shoot for 275 F, and it seems to work just fine for me. Sometimes if I have a beast of a brisket, I will bump it down to about 250 F or so. But I never fret about nailing temps to an exact time. What really matters is the average temp across the cook.

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