The Great Temperature Debate

[klflowers]

I think part of the joy of smoking meat, at least for me, is the low and slow aspect. I have stopped trying to nail 225 every minute of every cook (thanks to AR), but I still try and stay between 225 and 275 on most cooks. It makes me stop whatever I am doing and slow my roll. With bourbon and beer, most times.

[klflowers]

Except chicken and turkey, which I bump up to 325-350.

[FireMan]

Yer questioning everything you’ve ever done cuz you only been around 4 months. Come back in another 6 to 9 1/2 months and see what ya say then. We’ll be listenin & you’ll be grinnin & "they" ‘ll be lovin’ it. Yup.

[ColonialDawg]

Hot and fast, brother. Welcome to the dark side.....I mean, the BARK side.

[Mosca]

Stone and Franklin aren't advocating 275 or 300; they are saying that 275 and 300 also work. They have businesses to run, and they need to get that product out to the public, and higher temps do that faster. Their product would be awesome at 225, 250, 275, whatever. 300 for that pork butt. The Tasty Licks team does pork butt at 325.

Do the temp based on when you want stuff done. If you have time, there's nothing wrong with 225. If you're short on time, you can feel safe at 275.

[jfmorris]

I've found over the years that temperature does not matter so much as temperature range. I've done ribs, butts and brisket anywhere between 225 and 300 and they came out great. The only thing that varies is cooking time at the higher temperatures. Chicken I always try to get the pit temp up to 325 to 400.

When doing low and slow these days especially on overnight cooks I set my Smoke high and low alarms to 300 and 200, and if I am awake I will set them to 225 and 275.

[Mosca]

Chicken just isn't a low-and-slow thing. 375-400 for me. 325 works, but 375 I think is best.

[JimLinebarger]

Myron Mixon does his competition cooks at 300.

[kbremer]

I smoke everything at 275. Ribs, chicken,brisket, pork bellies....ect….what ever works for you

[Lock Stock and Barrel]

Water pans and wrapping and turning over several times has allowed me to cook at Franklin's higher temperature. 250 to 275. Makes for a faster cook which may help retain moisture so I think you guys are on to something. Also, the grade of meat you are cooking will always determine the final outcome. Prime is prime, choice is choice, Wagyu well what can I say?

[Keiferr]

Are you losing smoke at the higher temp?

[Mr. Bones]

I typically run at ~275°. an have smoke aplenty on my foods... , but I reckon it would vary more on type of cooker...

I'm burnin sticks, or chunks over charcoal...

[bardsleyque]

I do everything between 220/275 some times I'll get a spike to 300 or a drop to 200.I don't sweat that.My cooker is a stick burner rotisserie with four shelves,typically i'll have 3 or 4 brisket 6 or 8 shoulders and 4 to 6 yardbirds.Pork and beef on first yardbird with abuot 3/4 hrs. of cook time left. I wrap the brisket never wrap pork.

[pmorse36]

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.

I had just finished the same book when I decided to give the higher temps a try! As noted earlier, Tuffy Stone's "Cool Smoke" cookbook was also a big proponent of the higher temps for everything except prime rib. I think I'm officially in this club.

I also agree with all of you on the 350+ for chicken. It's all about the skin in my mind as keeping the bird most is typically not a problem. I have really fallen in love with doing whole chickens, ducks, quail and game hens on the rotisserie with charcoal and few wood chunks directly under the rotisserie. Consistently great results.

[Dadof3Illinois]

I screwed up and didn’t get started on a full packer cook early enough once. Started at 5am with a 14 pounder, kicked the temp up to 300. Figured we would be eating pizza that evening.
At 10 am it was ready to wrap and was done around 2pm. 2 hours of cambro time and it turned out to be one of the best briskets I’ve ever done.
I will say I didn’t get as much smoke as I would have liked.

[texastweeter]

I dont crutch ribs, and get fantastic bark. I keep a full water pan and 225° for everythung but poultry. Birds get an empty water pan, and 325°. Fantastic results every time. Have a big cook friday for a saturday event. 20 briskets, and 75lbs of sausage. Will be 18-20hours of 225°...

[Steve R.]

I only cook at 225 when I need to stretch out the cook time for long overnight cooks with the PartyQ running the show on a kettle. My stick burner doesn't like much under 275 if it is going to burn wood efficiently. Trying to run at 225 on that one would be an exercise in getting the fire restarted every couple of hours, or feeding it really small splits every 20 minutes or so.