Smoking at High Altitude

[ChickenLittle]

I'm at 10,000 feet in Blue River CO. to say we are struggling w/smoking meats is an understatement. We have both an electric Masterbuilt And a Gateway 55 gallon Drum Smoker. Because the air is so dry and the oxygen is less abundant, we find almost everything comes out dry! If we get a nice bark, it's tough to get through.

Any tips to make ribs/brisket juicy and tender and most importantly not tough and dry??

[Donw]

Paging tstalafuse MBMorgan captainlee

[FireMan]

Well ding dang, ya been around ferever and yer postin. Welcome! I have no clue how to hep ya, cuz I live at practically pool table elevation. I am sure their will be plenty of hep fer ya. Eat good & have fun!

[barelfly]

Welcome! I’m at altitude, but not 10k! That’s up there! I know some of the CO folks will help out. My dad is at 7200’ and doesn’t seem to have much issue smoking, but that’s a big difference from 10k. Hope you can get some good tips here to help.

[Jerod Broussard]

I have heard ya don't want to go above the boiling point of water on internal temp, which at two miles high (minus 400ft) is 194-F.

I'm wondering if taking brisket off at 185-190-F and resting at 140-F for 8-10hrs would do the trick. Ribs the same but with a shorter hold time.

[PNWBrandon]

As someone who lived and learned to smoke at 9,000 feet I agree that this was a very important aspect in not over cooking the protein. Also, I found I used a water pan much more frequently when I lived in those dry Colorado mountains! Good luck!

[MBMorgan]

Low and slow means evaporation ... and evaporation means dry meat. So ... I just quit focusing quite so single-mindedly on traditional low and slow cooking.

At altitude (6300 ft (1920 m) MSL here at home), I really don't do anything special except to cook at the highest reasonable temperature instead of at the lowest (like I used to do near sea level). That means, if I used to cook at 225F, I now shoot for something above 250F ... and preferably 275-300F (or even hotter in the case of poultry). The idea is to minimize the time that the food is exposed to high temperature and therefore to minimize evaporative drying.

I brine (specifically dry brine) pretty much everything. Very few, if any, exceptions. The thicker the protein, the more important the brining.

I rarely (never, really) wrap anything. It doesn't seem to be necessary ... unless I'm going for a braised result ... in which case I have better cookware and cookers for such things than my smoker.

Same for injecting. I just don't. Instead, I look really hard for appropriately fatty meat.

When in doubt, I DO employ sous-vide ... as in so-called "SVQ". It works especially well for things like brisket/corned beef being made into pastrami. Same for really low-fat proteins like chicken breasts, beef filet mignon, and thick pork chops/steaks, and tenderloin of both beef and pork.

To your point about the air up here (and even more so where you are) being dry and lacking in oxygen ... I don't buy into either of those factors as particularly significant. So ... I just ignore them and focus on choosing the best meat, minimizing evaporative loss, and maximizing moisture retention. Easier said than done, I know ... but it seems to work pretty well way "down" here at 6300 ft.

[ChickenLittle]

This is all so helpful! I really appreciate it! Do you think spritzing it would help also? Although I do worry about losing heat in the drum smoker..

[CandySueQ]

I'd put a middle rack in your Gateway, just to hold a water pan. You don't want to be losing heat by spritzing.

[MBMorgan]

This is all so helpful! I really appreciate it! Do you think spritzing it would help also? Although I do worry about losing heat in the drum smoker..

Not a big fan of spritzing (although I do it on occasion). By definition a drum smoker is already a moist cooking environment and I doubt spritzing would help much (it never seemed to with my old Pit Barrel Cooker).

About the only time(s) I've tried spritzing in recent memory is in my (by definition, a dry cooking environment) pellet smoker. I'm not sure it helped ... but I felt better about myself for trying .

[painter]

I lived in Blue River many years ago before I started my BBQ/Grilling journey. I agree with what MBMorgan has said--higher temps to reduce the dryness over a long cook--along with introducing a water pan might help.

[captainlee]

https://girlscangrill.com/competition-bbq/barbecue-at-high-altitudes/

Hope this helps a bit. Agree with what others have been saying. I'm at 8500 ft. I don't inject or spritz anything. I cook my ribs straight through, no wrap. I do put my briskets and butts in a pan with some broth and cover with foil at some point when i am happy with the bark. More of a convenience thing too. I pull my briskets and butts at the low 190's. Boiling point of water here is 196 degrees. I do have a hard time with a smoke tube trying to keep it going, some days better than others.

[captainlee]

When i copied the website address i got all that info. Never seen it do that before.

[tstalafuse]

I have never been able to get a smoke tube to keep going. I never thought about it having a problem because of the altitude since all my other cooking material (charcoal/wood) doesn't. I just chalked it up to being too stupid to get it going.

[captainlee]

I think the directions said not to be used above 7 or 8 thousand feet. I can get it to work a bit by running just the fan on my Yoder giving it some oxygen.

[Clark]

We used to live at 7700' and I used a water pan on practically every meat cook. Didn't use water pan on things like shrimp, stuffed jalapenos, cheeses, nuts, etc. , When I smoked briskets, shoulder, ribs, I always mopped with AJ and ACV to replace moisture.

[tstalafuse]

I am at 9100ft and only cook low and slow. I haven't had a whole lot of success cooking hot and fast at any altitude, but if it works.. it works.

For low and slow, I add a water pan, start at 225 until I get the bark set, wrap it in a pan with some broth/water, then reduce the cook temp to between 210-215, and pull it in the very low 190s. You can't cook much beyond 190, as mentioned earlier, because you will begin to boil the moisture out. Yes, it will take several hours longer to cook than it does at a lower altitude. I don't typically spritz, unless I am trying to add another layer of flavor.

At 10k, once your bark is set you will probably want to cook closer to the 210 to reach your done temp, and pulling when it hits 190. Of course you want it to be probe tender, but cooking at lower temp will take longer, so it will have time to break down the connective tissues. I usually start probing for done when it reaches 185. Again, it will take several hours longer.

[USMC18]

At 6500’ here in CO and have struggled with overcooking; especially poultry and pork. We prefer rare to med rare beef and moist meat. That said, I would categorize myself as a smoking and BBQ novice even at lower elevations so there are to many variables, including altitude, to consider in order to narrow down my issues. Thank you all for your sage advice and giving me some points to ponder. Am going to try a tri-tip on the PBC this week and feel more confident now!

[captainlee]

Check out my post above with the video, it answers a lot of your questions. Yes, it's a totally different world of cooking everything at altitude.

[USMC18]

Thanks captainlee…lot of info to digest from both the linked article and this forum. Thanks to all members for sharing 👍

[bbqLuv]

Good topic. High Altitude changes BBQ and baking.
Actually, it is air pressure that lowers the boiling point of water.
That is all I remember about this subject.

You may want to refer to the following: How To Smoke Meat At High Altitude - The Meat Smoking Guy