Hot and fast, low and slow, constant and consistent temps each has it's own school of thought. As a avid stick burner I think I utilize all three of the concepts. I suppose ypu could say I start out hot and fast especially when doing pork butts or brisket. I like to run the temp up over 300 when first putting all that meat on.
Then I let things settle in at the low and slow of 230 to 250 and let that run at a relatively consistent temp of 250. For the most part I always try to plan all my cooks so I have enough time to cook whatever it is at a average temp of 250 or so.
The one hot and fast I have done on brisket called for wrapping, and wrapping is referenced it the hot and fast directions I have read in various sources. With Low and slow you don’t need to wrap unless you are under a time crunch. If you always wrap hot and fast may be worth considering. I routinely do 10 pound Boston Butts on a BGE. In general by my calculations if you cooked at 225 and wrapped at an internal temp of 160 until finish, it would cut about 4 1/2 hours off of the cook putting it in the range of 7 1/2 to 9 1/2 hours.
My toys:
Weber Summit Charcoal Grilling Center (WSCGC) aka Mr. Fancypants
Pit Barrel Cooker (which rocks), named Pretty Baby
Weber Summit S650 Gas Grill, named Hot 'n Fast (used mostly for searing and griddling)
Weber Kettle Premium 22" named Kettle Kid, eager to horn in with more cooks in the future
Camp Chef Somerset IV 4-burner outdoor gas range named AfterBurner due to its 30kBTU burners
Adrenaline BBQ Company Gear:
SnS Low Profile, DnG, and Large Charcoal Basket, for WSCGC
SnS Deluxe for 22" Kettle
Elevated SS Rack for WSCGC
SS Rack for DnG
Cast Iron Griddle
Grill Grate for SnS
Grill Grates: five 17.375 sections (retired to storage)
Grill Grates: six 19.25 panels for exact fit for Summit S650
gasser
Grill Grates for 22" Kettle
2 Grill Grate Griddles
Steelmade Griddle for Summit gas grill
Fireboard Gear:
Extreme BBQ Thermometer Package
Additional control unit
Additional probes: Competition Probes 1" (3) and 4" (1), 3 additional Ambient Probes. 1 additional Food Probe
2 Driver Cables
Pit Viper Fan (to pair with Fireboard Fan Driver Cable)
Pit Viper Fan new design (to pair with Fireboard Fan Driver Cable)
Thermoworks Gear:
Thermapen MK4 (pink)
Thermapen Classic (pink too)
Thermoworks MK4 orange
Temp Test 2 Smart Thermometer
Extra Big and Loud Timer
Timestick Trio
Maverick ET 73 a little workhorse with limited range
Maverick ET 733
Maverick (Ivation) ET 732
Grill Pinz
Vortex (two of them)
18" drip pan for WSCGC
Ceramic Spacers for WSCGC in Kamado Mode: 2 sets each 1/2", 1", 2". The 2" spacers work best with the 18" drip pan. The 1+1/2 inch spacers work best with the 14 inch cake pan.
Two Joule Sous Vide devices
3 Lipavi Sous Vide Tubs with Lids: 12, 18 and 26 quarts
Avid Armor Ultra Pro V32 Chamber Sealer
Instant Pot 6 Quart Electric Pressure Cooker
Instant Pot 10 Quart Electric Pressure Cooker
Charcoal Companion TurboQue
A-Maze-N tube 12 inch tube smoker accessory for use with pellets
BBQ Dragon and Dragon Chimney
Shun Classic Series:
8" Chef Knife
6" Chef's Knife
Gokujo Boning and Fillet Knife
3 1/2 inch Paring Knife
...Ive kind of adopted a middle ground with large cuts of beef or pork. I cook around 260-275* which gives me a degree of control but cuts 20-25% off my cook times. I would advise experimenting on your own. Try different temps and observe the results. Find the sweet spot that’s right for you.
I'm with you--275°F is my go-to smoking temp for beef and pork, whether on my PBC or my WSCGC. I did a side-by-side comparison of 4 chuck roasts, two smoked in the the PBC at 275° and two more chuckies in the WSCGC at 350°. The lower temp chuckies won hands down--nice bark but not shoe-leather bark, and much more juicy than the ones done at 350°.
I've done many chuckies on the WSCGC at 275° in the past, and they were great. The deal breaker was the hot 'n fast temp used on the chuck roasts for my comparison cook.
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