See. That's what most of this has been about. Find your cookers happy spot and make good food. Faster or slower.....it don't matter as long as you and yours are happy.
And you have the other end of the viewpoint, which is 100% fine as well! I was die hard 225(ish) at first, then when I'd accidentally let my cooker get up to 275, 300 a time or three and realized it tasted the exact same I became less focused on temp. No wrong way here, what matters is the food on your plate and the humans sitting around the table!
Scotch: Current favorite- The Arran (anything by them), Glenmorangie 12yr Lasanta, sherry cask finished. The Balvenie Double Wood, also like Oban 18yr, and The Glenlivet Nadurra (Oloroso sherry cask finished) among others. Neat please.
About meReal name: Aaron
Location: Farwell, Michigan - near Clare (dead center of lower peninsula).
Occupation:
Healthcare- Licensed & Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT) at MyMichigan Health, a University of Michigan Health System.
To me, the argument is NOT 'the wood burns cleaner at higher temps', this is short-sighted rationale, and really a moot point in this argument. Wood burns cleaner at higher fire temps, yes, but this has very little to do with your cooker/cooking grate temp. When we're talking cooking at 225, 275, or 350, this is the temp the meat feels, not the fire's temp, since we're cooking indirectly for most things BBQ. Higher or lower cook temp will affect the bark dryness and hardiness, the cook time, and the moisture (lean meats benefit from higher temps to speed up cook time and decrease dehydration time).
The rest is preference, and if anyone tells you that you're wrong or you're old fashioned, they're wrong. Preference is preference, and is typically based on more than just cook time.
Honestly I must say this has been a fascinating thread to watch develop and read through. All the different approaches and infinite variables and everyone has their twist. Really good stuff. Although I do think the one thing everyone forgot about was how your guest’s blood alcohol content is both directly proportionate to their opinions of your cook and inversely proportionate to how much they care about how you did it. The ultimate trump card! Well that’s it.... my secret is out.
Well if one thing I learned from all of this, I’m going to continue to stay at 225 for most of my cooks, when appropriate, however I’m not going to overreact when the cooker decides to make a jump to 250 or 275 from time to time. The more time I spend here I realize how 225 is more of a guideline and not necessarily the end of the world if you over shoot it for an hour or so.
Meathead if I can make one suggestion for the new book, if you do talk about 225, can you please mention that spikes will happen and that it’s ok to let themselves work their way out. You will have fluctuations of +/- 25 and that’s ok. To you guys who have been around a while you know this, but a lot of us newer people that are trying to blow out all of the "bad knowledge" from our brains and replace it with the good stuff don’t. You can see just here in this thread there are more than a few that religiously tried to hit 225, maybe a even a little too much. 😁
If not cooking outdoors, I am cooking on the stovetop with my 14" carbon steel wok, 12" CI skillet, or in the oven with my two Lodge CI pizza pans, or two dutch ovens. I've also got a nifty Lodge carbon steel grill pan that rocks for veggies outdoors.
I will amend what I said earlier in this thread by saying that while I still PREFER running my BBQ at 225F, I now know that I can push it to 250, 275 and even 300 if I need to "get 'er done" in time for dinner. I've started setting my cooking temp based on the dinner schedule in other words. Often lately with butts, I'll run overnight at 225, then bump it to 275 when I wake up, to push it through the stall. Last butt I smoked, I started it at 9am at 250, then around 3pm it was in the stall, and I pushed it to 300, and in 2 hours got it from 170F to 203F, pulled the butt around 5:30, shredded at 6, and we had dinner about 6:15. If I had left things at 225, dinner would have been at 11pm!
I do that too. If I oversleep or otherwise don't get the butt or chuck on until 7:30 or 8am I will cook at 275-290ish intentionally to try to shave off some time.
Cooking gadgets
Weber Summit Charcoal Grill Center
Weber Summit Platinum D6
Blue Rhino Razor
Dyna-Glo XL Premium Dual Chamber
Camp Chef Somerset IV along with their Artisan Pizza Oven 90
Anova WiFi
Thermometers
Thermapen Mk4 - ThermaQ High Temp Kit - ThermaQ Meathead Kit - ThermaQ WiFi - ThermoWorks IR-GUN-S - ThermoWorks Signals & Billows - ThermoPop -ThermoWorks ProNeedle - ThermoWorks TimeStick Trio x2 - and a Christopher Kimball timer - NO, I do not work for ThermoWorks...I just like their products.
Other useful bits...
KitchenAid 7-qt Pro Line stand mixer
A Black & Decker food processor that I can't seem to murder
A couple of immersion blenders, one a "consumer" model & the other a "high end" Italian thing. Yes, the Italian one is a bit better, but only marginally
Instant Pot Duo Evo Plus 8-qt + accessories like egg-bite & egg holders
All-Clad pots & pans, along with some cast iron...everything from 7" Skookie pans to 8.5qt Dutch ovens
Weber GBS griddle, pizza stone, and wok
Knives range from Mercer to F. Dick to "You spent how much for one knife? One knife?!" LOL
For some reason I can have one helluva time keeping my WSGC at 225°...without constant futzing with the vent. OTOH, it seems to be quite happy at 230-235°. Don’t know if I’m doing something wrong or it’s just the beast...but 225° can be an exercise in frustration.
klflowers That’s decidedly my approach now as well. LOL
And yes, they do have their own personalities...I was just surprised that locking it in at 225° was harder than just a few degrees above. I’m sure it’s my timing on the upswing, but I can live with it.
Smoker:
Landmann Smoke Master Series Heavy Duty Barrel Smoker (COS) - With mods including 2 level rack system with pull-out grates
Masterbuilt ThermoTemp XL 40" Vertical Propane Smoker
Weber Smokey Joe with mini-WSM Tamale Pot modification
The Good One Marshall
Gas Grill:
BBQPro (cheap big box store model) Stainless steel 4 burnerswith aftermarket rotisserie.
Brook King Regal S490 Pro
Charcoal Grill:
Weber Smokey Joe Charcoal Grill 14"
Thermometer:
2 x Fireboard 2 with Drive cable and 20 CFM fan and Competition Probe Package
ThermoWorks Mini Instant Read
Lavaworks Thermowand Instant Read
ThermoWorks IR-GUN-S Industrial Infrared Thermometer
ThermoWorks ThermaPen Mk4 x 2
ThermoWorks Thermapen ONE
Govee Bluetooth Thermometer with 6 probes
Miscellaneous:
Anova Sous Vide Immersion Circulator - 1st generation
Anova Sous Vide Immersion Circulator - wifi/bluetooth connected
Favorite Beer:
Anything to the dark side and malty rather than hoppy. Currently liking Yuengling Porter and Newcastle Brown Ale. In a bar or pub I will often default to Guiness
Favorite Spirit:
Bourbon - Eagle Rare for "every day"; Angel's Envy for special occasions, Basil Hayden's, Larceny
Favorite Wine:
Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Super Tuscan Sangiovese (Including Chianti Classico Riserva) Brunello di Montalcino
Favorite Meat(s):
Pork - especially the darker meat. I love spare ribs and anything made from shoulder/butt meat
Chicken - Mainly the dark meat and wings
Beef Ribeye steak
Favorite Cuisine to Cook:
Can't list just one: Indian, Chinese, Thai, West Indian/Carribean, Hispanic/Latin American, Ethiopian, Italian, BBQ
Favorite Cuisine to Eat:
Indian, followed closely by BBQ.
I'm still at the very beginning of learning to control my cook temp with the size of my fire when burning sticks for fuel and there is still quite a bit of fluctuation, particularly if I wait just slightly too long to add another split. Then the temp continues to drop until the new split catches and brings it back up. Plus, it would be practically impossible to get the cooler to hold around 225° at least on a normal weather day. I find that with a small hot fire, it wants to run in the neighborhood of 250-260° with a very small hot fire, so that's what I let it do. I'm pretty sure I could get it hotter with larger splits, but haven't tried to do that yet, like to cook chicken.
OTOH, if I burn charcoal and chunks, I use my Fireboard Drive and fan and I can generally keep it pretty much anywhere I like, which is usually in the 235-240° range. I think everything takes way longer at 225° and any difference in taste/texture is just not noticeable to me.
David
Last edited by Dewesq55; December 19, 2019, 11:26 AM.
Why 225? The cornerstone of tender meat cooking is low temps. It may be a minor difference between 225 and 275, and if you like 275, so be it. I have always tried to make barbecue and grilling simple for readers, and so, many years ago, I decided I would teach readers to learn to cook at 225 for most things, 325 for poultry to crisp the skins, and Warp 10 over IR for searing. I want beginners to learn fire control and master those three temps regardless of weather. So I have standardized ALL my recipes at those temps. That is the Meathead Method. Once you have control over temp, then bless you, cook at whatever you want. But I will continue to standardize on those three numbers.
BTW, I am about to share an ebook with members on Sous Vide Que where I have attempted the same thing: Simplifying.
My stick burner tends to run smooth in the 240s. I learned several tricks hanging out here in the pit. As in preheating wood in one side of the firebox with the fire banked against the other. Also keep the top or the fire box stacked with wood while cooking to preheat and dry more. Only have had it catch fire when cooking at high temps
for poultry.
I always considered 225 to be anywhere between 215 and 240 . 250 was 240 to 265. 275 was 265 to 295...etc. On my old COS' I used old oven thermos to temp. 250 on the external thermo was essentially 250 in the middle, but it was 260 towards the fire and 215 near the vent. I used water pans to even things out, a bit.
I bought a couple of custom made uprights with external thermos that I didn't trust. It wasn't that I had problems with the build, it was that I couldn't believe that temps could be consistent top to bottom, right to left. I bought the FireBoard. I did learn that the outside thermo was spot on. However, I spent way too much time trying to manage the vents and intake when I first bought the FireBoard. I don't use it much anymore. It is because it taught me the size of the splits I need to maintain a fire at my preferred AVERAGE temp (above formula). It also taught me a lot about the time needed to replenish my fire (about 1 hour - 2 splits) to maintain that average temp.
In learning your preferred temp and cooking methods, I recommend that you get a good thermometer. You might not use it forever, but it will really help you out. As an experienced BBQ'er with new equipment it made life really simple and reinforced things I previously suspected.
Last edited by tbob4; December 21, 2019, 04:36 PM.
I’m glad I bought a good thermometer early on. While I use to fiddle with my kettle vents when I first started, I’m now able to dial them in pretty close at the start. I keep the Thermoworks there just to verify. Now that we’re in to the winter months I have to relearn a few things but all that training over the summer has paid off.
Problem these days is nobody wants to enjoy the cooking process. Everyone is in a hurry to get food cooked.
I'm in 225 camp. Food is ready when it's ready.
Enjoy your food , enjoy the process of cooking food.
Or go to a restaurant, get overcharged for mediocre food and complain all day about bad service.
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