225º-is-now-"old-school"

[MarkN]

When I smoke on my Weber Kettle I found that a charcoal snake of two rows of two charcoals (double row on the bottom and a double row on top of that), in a "C" shape gives me a long slow burn at an unbelievably consistent (to me) 225°- 235°F. When I smoke in the PBC that I acquired this year, it runs at a fairly consistent 275°F. The key to me is that both methods have proven to be pretty much set-it-and-forget-it. That's the key to me.

I have noticed a barely discernable difference between the two, but I'm not sure that it is temperature related. The Weber Kettle with snake seems smokier than the PBC and the PBC seems to have a slightly different flavor. Whether that is because in the PBC the drippings fall on the hot coals and in the kettle they drip into the water pan or it is just my imagination, I have no idea. In either case, they all get eaten.

My pre-snake era often had temps shooting over 300° and those efforts always dried out the meat a bit too much.

[Richard Chrz]

I like to sit and watch my smoker while I drink beer or cocktails, and spend the day outside. I cook somethings at 225, some at 200, some at 275, some at 375, etc.. never in a hurry. Being in a hurry goes against pretty much everything I do. Hell, if I’m just trying to push a cook time, I should quit cooking, as it is never my intention.

[heneksja]

Thanks to everyone that responded to my question. I didn’t mean to restart the 225/275 religion war, but probably my fault by adding my specific question about temp for steaks on Traeger for extra smoke to a long running thread on smoking temp. I think I will go for 190 for an hour or so. Adjust temp to try to keep them smoking for that hour and hit 120, then take them off and put cast iron griddle in and go to warp 10. Finish on griddle to 135.

Also throwing in a split in half butternut squash before the meat—maybe half hour before the meat at 225, then drop down temp for meat. Pretty easy to do with the Traeger.

[Richard Chrz]

I’ve ran smoke at 190 all night long.

[Razor]

I was wondering what blew up when I saw my alert count much higher than normal. I’ve learned a ton, experimenting in the almost 3 years since starting this thread. For the record I’ve stuck with 225 and 325 to keep it simple and only worry about 2 temps as Meathead suggested.

I cheat on the WSM, using a fan controller because I like to sleep at night, but can run either temp without thinking about it on the Performer Deluxe.

The plan is to add a Hasty-Bake next year on Black Friday, and start the learning process all over again.

[Rocinante]

Well, I forgot to take photos, but I smoked a 9lb butt yesterday at 250 and it got probe tender, around 205ish, in just about 7.5 hours. That was with it going into a tin with some broth for the last 2.5 hours and with a smoke tube for the first 4 hrs since it was in a pellet smoker.

Have to say it ranked with all my other moist butts that I have cooked and was several hours shorter in cook time. Will repeat again.

Cheers!

[Meathead]

I'm writing a new Deep Dive ebook on steaks and thought this excerpt might be relevant to this discussion:

Connective tissue

Connective tissue is most obvious in the form of tendons that connect muscles to bones. It is also visible as the thin shiny sheathing that wraps around muscles called silverskin and in ligaments that connect muscles to other muscles. These tougher, chewier, rubberband-like connective tissues are mostly protein and appropriately named elastin. We call them gristle and they shrink when heated and become hard to chew. As with muscle fibers, connective tissues thicken and toughen as an animal exercises and ages.

A softer connective tissue called collagen is scattered throughout the muscle, often surrounding fibers and sheaths holding them together. And yes, this is pretty much the same stuff the Hollywood wives have injected into their faces to get rid of wrinkles.

When you cook, collagen melts and turns to a rich liquid called gelatin, similar to the stuff Jell-O is made from. Cooked muscle fibers, no longer bound together by collagen, are now uniformly coated with a soft, gelatinous lubricant. This smooth and sensual substance enrobes meat in a wonderfully silken texture and adds moisture.

Lean meats such as beef or pork tenderloin, as well as most chicken and turkey, don’t have much collagen. When cooking tough cuts of meat with lots of connective tissue, like ribs, brisket, and shoulder, it is important to liquefy the meat’s connective tissue into gelatin: that’s what makes these tough meats taste tender. This takes time. That’s why these cuts are often cooked low and slow.

Muscle fibers start seizing up around 125°F to 140°F if heated quickly. But when heated slowly, the rubber band-like connective tissues have time to relax and do not squeeze tightly. In general, we think it is best to cook all meats at about 225°F. Slow roasting does wonders for meat. The AmazingRibs.com science advisor Prof. Greg Blonder says "Think of silly putty. Pressed hard and quickly, it acts like a rigid solid. Pressed slowly, it flows." When heated slowly, the muscle fibers, instead of wringing out moisture, relax and simply let water linger inside until evaporation drives it out.

After it melts, as it chills, gelatin can solidify into that jiggly stuff which, with a little filtering, can then be called aspic and served at bridge clubs. Here’s a pot of the stuff made simply by boiling a couple of chicken carcasses in water after I ate the meat, discarded the bones, and chilled the liquid. The white is fat, most of which I have removed, and the tan is jiggly gelatin.

[Razor]

Never heard of aspic before. I will have to look that up!