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The Secret to Successful BBQ Pork Butt and Brisket is Science

posted by mrpg on Sunday September 09 2018, @05:26AM   Printer-friendly
from the if-god-isn't-real-how-come-meat-can-be-cooked? dept.

MrPlow writes:

Submitted via IRC for SoyCow1984

[...] You've just encountered the bane of aspiring pit masters everywhere: the Stall (also known as the Zone or the Plateau), a common phenomenon in low-temperature cooking. What, precisely, causes the stall is a perennial topic of debate among BBQ enthusiasts. Is it a protein called collagen in the meat, which combines with water to convert to gelatin at the 160°F point? Or is it due to the fat rendering, turning lipids to liquid?

Several years ago, Greg Blonder, a Boston College professor, did the experiments and came up with a definitive answer: evaporative cooling. The meat sweats as it cooks, releasing the moisture within, and that moisture evaporates and cools the meat, effectively canceling out the heat from the BBQ. These days, Blonder is the resident science advisor and myth buster at the popular BBQ and grilling site called Amazing Ribs. "I spend a lot of my time settling bar fights, basically," he joked.

Source: https://arstechnica.com/science/2018/09/let-science-be-your-guide-for-the-perfect-labor-day-bbq/

Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 4, Informative) by The Mighty Buzzard on Sunday September 09 2018, @10:55AM (2 children)

    by The Mighty Buzzard (18) Subscriber Badge <themightybuzzard@proton.me> on Sunday September 09 2018, @10:55AM (#732448) Homepage Journal

    Got a system that works like a boss for me.

    1. Smoke your brisket or pork butt for however long you feel it needs smoked to get the flavor you want the evening before you plan on eating it.
    2. Remove it, wrap it thoroughly in heavy foil, and poke it on a pan in a 200F oven (to save wood) and leave it there until at least noon the next day.

    I generally go 4-5 hours smoking then stuff it in the oven until I get hungry for lunch the next day but leaving it until dinner time won't do anything but make it even more tender. The pork butt I did last weekend got to sit in the oven until 6pm the next day and I ended up using a plastic fork to "pull" it.

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  • (Score: 2) by chewbacon on Monday September 10 2018, @02:28AM (1 child)

    by chewbacon (1032) on Monday September 10 2018, @02:28AM (#732629)

    A guy I know does this. There is the argument the meat won’t absorb anymore smoke after just a few hours of a 14+ hour cook. So he will get the smoke flavor in, then toss it in the oven wrapped to finish off. I tend to take the purist route and smoke the entire cool, but I do wrap when it stalls. I can be a purist, but I’m no masochist.

    • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Monday September 10 2018, @03:32AM

      by The Mighty Buzzard (18) Subscriber Badge <themightybuzzard@proton.me> on Monday September 10 2018, @03:32AM (#732647) Homepage Journal

      See, I don't want the meat to absorb all the smoke it can. After five hours on a brisket or good sized pork butt, two hours tops on ribs, it starts tasting worse to me not better. I also don't enjoy tasting wood smoke flavored burps all the next day.

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