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/
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 10 2018, @04:13AM
The benefits are mainly:
Some of these benefits are more or less shared by other slow and/or low-temperature cooking methods, and they each apply in varying degree (or not at all) to various dishes.
It's just another tool, not magic -- it can be used to good effect for many tasks, but "earth shattering" is unlikely, with the possible exception of a handful of dishes that specifically showcase sous-vide in one way or another.