Serious Question


 
B

Barry LaZar

TVWBB Member
I watch BBQ Pitmasters on a regular basis so that I might learn a thing or two. And, I have. However, there is one crazy thing that I've picked up on and can't figure out. If you listen to the competitors and then to the judges, you can get 6 different time and temperature combinations. OK, temperature does impact on time. But, where it gets crazy is where several competitors or judges say they will use, say, 275 degrees to cook a butt for anything from 4 hours, 5 hours, 6 hours, etc. It appears no one is using the same times for the same temperature. And, the cooks for meats like brisket and butts are always less than expected times that would be used at home. For instance, I cooked an 8 lb, bone in, butt for 13 hours at 275 degrees before I could pull it, yet the folk on BBQ Pitmasters can do the same thing in less than 8. What am I missing????
 
They don't show and tell you everything. Pitmasters is great for the interest generation. But be careful about applying one bite BBQ recipes to your backyard cookout.
 
Barry;
I think you have a good point. I must say, however, that my most typical weights of Boston Butt available to me run in the 8.0-9.0 category and it generally takes 8.0 hours or so. I do foil and that does effect cook times (shortens them). I cook my butts at 275 degrees and that is measured at the grate with my Maverick 732. If someone who might happen to use a WSM, like I do, measures dome temp using the furnished therm, then the actual cooking temperature could be quite different.

Often the differences is several different things working together (foil or not foil, grate or dome temps, temp of the meat when it goes on the smoker and smoker temp when the meat is introduced). There are many different things that can go on.

Use outside sources to guide you but there is NO substitute for your own "real world" experience.

Keep on smokin',
Dale53:wsm:
 
Good points above. Regarding different smokers, most all can be used to make good BBQ, but they do cook differently, and as already posted, we all seem to measure temp a little differently.

Anyhow, take uninsulated charcoal cookers like the wsm and compare them to other kinds of cookers. They take longer than most other smokers to recover temp at the start of a cook, and can also take a good bit longer to develop good bark before foiling compared to an offset, which a lot of comp cooks use....and the earlier you foil, the shorter the cook.

So whether one foils or not, you could say that the wsm cooks on the slow side compared to most of the cookers used in competition BBQ. Look at it like this, though. As long as you don't cook TOO slow and start to dry the meat out, more time usually means more fat rendered on the inside and more crisped on the outside.

Find out what works for you, and capitalize on what your friends and family like about your BBQ.
 
Never listen to BBQ competitors when it comes to time and temps. They are worst then racers and horse traders. Second, the breed of meat will also effect temp and time. I cook a Wagyu alot hotter then a normal packer.
 
I've noticed watching the shows that there are different temps and times used. Harry Soo cooks butts at 250(overnight cook on the shows I've seen him in) according to the link at the top of the "barbecuing" section of this forum. Big Moe cooks at 270 which I remember because it seemed odd to pick 270 rather than 275. Myron Mixon cooks hotter like 300-350(he has mentioned different temps in this range on the shows). What they all do is wrap in foil. Before Myron became famous he and a friend of mine met at the Big Pig Jig in Vienna Ga. and Myron told my friend that he cooks pork for 4 hours in the smoke, wraps for 2 hours and then puts them in a cooler to rest every time.
 
I've read one of the Myron Mixon books and he recommends a different temp for each meat and really gives no rational as to why.
 
Butts on my WSM take about 8 - 9 hours. Remember, every smoker has it's own personality. Every piece of meat too. Even two racks of ribs that weigh the same, one may take longer to cook than the other. It's all good. It's Q, we aren't in a hurry any ways...
 
Robert said it best. Your own experience is great, all the other info is good to experiment with and then
draw your own conclusions from it.
 
THoey said:
Butts on my WSM take about 8 - 9 hours. Remember, every smoker has it's own personality. Every piece of meat too. Even two racks of ribs that weigh the same, one may take longer to cook than the other. It's all good. It's Q, we aren't in a hurry any ways...
Click to expand...

Exactly. Anything you have had success with as far as time and temp is only a guideline for the future. It's ready when it is ready. That works both ways too. Sometimes it is done sooner than expected as well.
 
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