John Noble
TVWBB Member
So after umpteen hours on the wsm we wrap our brisket or pork shoulder in foil, some towels, and stuff them in a cooler.
This next few hours seems to help. So far so good.
Thing is, one of my coolers is one of those thermo electric ones. Plug it into a cigarette lighter and it will keep cool. But, you can run it the other way and it will keep things warm. Up to 150F.
So, I am thinking, this is great. The meat will still cool down from 190F onward, but the little bit of heat being added by the "cooler" will assist a bit in keeping things warm.
And what's so nice about the 150F number, is that I know the meat will be kept above 140F, which seems to be the bottom end safety hygiene temperature that the competition rulebooks talk about.
But then wait a minute. Am I cheating? Is this more than a "warmer"? Is this "cooking?". Because cooking is only allowed with charcoal.
The ongoing breakdown of connective tissue happens in a cooler, regardless of whether a bit of electric heat is going in or not. Even if I never plugged this in, some "cooking" effect would be ongoing, if we want to call this, "cooking".
Interesting question. What does everyone think?
I would still plug it in when doing this at home, as I think it's a helpful idea. If it was a problem with the rules at a comp, I'd just leave the cord and plug at home and just use it as a bare cooler.
This next few hours seems to help. So far so good.
Thing is, one of my coolers is one of those thermo electric ones. Plug it into a cigarette lighter and it will keep cool. But, you can run it the other way and it will keep things warm. Up to 150F.
So, I am thinking, this is great. The meat will still cool down from 190F onward, but the little bit of heat being added by the "cooler" will assist a bit in keeping things warm.
And what's so nice about the 150F number, is that I know the meat will be kept above 140F, which seems to be the bottom end safety hygiene temperature that the competition rulebooks talk about.
But then wait a minute. Am I cheating? Is this more than a "warmer"? Is this "cooking?". Because cooking is only allowed with charcoal.
The ongoing breakdown of connective tissue happens in a cooler, regardless of whether a bit of electric heat is going in or not. Even if I never plugged this in, some "cooking" effect would be ongoing, if we want to call this, "cooking".
Interesting question. What does everyone think?
I would still plug it in when doing this at home, as I think it's a helpful idea. If it was a problem with the rules at a comp, I'd just leave the cord and plug at home and just use it as a bare cooler.