Turbinado ? and Washing meat?


 
D

DavidD

TVWBB Super Fan
will be smoking a butt today and have two questions...pls

is it necessary or recommended to wash the butt in tap water before seasoning or does it matter?

second, what is the advantage if any, to turbinado sugar? Ive only used brown and while slightly clumpy, it works just fine but i've been seeing more about turbinado and not sure why it is better, if at all
 
No need to wash meat. I pat dry with paper towel but never wash/rinse. If you need/want some moisture to make the rub stick better, rubbing with yellow mustard works. Another way is to salt the meat and let it sit for a while and the salt will draw some moisture to the surface of the meat.

On the sugar. I'm not sure, but I've never noticed any difference. I've never substituted one for the other, but used both in different rub recipes. I think it's safe to say that sugar is sugar. There was a thread on here the other day and if I recall correctly, it seemed like there was no difference and swaping one for the other was fine.
 
this is the first time i didn't rinse the meat and it was easier. normally the meat gets very wet and despite using papertowels to dry, it's still wet. by not rinsing and just patting dry, the meat was tacky and the rub stuck better. Also, the wife had turbinado in the pantry, unbehknownst to me, so i am giving it a try. thx for the input
 
I only wash the blade bone side to get rid of any bone dust from the band saw.
Turbinado is supposed to start burning at a higher temp in case your bark is getting too dark with white sugar. I remember it making a difference when grilling chicken more than anything else.
 
Removing dust, if apparent is one thing. Other than that, no need to wash any meat including poultry, despite what one reads all the time.
 
As for the sugar, I personally never ever use white. We don't even have any in the house.

We have four different granular sugars:
Wholesome Sweeteners Fair Trade Organic Dark Brown Sugar
Wholesome Sweeteners Fair Trade Organic Light Brown Sugar
Wholesome Sweeteners Organic Turbinado Raw Cane Sugar
Wholesome Sweeteners Fair Trade Organic Sucanat (Brown Sugar)

If I need a finer form of sugar I just grind one of the above down a bit.

We avoid 4 of the 5 "deadly whites"
(Then only white salt I use is Kosher and only during the pre-rub process, using different finishing salts in all other applications)

• White flour
• White rice
• White salt
• White sugar
• “White” or refined oils
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Len Dennis:
I do believe that "brown" sugar is just "deadly" white with molasses added. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

EDIT - yes, the regular old "brown sugar" is white sugar with molasses. I was thinking you were comparing turbinado to white sugar.

FURTHER EDIT - I started looking more into this and apparently Rapadura is the purest form of sugar, but I'm finding Sucanat is close. Even turbinado is refined to an extent - just not as much as white sugar. Very interesting.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">We avoid 4 of the 5 "deadly whites"(Then only white salt I use is Kosher and only during the pre-rub process, using different finishing salts in all other applications)• White flour• White rice• White salt• White sugar• “White” or refined oils </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Off topic but I'm feeling the need to comment vis-à-vis the notion that one must never consume any of these items. Imo, it is the preponderance and predilection of these things in the American diet, coupled with the relative lack of whole grains, legumes and vegetables - not their presence per se - that is the problem.

Some things are simply not possible without them, or their substitutions present problems of their own.
 
I have heard turbinado doesn't tend to burn as quickly and so is less bitter on the finished meat. I am not sure about that. It is less processed (aka in the raw) which I prefer. I also consider it more course and therefore helps produce a better bark.
 
Burning need not be a concern regardless of the type of sucrose used - Turbinado, brown, white - at typical barbecue temps. Sucrose doesn't even caramelize until 320, burns >350. (I do ribs at 335-350, unfoiled, higher once foiled, if foiling. Not a problem as surface temps will not be the same as ambient cook temps; they will be lower due to evaporative cooling.)

Fructose caramelizes and burns at much lower temps.

Bitterness on barbecue is not a sugar problem. It is usually too much smoke sticking to the meat. This can happen due to too much smoke, period - or an excess of sugar. Not only does a lot of sugar flatten flavors, it also creates a rather sticky surface for the smoke to adhere to.
 
Washing meat is a complete waste of time IMO. Cooking cleans the meat. No washing keeps the bad guys on the meat. Washing can spread them to where you don't want them.
 
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