BBQ science - the Plateau explained

[HomeBrewerDude]

Hey all, I know a lot of you forum nuts love to grill the meat. I've been BBQing about 8 years and do a pretty mean brisket (slow and low - up to 10 hours for a full flat cut, dry rub, water pan).

Here is a great article offering a scientific explanation on what is happening during the plateau.

The plateau for those of you just passing through is the phenomenon that a brisket or pork shoulder will rise and then hold at an internal temp just above 150 F despite the fact that the smoker is typically at 225 F. The explanation I've always heard was that this was a conversion of collagen or solid fats into liquid, or connective tissues into unconnected tissues, or unicorns dancing on an iceberg, or something like that. The plateau will last about 3-5 hours, at which point the internal temperature will start to rise towards ambient.

the link:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/craig-goldwyn/physicist-cracks-bbq-mystery_b_987719.html

Cliffs: Basically this guy does a controlled experiment with a hunk of fat and comparable mass of a sponge laden with water. The result is no plateau for the fat, and a considerable one for the sponge. He also compares foil rapped pork to unwrapped.

Anyways its great read, especially if you like to Q.

Cheers and beers
HBD

 

[the DRIZZLE]

As someone who is just getting into smoking brisket and has a background in thermodynamics I find that really interesting.

 

[KK]

interesting

 

[The Boston Dangler]

i'm certainly no master, but i've cooked plenty of dinners and the results strike me as pretty obvious.

 

[masterxfob]

my first brisket was cooked over 12 hours and wasn't particularly great. i think i'll give the fast cook method a go.

 

[zinfamous]

I need to try brisket. I will always find it inferior to pork in every way..because it isn't pork...but it is damn tasty.

I whipped up some mean tri-tips the other week during a lab outing, without much planning--and no BBQ available--which convinced me that I am really missing out by not doing brisket.

heavily salted/peppered, oiled. grilled over super hot coals for roughly 4 minutes each side.
sauce on stove: stick of butter + salt + crushed garlic + crushed/diced cilantro. strained then pressed.

take tri-tips off grill, drench in sauce, wrap tightly in foil, bake at ~350 for 20 minutes. take out and rest.

something like that. lots of people working on various things, various items in the stove needing their own temperature, so you work with what you have--but holy shit that was glorious cow.

 

[HomeBrewerDude]

I need to try brisket. I will always find it inferior to pork in every way..because it isn't pork...but it is damn tasty.

...

Zin... if you're in the market for a dryrub that works well with both the porkbutt and brisket cuts- try Bad Bryon's Butt Rub - website googles right up.

 

[bfdd]

Duh? I honestly never heard of that fat thing before, I have always thought it was due to moisture/water. Also, make your own dry rub and experiment. That's like half of the fun of it right there! Dad just did a 10lb Brisket Saturday night mmm good stuff. I'm a big fan of smoking lamb though.

 

[HardcoreRobot]

fascinating

 

[darkswordsman17]

Pretty cool to break it down and actually look at it versus just willy nilly personal anecdotal mythology. That's something that bothers me about some people with cooking is how they act like its magic and just say stupid crap instead of actually looking into it. Being at a BBQ and fight breaks out over how to properly grill different things, just fucking stupid. I tend to stay the hell away anyways, as I'm not a big carnivore and way too many guys have egos about cooking meat (think theirs is the best ever, and so if you ask for it cooked more or put any sauce at all on it, its like you just killed their dog).

 

[Drako]

Interesting - I always wondered why low and slow always seems to result in dryer meat.

 

[Fear No Evil]

Pretty cool to break it down and actually look at it versus just willy nilly personal anecdotal mythology. That's something that bothers me about some people with cooking is how they act like its magic and just say stupid crap instead of actually looking into it. Being at a BBQ and fight breaks out over how to properly grill different things, just fucking stupid. I tend to stay the hell away anyways, as I'm not a big carnivore and way too many guys have egos about cooking meat (think theirs is the best ever, and so if you ask for it cooked more or put any sauce at all on it, its like you just killed their dog).

Turn in your man card.

 

[polarmystery]

Turn in your man card.

+1

 

[zinfamous]

Zin... if you're in the market for a dryrub that works well with both the porkbutt and brisket cuts- try Bad Bryon's Butt Rub - website googles right up.

will do. I've been using my own for the pork, but always like to start with something tested when moving on to a new meat.


...now I need a new smoker.

what's with that dude here that posted pics of his awesome vertical drum smoker? did he ever post the plans?