Why So Long?

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smokenpreacher

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I like to watch cooking shows, BBQ cooks, and have a question for the Brethren. What's up with some of these cooking times? Some of these guys are putting 7-9 pound butts in a cooker, temps around 250, and leaving them 12-15 hours, some longer.
When it's done, it's done, right? Is anything being accomplished by leaving it in the smoker an additional 8 hours? I've been smoking several years and fail to see the reasoning behind this.
 
I think it rare when a professional BBQ cook doesn't exaggerate the length of time they actually smoke the meat. They usually include the hold time in the cooking time. It's some form of being a martyr I suspect. Sorta like thinking you gotta suffer before you can sing the blues.
 
I once smoked a brisket for 3 and a half years. Best brisket I ever tasted, and I've been smokin' meat the old school way ever since my great great grand pappy (who invented bbq) learnd me how to butcher a pig bare handed. There ain't no other way to do it and anyone who says otherwise is a damned liar, a cheat, and a communist.
 
I am a novice BBQ'r and I am trying to figure this out as well. I am trying to find the balance between cooking time, internal temp and amount of fat at the start. So far the best advice I have been given is to follow the probe test - the probe should go in and out easily when it's done. Please keep posting your thoughts and results it really helps beginners like me.
 
I think most of it is BS. For some reason i think people have it in there heads more time =more better. You'd be surprised the difference in reaction when the folks at home say "how long did you smoke those ribs?" and I respond with "3 hours" VS "6 hours" social phenomenon if you ask me.
 
HeSmellsLikeSmoke said:
I think it rare when a professional BBQ cook doesn't exaggerate the length of time they actually smoke the meat. They usually include the hold time in the cooking time. It's some form of being a martyr I suspect. Sorta like thinking you gotta suffer before you can sing the blues.
Click to expand...

Very well put! I saw on TV a guy said that he cooked his ribs for 18 hrs. :shock: uh ok.
 
Some folks lie, some folks cook very slow, some folks figure it makes a great story.

Do what works for you. Now, I have cooked a pork butt that took every bit of 18 hours to give in, at the time, I believed that I needed to be at 225°F to get it right, and it took that long. So be it. And it was delicious, as were many others done overnight.

Isn't anything wrong with cooking that long, if you want. It surely does one thing, that is discourage folks from doing it themselves. That is good for business.
 
smokenpreacher said:
I like to watch cooking shows, BBQ cooks, and have a question for the Brethren. What's up with some of these cooking times? Some of these guys are putting 7-9 pound butts in a cooker, temps around 250, and leaving them 12-15 hours, some longer.
When it's done, it's done, right? Is anything being accomplished by leaving it in the smoker an additional 8 hours? I've been smoking several years and fail to see the reasoning behind this.
Click to expand...

I tend to smoke a little hotter. I prefer Ribs & Butts at 275° to 300°.
Done a little quicker, but who is counting.
It ain't done, till it's done.
Probe it when it looks right.

BTW: Very little you hear on TV is factual...
 
BBQ RULES FOR SUCCESS

YOU CAN NOT COOK GREAT BBQ ON A CONSISTENT BASIS BY COOKING TO AN INTERNAL TEMPERATURE OR BY TIME ( XXX MIN PER LB) YOU MUST COOK BY FEEL!For Brisket it must pass the poke test(probe like soft butter in the thickest part of the Flat) Ribs pass the Bend Test, Pork Butts when the bone wiggles loose. These are the only reliable methods to ensure that your cook will be a success. There is one exception to these rules and that is Poultry which must achieve and internal temp of 170 deg in the thickest part of the thigh and 165 in the breast.
 
It all comes down to what you like to cook at temp wise.
If you like L&S then it's going to take a while, H&F you're done quicker.

They always exageratte on tv, that's what keeps people watching, I mean reality :laugh:
There are some of us that do make longer cook times for different reasons/preferences but to each their own.
Cook it the way you like and enjoy what you do, that's what Q is all about.

71-South that was classic!!!! :thumb:
 
HeSmellsLikeSmoke said:
I think it rare when a professional BBQ cook doesn't exaggerate the length of time they actually smoke the meat. They usually include the hold time in the cooking time. It's some form of being a martyr I suspect. Sorta like thinking you gotta suffer before you can sing the blues.
Click to expand...

Seems whenever I cook a brisket it's a blizzard and 15° below zero :becky:
 
71 south, I couldn't have said it any better. That there's funny, I don't care who you are.

I run my smoker hot and fast generally. That's where it likes to run. I will average around 275-300, and have gotten it up over 350. I use my thermometer to monitor grate temps, and I use a cheapo meat thermometer as a probe. My digital gets used for poultry.
I'm not changing the way I cook because some joker on TV said if it's not cooked 16 hours, it's not Q. It just seems like in every BBQ joint they interviewed they say they smoke butts for 16-18 hours, ribs go 10-12 hours, and brisket 24.
 
Yesterday I put four pieces of pork loin and a fourteen pound turkey on at the same time. The idea was to smoke the loins at 225 for a couple hours then crank it up to finish the turkey. After three hours the temp had come up to 250. The turkey was at 175 IT. Bottom line is don't put much stock in the time it's done when it's done.
 
I've been gravitating toward higher temps myself. I did a 14 lb. packer in 6 1/4 hours Sunday using Bludawg's method (thanks!)

As for my earlier post, I think I blacked out and I'm pretty sure I was channeling Mixon.
 
Pyle's BBQ said:
I had a guy tell that he smoked his brisked @ 150*F for 24 hour. I just looked at him and said "OK."
Click to expand...
If true, he's risking food poisoning. Guidelines are to get the food through the danger zone (40-140°F) where bacteria can flourish in less than 4 hours. 150°F in the cooker isn't going to do it!
 
HankB said:
If true, he's risking food poisoning. Guidelines are to get the food through the danger zone (40-140°F) where bacteria can flourish in less than 4 hours. 150°F in the cooker isn't going to do it!
Click to expand...

I believe that there is a time frame also where food is safe if held above the 150 degree mark for an extended amount of time etc. This is why sous vide method is viable and safe.
 
aawa said:
I believe that there is a time frame also where food is safe if held above the 150 degree mark for an extended amount of time etc. This is why sous vide method is viable and safe.
Click to expand...
I looked up sous vide after I posted. One site discussed safety at length. I think sous vide is safer because the food will heat a lot faster in water vs.in a smoker due to the differing heat transfer characteristics of water vs. hot air.
 
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