oldbill
is One Chatty Farker
Here's an interesting article on wood smoke and it's effects on food.
http://amazingribs.com/tips_and_technique/zen_of_wood.html
According to the article there is very little absorption of smoke at all, Only the outer 1/8 of an inch is really penetrated at all no matter what temp you cook at or how much rub you apply but smoke will continue to collect on the surface of the meat as long as there is moisture and as long as there is smoke present and this is where there is a difference between "high and fast" and "low and slow".
With higher, more intense temps there is less smoke and moisture evaporates quickly from the surface of the meat resulting in less smoke flavor.
There's nothing wrong with a high and fast brisket but there IS a difference in flavor when compared to a low and slow brisket. It really just depends on how much smoke you want as to what your cooking style is.
Low and slow does not equate to dirty smoke, just more smoke present in the cooking chamber than with higher temps. Tuffy Stone once said that at his Cool Smoke restaurants, the meat is cooked at 200 deg. for 12 to 16 hours. You don't get any lower and slower than that and I'm sure that if he could achieve the same end results with higher temps in half the time he'd be doing it but he's not. Then there is Aaron Franklin who cooks at the higher end of "low and slow" at 250 - 275 for 12 hours and has a product that is considered by many to be the best in the country. There is obviously a reason that these guys who are among the most successful in the world of BBQ are cooking with low temps. They're running restaurants and it would make sense that they would benefit from cranking out more food, more quickly if they could yet they continue with the lower, more time consuming methods.
"High and fast" will get the cook done faster and the finished product will be fine for a lot of people but it's not the same as what is achieved with "low and slow".
http://amazingribs.com/tips_and_technique/zen_of_wood.html
According to the article there is very little absorption of smoke at all, Only the outer 1/8 of an inch is really penetrated at all no matter what temp you cook at or how much rub you apply but smoke will continue to collect on the surface of the meat as long as there is moisture and as long as there is smoke present and this is where there is a difference between "high and fast" and "low and slow".
With higher, more intense temps there is less smoke and moisture evaporates quickly from the surface of the meat resulting in less smoke flavor.
There's nothing wrong with a high and fast brisket but there IS a difference in flavor when compared to a low and slow brisket. It really just depends on how much smoke you want as to what your cooking style is.
Low and slow does not equate to dirty smoke, just more smoke present in the cooking chamber than with higher temps. Tuffy Stone once said that at his Cool Smoke restaurants, the meat is cooked at 200 deg. for 12 to 16 hours. You don't get any lower and slower than that and I'm sure that if he could achieve the same end results with higher temps in half the time he'd be doing it but he's not. Then there is Aaron Franklin who cooks at the higher end of "low and slow" at 250 - 275 for 12 hours and has a product that is considered by many to be the best in the country. There is obviously a reason that these guys who are among the most successful in the world of BBQ are cooking with low temps. They're running restaurants and it would make sense that they would benefit from cranking out more food, more quickly if they could yet they continue with the lower, more time consuming methods.
"High and fast" will get the cook done faster and the finished product will be fine for a lot of people but it's not the same as what is achieved with "low and slow".
