225° vs 275°

[OldPostSmoke]

On my WSM, I usually start lower (225-250) to build up some bark and smoke flavor then bump up to 250-275+ to power through the stall / render the fat / etc.

 

[GlassHalfFull]

I like the smell of wood smoke in the morning, so I stick to 225 more often. i can always increase temp for crisping as needed. I enjoy my MAK 2* because of possibilities. Each smoker has best temps, so temp may not mean that much to others.

 

[Rusty Kettle]

225 vs 275 either is good. 225 allows a bigger window for getting perfect tenderness. 275 is fine but not as easy to hit perfect tenderness. So 225 imo is sometimes viewed that way because it is easier to get a good result.
I have smoked meat at up to 450 and turned out pulled pork in 4 hours. Really got to pay attention but it can be done. I prefer 300 and below.
If you cook hotter you have to pay attention. Lower temps it is just easier with having a larger window to hit perfect tenderness.

 

[Bush438]

So is the conversation here 225 or 275 because a 50 degree swing has meaningful impact as to where meeting in the middle at 250 is meaningless because a 25 swing from 225 or 275 is insignificant?

 

[Bob C Cue]

So is the conversation here 225 or 275 because a 50 degree swing has meaningful impact as to where meeting in the middle at 250 is meaningless because a 25 swing from 225 or 275 is insignificant?

You nailed it!

 

[bbqwizard]

Once upon a barbecue time, I cooked everything around 235 degrees, and still do on occasion if time allows. However, these days I cook at 275 for everyday cook sessions, and have played with temps between 300-425 for competition. Main reason? My smoker loves those temps, and/or I like how the end product turns out.

 

[70monte]

I only cooked at 225 when I first started smoking food on my WSM. I found that it seemed to take forever and that I really wasn't happy with the results.

I then started cooking closer to 300 and the cook was faster and I liked the results much better. These days I cook anywhere from 250-300 and I'm happy with the results.

 

[Fsonicsmith]

I've been at it for forty years with all kinds of smokers and I have come the conclusion that it all depends on the meat, fuel source, and smoker but most times cooking at 220 will simply lead to dry meat. It also tends to lead to minimal bark. Hot and fast will give you moisture, flavor, good bark, and tenderness but you really need to know what you are doing. For most of us, 250-270 is a really good range. And by the way, the idea of avoiding all temp swings is as ridiculous as some of the other misconceptions espoused above. The meat is done when the meat is done. It knows not of temp swings. The one hard and fast rule is that smoke absorption occurs as the meat is cold, iirc up to about 120 internal temp.

 

[Beentown]

Another thing that makes a difference. If I am cooking 15 briskets for a gig. Cooking at low temps makes it easier to have all the briskets done "perfectly" in a bigger window of time.

I.E. For me most briskets I cook are ideal at 203 degrees. If I am cooking at 275 or higher degrees you can blow past that temp pretty fast. So if you are busy making sides/other tasks at the same time as briskets are finishing up then you can have issues over cooking. You may have 10-20 minutes grace time with hot/fast but low/slow you have about an hour or more.

I still do hot and fast most of the time but just schedule accordingly.

Sent from my SM-G990U using Tapatalk

 

[WeberWho]

Your meat really doesn't absorb much smoke after the first couple hours. I think you're wasting time and money if you're cooking at 225 and hoping to pick up a better smoke profile with the longer and lower temp you go. It depends what smoker is being used but 275 seems to be my happy place. I'm just fine if it's +/- 25 degrees. Especially with the bigger offset. I'll go down to 225 for smoked cream cheese for a few hours but 250 minimum for meat.