Do you put your meat in cold?

[Mark]

Yes. I consider it. I consider poultry the most. I consider warm poultry dangerous.

Brisket & pork is a different story. Usually, it's marinating in something that retards anything dangerous.

Some people take a morning hot shower with their brisket or butts still in the plastic of course. It lets them bond with thier meat they say.

 

[RichardF]

Yes. I consider it. I consider poultry the most. I consider warm poultry dangerous.

Brisket & pork is a different story. Usually, it's marinating in something that retards anything dangerous.

Some people take a morning hot shower with their brisket or butts still in the plastic of course. It lets them bond with thier meat they say.

Mark - I was sure that you like me would have warmed the bird under an arm pit. I guess I was mistaken.

After the arm pit I marinate chicken on the counter in a zip lock for a couple of hours before it goes in the cooker.

 

[Plowboy]

The theory that I've heard, and I believe, is that letting your meat come up in temp will help it from drying out. Think about what happens with a cold steak you toss on the grill, the colder the steak, the longer it takes the inside to come up the desired temp. By the time the inside is done, the outside may be overdone.

Does that make sense or am I just talking out my pork butt?

 

[jpw23]

Easy jp.....q-talk.......q-talk.......I gotta go!!!!

 

[Smok'nCW]

Ribs I let sit for 1 hour with rub on. Chickens I let sit out after Brine and dry. I want them with no liquid on them. So usually everything sits for about an hour before going in the smoker.

 

[Leeper]

If it is going in the smoker then it goes it cold (something about keeping it in the "smoke zone" longer). If on the grill it goes in room temp to ensure a more consistant temp range in the finished meat.

 

[cmcadams]

i have several theories about this stuff.

For smoking/BBQ.
setting aside the meat stops absorbing smoke at 140 theory.... Cold meat still takes longer to cook and to get to whatever target temp, thus the colder the meat, the longer smoke time, more smoke, more smoky flavor etc.. Jut my theory... your milage may vary.. .

That's true... colder meats will take longer to cook. But the total time from fridge to done will be longer.

With meat at, say, 35 degrees out of the fridge, the ambient temp of 70 in the kitchen vs. the temp of 225 in the smoker... Having meat in the smoker will come up in temp faster than sitting on the counter.

For smoking, I go from cooler/fridge to smoker... for grilling, I let it come to room temp.

 

[StLouQue]

That's true... colder meats will take longer to cook. But the total time from fridge to done will be longer.

With meat at, say, 35 degrees out of the fridge, the ambient temp of 70 in the kitchen vs. the temp of 225 in the smoker... Having meat in the smoker will come up in temp faster than sitting on the counter.

For smoking, I go from cooler/fridge to smoker... for grilling, I let it come to room temp.

Exactly my thinking. Shoot, I've even gone as far as putting the meat in just after coals have ashed-over even though the cooking chamber may not be up to temp yet. If this reasoning is flawed, I'd be interested to learn why?

As for grilling, I like my steaks rare to mid-rare, so the cold meat to grill technique is something I'm going to try.

 

[cmcadams]

Exactly my thinking. Shoot, I've even gone as far as putting the meat in just after coals have ashed-over even though the cooking chamber may not be up to temp yet. If this reasoning is flawed, I'd be interested to learn why?

I would guess that the reason that this may not work as well is that you're lengthening the time that it takes to come up to temp by putting a cold mass of meat on the smoker while it's trying to also bring up the temp of the cooker. Starting from a higher temp, the heat transfer will be faster.

If you put meat on the smoker when it's at outdoor temp, the ambient temp isn't necessarily far from that of the meat itself; getting the smoker up to cooking temp or even above still allows for faster heat transfer.

 

[Yakfishingfool]

ok, sit back and listen to my tale....I agree with Jorge here, the cooler hte meat the longer in the pre-140 temp range the longer the smoke ring potential is there. Additional, any weather man knows when warm meets cold that a boundy layer is established that resutls in increased moisture. I pre-rub the 24 hours before the cook, out of the fridge and onto the smoker. Scott

 

[Mark]

Mark - I was sure that you like me would have warmed the bird under an arm pit. I guess I was mistaken.

After the arm pit I marinate chicken on the counter in a zip lock for a couple of hours before it goes in the cooker.

Neither do I advocate getting intimate with your meat.

BTW: Ya'll kinda obsessing on this doncha think?

 

[jt]

I find the meat progresses through the room temperature stage quite nicely in the smoker. And room temperature is a relative thing...

 

[BBQchef33]

Neither do I advocate getting intimate with your meat.

BTW: Ya'll kinda obsessing on this doncha think?

yeah, well, obsessing, discussing, fussing...

u say tomato, i say pizza sauce. :wink: :mrgreen:

 

[RichardF]

BTW: Ya'll kinda obsessing on this doncha think?

Obsessing... Look how long we've be having to hear about tongue and all the things you have to scape/trim/peel off after it's been cooked, but before it can be eaten. As a group, we all appear to be rather obssesive (not too sure that's a good thing .

 

[Mark]

Obsessing... Look how long we've be having to hear about tongue and all the things you have to scape/trim/peel off after it's been cooked, but before it can be eaten. As a group, we all appear to be rather obssesive (not too sure that's a good thing .

Amen brother Richard. Another confession. However, everyone has shown remarkable constraint not taking this thread to the woodpile.

BTW: You oughta see my obsession with peppers. Now that's out of control.

 

[MilitantSquatter]

I never paid too much attention to this....

When cooking at home, it's usually out of the fridge, add rub or re-rub lightly then into the pit or the grill..

At the contests, I'll usually let them sit out a bit as sometimes I've got the coolers so heavily packed in ice that I never know if any of the meat at the bottom is partially frozen...

The other thing I've never paid attention to is seeing if I had a steady fire, if putting in a really, really cold piece of meat is going to bring the pit temp down too low, thus requiring me to add more wood or charcoal sooner than needed...

However, my timing looks or other things going on at the moment that need to be prepped, attended to etc. will dictate how long the meat sits out...

 

[Plowboy]

And room temperature is a relative thing...

True, but you aren't going to get beyond room temp sans a smoker or the arm pit trick.

The first contest I see a guy with two briskets under his arms, I'll know he read this thread... and I'll laugh.

 

[Bigmista]

I never let my meat get cold. I just stick my hands in...

Oops, wrong room.

 

[Arlin_MacRae]

Mista's lost again.

Pass it on.

Back on topic, though, I let the meat I'm cooking sit on the counter for an hour or less to warm up a little bit.

 

[CarbonToe]

For smoking it goes straight from the fridge to the smoker. When gilling, I let it come to room temp.

What he says!!!! :-D