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View Full Version : Question about history: Where/when did the 220 low n slow start?


Lake Dogs
07-23-2014, 12:57 PM
Of course barbecuing (the act of) has been around for centuries. In the current US we tend to attribute it back to the 1600's-1700's with slaves, but it surely goes back much farther, west indies, native american indians, etc.

Something tells me that they didnt have these teltru thermometers back then... I imagine that they were less worried about the temperature fluxuation and more worried about the quality of the cook; the odds being that they were cooking in the 250-350 range...

I first learned of the 220-225 "myth" (my words there) reading BBQ books and so-called bibles back in the early 1980's.


This begs a question: Where did this 220 thing come from, and when?


I'm not looking for conjecture; I'm hoping someone actually knows the origin(s) of this.

Fwismoker
07-23-2014, 01:14 PM
PitmasterT before he invented the H&F ....shortly thereafter he invented weeping ribs.

Bludawg
07-23-2014, 01:16 PM
OMG 225 must be H&F:shock: I don't know LD I think it must have been around 1980 or so I know I got my first pit in 81 and I was tole by the feller that built it that it was made to cruies at 225 because that is the best temp. accordign to the top cooks he knew. Growin up I don't recall ever hearin of that but pits didn't have thermometers either. Some of the best BBQ ever ett came off a TX habachi at my Pappy's house he used the 1 Mississippi hand over the fire and slosh of beer system of temp control, and I know it was hotter than 220.

Lake Dogs
07-23-2014, 01:41 PM
LOL, blue, we must be within a few years of one another...

I am curious. I'd also be curious to see if when it was, were they talking about the external mounted thermometer on their smoker, or were they really testing the temperature on the cooking surface.

I'm thinking this came about somewhere in the 1950's, perhaps the 1960's... Perhaps an influential book?

1buckie
07-23-2014, 02:01 PM
"I'm thinking this came about somewhere in the 1950's, perhaps the 1960's... Perhaps an influential book?"


It would be conjecture on my part, which is not what youi're asking for, but this site was created by Polish sausage makers & was expanded to Enlish for their immigrants here:

http://www.meatsandsausages.com/


The meat smoking & BBQ pages are exceptionally clear & concise.............

So, the conjecture part would be that it came about as a carry-over from cured smoking at the high end of that heat scale.......not sure when, but after enough German, Polish & other European people came here & began their craft..............

Smoke®
07-23-2014, 02:22 PM
Lot of BBQ history here!

http://amazingribs.com/BBQ_articles/barbecue_history.html

thesemicullen
07-23-2014, 02:27 PM
I'm sure you've looked at the Wiki entry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbecue), but I would think (conjecture, I know you're not after that) that the barabicu method of sticks over an open fire would necessitate a low-temp cook.

QDoc
07-23-2014, 02:38 PM
I think it was a reverse shigging ploy started by one or all winning competition teams. Early on I was placed between two championship teams. I worked my butt off all night at 225. It was a nightmare trying to get things cooked on time.
The two championship teams? Never did I see them untill around five in the morning. From 9 to 5 they were in the bed. I thought they were cheating. It took awhile to learn that they may have been cooking at 275+. Unless they were like Rod Grey and had two pellet poopers. I believe to this day they were in their mobile homes dreaming and laughing at us rookies.

Lake Dogs
07-23-2014, 02:58 PM
I'm sure you've looked at the Wiki entry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbecue), but I would think (conjecture, I know you're not after that) that the barabicu method of sticks over an open fire would necessitate a low-temp cook.

I'm thinking it's probably in the 300's... From wiki:


Most etymologists (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etymology) believe that barbecue derives from the word barabicu found in the language of the Taíno (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ta%C3%ADno_people) people of the Caribbean (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caribbean) and the Timucua (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timucua) of Florida (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida), and entered European languages in the form barbacoa (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbacoa). The word translates as "sacred fire pit".[1] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbecue#cite_note-1) The word describes a grill for cooking meat, consisting of a wooden platform resting on sticks.
Traditional barbacoa involves digging a hole in the ground and placing some meat (usually a whole goat (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goat)) with a pot underneath it, so that the juices can make a hearty broth. It is then covered with maguey (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agave_americana) leaves and coal and set alight. The cooking process takes a few hours. Olaudah Equiano (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olaudah_Equiano), an African abolitionist, described this method of roasting alligators among the Mosquito People (Miskito people (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miskito_people)) on his journeys to Cabo Gracias a Dios (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabo_Gracias_a_Dios) in his narrative, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Interesting_Narrative_of_the_Life_of_Olaudah_E quiano).[2] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbecue#cite_note-2)

I have a pit in the back yard. When we get that thing going, the wife tells me that she can feel the heat all the way to the house, some 150 feet away... That pit is HOT; much hotter'n 300... Mind you, I dont think they did this nearly as hot as I do my pit, but the pit itself is set up to hold in the heat and direct it north with as little loss as possible (ie. to concentrate the heat). Also, cooking large critters (as it said above) in a few hours; HOT. Not 225 range where you'd have to cook a pig for 24 hours...

I'm thinking this is something very recent...

SmittyJonz
07-23-2014, 03:07 PM
New York City.

RolandJT
07-23-2014, 04:15 PM
When i was young I actually was part of a true pit cook for a church fundraiser in west TN. This would have been early 80's.

They dug a pit about 40' long and maybe 3-4 deep (not an exact science and i was 10 at the time).

Friday some guys took a day off work and dug. I 'helped' some by digging and also truley helped by lugging coolers full of ice from inside to the pit.

Friday afternoon they made fires from logs--mostly hickory. They cooked chickens over a quite hot fire to sell Friday night. These were delicious chickens and we made beans, potato salad, slaw, iced tea, and lemonade. The ladies made lots of desserts which were unlimited to us boys who helped with cooking--a rare treat. they also brought in as much money as the meats--they sold whole pies and cakes and also jams, pickles, etc.

After the chickens were done the pit was seperated into spaces for whole hogs and spaces for fires to burn.

Large thick metal pieces about 1' less deep than the pit were used. Pig-mtal piece-fire-metal piece-pig-metal piece etc. They did several pigs. There was about 1' between of clearence for smoke, heat, etc.

The coals were gathered into the fire slots and new logs put on top. Thick metal pieces were put over everything with small openings directly over the fires.

I recently looked at some old pictures my dad had of fundraisers they did when he was growing up (50's and 60's) and he confirmed the process. He's older now but his recollection is that it had been doen that way since his grandfather (my great grandfather who was born late 1800's). He thought of this as the standard method for rural west TN. Occasional goats, lambs, and deer made it to pits as well (the deer were wrapped after dawn).

The pigs went on maybe 10-midnight and the pork was not sold until 4-5 the next afternoon. That's around 18 hours for a whole hog. I'm assuming they cooked to at least 190-195 internal since they pulled the whole thing.

My guess is that that is consistent with the low and slow temps people are talking about. At least in rural west TN low, slow and indirect was the traditional method. Chris Lilly describes something similar for North Alabama.

My best guess is that there were substantial regional variations and some were H&F.

chambersuac
07-23-2014, 04:58 PM
July 18, 1966 at approximately 10:18 P.M.

I know because that is when I was born, and I was told it has been that way "as long as I've been alive."

Glad I could help!



:grin:

RolandJT
07-24-2014, 02:48 AM
"I'm thinking this came about somewhere in the 1950's, perhaps the 1960's... Perhaps an influential book?"


It would be conjecture on my part, which is not what youi're asking for, but this site was created by Polish sausage makers & was expanded to Enlish for their immigrants here:

http://www.meatsandsausages.com/


The meat smoking & BBQ pages are exceptionally clear & concise.............

So, the conjecture part would be that it came about as a carry-over from cured smoking at the high end of that heat scale.......not sure when, but after enough German, Polish & other European people came here & began their craft..............

Interesting reference. Thanks.