How low do you go ?

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john pen

Master Chef
Joined
Jan 25, 2005
Messages
5,084
Location
Western NY
While I was checking out the pit pics over at Texasbbq, I took a quick look around and found the FAQ section. The author describes "low and slow" as between 200 to 215. What temps do you guys run your pits at. Ive been running 225 to 240 on mine. Am I to hot (my pit !!!) ?
 
John, I don't think you are too high. I try to keep my WSM around 225-235 but inevitably you will have varience higher or lower at somepoint.

Some guys cook brisket at a pit temp of 180* and not a tick higher...personal preference I think, I don't feel you are sacrificing taste or quality with a slightly higher temp! :)

$0.02
 
No John, I run my temps around 230-250 usually. It is really better to get lower as far as moisture in the meat, but just try and keep your temp at an even 200 in a 36" pit sometime! I don't know about a WSM, but the smaller you go, the closer the fire gets to the meat and the hotter your avg temp seems to be. Now I cooked on Bill Cannon's (Texas Bill ) 42 x 8 ft Klose monster in Tejas and it was effortless. Throw a log on every hour and watch that gage hold 220 all day! The heat seems to distrubute better in larger pits. Since many of those guys have these monsters, it is easy for them to do. The big BBQ houses down there are cooking in brick "floor" pits that are about 6 ft w x 12-15 ft long x 48" high, with a hinged and weighted sheet metal lid. Those things get heated up and the wood is just added to maintain smoke and heat. Whole different world baby! I do know guys (Redneck) who scoff at the 200-220 theory. I personally prefer to cook medium low and medium slow! 230-250 works fine for me. If you are catering for several hundred folks and you're meat is cookin too fast though, it is best to back off! Now there is also a theory that higher temps will "boil the fat outta the meat." I am not certain what the boiling point of pork or beef tallow is, but it would seem that the ambient temp would not be as significant as the internal temp of the meat! Hopefully, this helps. Woody
 
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