over cooked !! what is it ?

[gmc2003]

Over cooked??? See just about anything my mother has cooked (including frozen chicken in the microwave) or my father who I am certain was the original inventor of the hockey puck. Too bad he was making burgers at the time....

I'm not going to argue this point, because my parents usually overcooked most meats. In their defense however I will say that animals are raised a whole lot differently now then they were when I was growing up, and I'm sure the FDA standards have changed since then. Pigs were fed almost entirely of a wet mess of leftovers "Slop the hogs". It wasn't safe for humans to eat pork unless it was cooked well done. Heck I still enjoy a dry ham steak ever once in a while. As for ribs. Sometimes I like them FOTB and sometimes I like them bite thru. I depends on how I'm feeling that day.

Chris

 

[Bearcarver]

LOL---Tell me about it !! My Mom wasn't much of a cook;
The kids in my family would come home from school, just hoping we weren't going to have steak for supper, because it would be Round Steak, fried in a Pan or Well-Done in the Bottom drawer "Broiler"of the gas stove.
Aww, No---Can't we just have Hot Dogs??? Even the Dogs would be black!
That's why we liked camping---We'd get to make our own Dogs, on a stick, held over a wood fire.

Bear

 

[noboundaries]

I love threads like this because you never know the one piece of advice that will stick with a reader and change the way they smoke or cook for the better.

Cookbooks, TV shows, YouTube videos, , manufacturers, and advertisers will make you falsely believe that if you exactly follow their advice or procedures you'll achieve perfection. I'm a self-trained cook, and I did that for decades with mixed results. The one thing you will gain, though, guaranteed, is experience.

I struggled for decades with collagen filled meats. They were flavorful but often tough and dry. I know now I was undercooking them even though I followed the recipes. It was an elderly church lady at a family meal prior to a funeral who bestowed on me the wisdom that opened my world to tender, juicy, and flavorful chuck roasts, briskets, butts, and ribs. As she served the most succulent chuck toast I'd ever eaten. I asked her the secret. She answered, "Honey, you just gotta cook the snot out of it."

I understood: collegen = snot. No therm can tell you when it's perfect, but a few pokes can speak volumes.

 

[cal1956]

now thats something i can agree with !!!! no amount of gizmos, or high tech toys is ever going to replace finding someone near you that makes great ( to you ) BBQ and spending time with them

 

[bauchjw]

now thats something i can agree with !!!! no amount of gizmos, or high tech toys is ever going to replace finding someone near you that makes great ( to you ) BBQ and spending time with them

I’ve been thinking about this one a bit. Maybe it hit a nerve because part of my day job is trying to balance the worth of a strong culture against the realities of innovation. I respect and admire craftsmanship, culture, and wisdom, but I also have to deal with reality. So, this is really me thinking through your position.

The part of me that admires a lore of a meat whispering pit master wants to agree with you. However, there is another part of me that is a realist. I’ve lived in a few places across the country and I have yet to find a pitmaster in one of my neighborhoods. In fact, I’m usually the only one that knows how to do anything beyond turning a gasser on. I also recognize that if I’m going to provide for my family, both financially and with my attention in quality time, I can’t drive around looking to apprentice. So…for me. that led to a few books and this forum to teach me. Printing press, internet, website that are innovations (good and bad sides) that provided me mentorship and friendships I would have never had otherwise. I’ve received a lot here, so some toys or innovation (like those that enable us to communicate here) are helpful. I Learned both craft/techniques here, but also received a few recommendations on gizmos/toys that gave me more time and reduced costly mistakes. Both time and money are important to me, so I count those toys as a positive too.

I just want to serve family and friends good food without having to sacrifice too much time away from them to provide it. Ultimately, The “toys” allow that. Are they required? No. Are some of them fun? Yes. Do they let me help the wife and play with the kids without having to run away every 30 minutes? Yes. So, F it.

I guess as I think through it I don’t see anything wrong with the gizmos or not using them. Just like I don’t care if you hunt with a recurve, compound or Rifle. Whatever you have time for, makes you happy, and puts food on the table for your family. It’s all still smoking meat, or hunting, just different ways of getting to the same end.