My questions resulted from me re-reading the introductory sections of Smoke 'n Spice, the James Beard award-winning cookbook from 1994. I've had it forever, but hadn't really read much of the info section in many years until last night. The authors are Bill and Cheryl Jamison. They make several comments about smokers and smoking that are interesting to me. I thought it might provoke some good discussion.
1. The commentary section talks about different types of smokers and how they work. It specifically says that having fat dripping on the coals produces carcinogens that can attach to the meat you're cooking and recommends cooking with a water pan. Now obviously that flies in the face of everything that a typical UDS is. What are your thoughts? I had been contemplating adding a water pan to my UDS anyway.
2. In general, the Jamisons recommend smoking at between 200-220 degrees and they talk a lot about how the long periods of time and low temperature are necessary to get the proper flavor and tenderness in your meat. Based on what I've learned here, I typically smoke my shoulder and brisket at a higher temperature (275*), because it gets done quicker and comes out great. That said, I'm tempted to try to run a shoulder all the way through at 210* just to see if I get a different result. I know this has been discussed to death, but I still find it interesting.
3. Lastly, they generally recommend cooking pork shoulder only to 170-180 degrees before pulling, with no mention of foil. Yet everything I've ever learned online insists on 190-200 degrees in order to get the pork to "pull." Similarly, there is no mention of the texas crutch, but then maybe that wasn't really invented at the time (1994).
Just a few things that seem to be inconsistent with what we generally do now. Overall, there are some really good recipes in that book and I would highly recommend it. I also have a grilling book by the Jamison's that is good for steaks, chops, burgers, etc.
Have a good rest of your weekend!
1. The commentary section talks about different types of smokers and how they work. It specifically says that having fat dripping on the coals produces carcinogens that can attach to the meat you're cooking and recommends cooking with a water pan. Now obviously that flies in the face of everything that a typical UDS is. What are your thoughts? I had been contemplating adding a water pan to my UDS anyway.
2. In general, the Jamisons recommend smoking at between 200-220 degrees and they talk a lot about how the long periods of time and low temperature are necessary to get the proper flavor and tenderness in your meat. Based on what I've learned here, I typically smoke my shoulder and brisket at a higher temperature (275*), because it gets done quicker and comes out great. That said, I'm tempted to try to run a shoulder all the way through at 210* just to see if I get a different result. I know this has been discussed to death, but I still find it interesting.
3. Lastly, they generally recommend cooking pork shoulder only to 170-180 degrees before pulling, with no mention of foil. Yet everything I've ever learned online insists on 190-200 degrees in order to get the pork to "pull." Similarly, there is no mention of the texas crutch, but then maybe that wasn't really invented at the time (1994).
Just a few things that seem to be inconsistent with what we generally do now. Overall, there are some really good recipes in that book and I would highly recommend it. I also have a grilling book by the Jamison's that is good for steaks, chops, burgers, etc.
Have a good rest of your weekend!
