Barbeque Science 1

             

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                  

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    Science of Barbeque       

Chip and Gary

Part 1

There are primarily two methods of barbeque.

The first and most popular for back yard grilling is cooking directly over the heat source. The food is cooked very quickly on a hot grill, directly over charcoals, wood, or a gas burner.  The lid is rarely if ever closed. Tender cuts of meat, hamburgers, kabobs, steaks, chicken and vegetables, seared quickly are good candidates for this method.  A variety of sauces and seasonings can be added before, during and after the cooking process to create some incredible flavors. 

The other is cooking with indirect heat. This is primarily for larger whole cuts of meat, such as thick steaks, roasts, and whole pork shoulder or whole hog. In this method, the food is cooked away from the heat source. Usually with some sort of water pan to provide moisture, at temperatures around 250 degrees F. The lid is closed, and the cooking times are quite longer. Indirect cookers usually have some sort of fire box that can burn a combination of charcoal and wood logs. The heat and smoke rise up through the cooking chamber slow cooking the meat to perfection. Traditional barbeque is a form of indirect heat using very low temperatures over long periods of time. Low and slow.

Meats are made up of muscle, connective tissue, fat and bone. Muscle contains proteins and glycogen. As the meat begins to cook, the internal temperature starts to rise. Glycogen, a long chain sugar, is reduced to simple sugars. This caramelizes and is responsible for much of the flavor components.

Fats are very simple cells which breakdown to sugars, fatty acids, and triglycerides at low temperatures.

During the cooking process, proteins which by themselves are flavorless, are broken down into amino acids, which not only have flavors themselves, but undergo other changes that add still more flavor components.

Collagen is protein that has many  side chain bonds. This makes them elastic in property. It takes more heat energy to break them down than the simpler proteins of muscle tissue. Longer cooking times will break these proteins down into the flavorful amino acids.

Bone, itself adds no flavor to the cooking process. The marrow however, is rich in methyglobulin and other proteins. This reacts with smoke nitrites to give us that pronounced smoke ring and red colorings in the meat. You may have heard that "the sweetest meat is next to the bone". It's these proteins when reduced to amino acids that provide the flavorful sweetness. 

If the internal meat temperature rises too fast during the cooking process, the water, and the fat in the muscle cells is rendered out before the collagen melts. This results in dry, tough meat. Cook too slow and you risk bacterial contamination.

There is definitely a fine line to follow during the slow cooking process.

Tough cuts of meat like brisket and pork roasts benefit from low temperature cooking as the collagen adds flavor to the meat. Less tough, more expensive cuts do not require this process and can be cooked at higher temperatures for shorter periods. That is why ribs and steaks take only a few hours or minutes even, while beef brisket or pork shoulders can take up to 20 hours.

Remember to keep reminding yourself just how fun this all is!

 

 

 
    

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Stay tuned for the latest escapades of the Sorry Boys! There's no telling what we'll try next!  Stop back often for more  tips, tricks, and secrets.  Order more sauces and seasonings.  We will be  adding new information and more recipes on a regular basis, or when we  remember. 

 Our special thanks to Brenda Lee for the Sorry Boys theme song.  We're Sorry Brenda!  You could only be apologetic.  That sure would change things! 

Yeah,  I know   .....   They don't call us the Sorry Boys for nothing! 

Remember ......      It is what it is!    Sometimes things are exactly as they appear.

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Last modified: September 13, 2007