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Very neat article. I consider myself a novice at slow cooking meat. I've done Sous-Vide, crock pot, and Kamado cooking. By far, Kamado is king. Next time you t
by ipspam 5y ago
Very neat article. I consider myself a novice at slow cooking meat. I've done Sous-Vide, crock pot, and Kamado cooking. By far, Kamado is king.
Next time you think of buying a BBQ, find a used Kamado. Don't overthink it. Just do it. A little more prep, but not really more work.
It's as simple as:
1. Stir the charcoal to get rid of the ash
2. Add more charcoal
3. Light charcoal, leave grill open.
4. Come back 15 mins later, set Kamado up (deflector plate, grills, etc) and close Kamado.
5a. Set up digital temperature control
5b. Wait 20 minutes and make temperature adjustment.
6. Wait 60-90 minutes, add meat.
7. Drink beer, relax.
8. Eat.
It's really not complicated, especially if you are on Hacker News reading this. Add as much charcoal as you want. Leave the too vent half or 1/3 open. Control temperature with oxygen flow via the bottom door.
It really is that simple.
As for how this ties in to the article, a cubic centimeter of water will turn into 5500 cubic centimeters of steam. All the water in your meat will turn to vapor and exit the Kamado. But slowly. Which, as the article states is optimal because the high moisture in the air keeps meat moist over long cooks which allows the breakdown of collagen.
The other cool thing is that the bigger a cut of meat, the longer it takes to cook, the MORE TIME it spends traversing from 160 degrees until the finish temperature. More time = better collagen breakdown.
Anyway, completely concur, slow cooking meat is king. Where I dissent is that meat shouldn't be cooked IN water or fluid, and shouldn't be steamed. Crust is everything. Built that crust!
- pkulak 5y agoCan't I just turn on my oven? That's even easier. ;)
- ipspam 5y agoIf you want to go to meat hell ;)
- dfxm12 5y agoWhere I dissent is that meat ... shouldn't be steamed. For every rule, there's an exception. Pastrami is the exception to this one.
- dylan604 5y agoThere's a place here in town that brines brisket for a week, and then slow smokes it for 14 hours or so like a bbq brisket. It makes it hard to have pastrami any other way now
- downut 5y agoI do pastrami the way Franklin BBQ book describes cooking brisket using their recommended side barrel smoker mods. I use scrub oak logs off the back lot, leave the door open, and smoke it for say 4-5 hrs. Then I take the still tough pastrami and stuff it in the oven with foil covering, no water underneath, and give it another 4-5 hrs at ~200F. Yeah. Store pastrami is sorta disgusting now (unintended bad side effect). Good gawd my pastrami is delicious. I use Ruhl and Polcyn's "Charcuterie" for the seasonings and prep. I roast the whole coriander and pepper and then grind it right before. And that book if fantastic for a whole variety of slow cooked preparations.
- ipspam 5y agoHmm.... You may be correct
- hnick 5y agoPoached chicken is also quite nice in the right place, like Hainanese chicken rice.
- donw 5y agoIf you're going to have to use a digital temperature control, I'm not sure a Kamado is really necessary. I really like my PitmasterIQ[1]. It's a couple hundred bucks, and doesn't require a smartphone app, which means it won't stop working in a few years. Hooks up to pretty much any grill -- which, presumably, you already have -- and near-guarantees perfect results every time. Sure, you'll need to foil wrap (3-2-1 is a good place to start), but otherwise, it's minimal work. Did a six-hour smoke of some babyback pork ribs a couple of months ago, and if I closed my eyes, could easily imagine I was in Texas, not Tokyo. Flavor, texture, and color were all amazing. For those that don't know: These work by controlling airflow to the coals, with a thermocouple-driven feedback loop. I went with the cheaper Pitmaster, but I'll likely invest in one that also has a thermocouple for the meat as well. [1] https://pitmasteriq.com/ https://pitmasteriq.com/
- ipspam 5y agoA pitmaster is a digital temperature control, so you are on the correct path. I use a Thermoworks Signals and Billows as my digital control. It allows me to have 4 probes, 1 of which is positioned to control the temperature, 3 of which can monitor other parts of the Kamado or be inside meat. It also allows me to see a graph of all 4 probes over time. It connects to my wifi (and Bluetooth as a redundancy) so I can check temperatures when im out shopping or working (via Thermoworks, which collects and serves the data back to me). It also allows me to change the temperature from anywhere. I can start a cook at 300, go to work, and drop it to 225 anytime I want. It's the ultimate piece of kit. As for not needing a Kamado, I disagree. The 345lbs of mass that I have give ultimate temperature buffer control. It can't be overstated the difference holding a cook between 223-227 and holding a cook between 210 and 240 makes. The steadier the better.
- donw 5y agoLove me my Thermoworks instant read. They do nice silicone scrapers and trivets as well! I'll revisit the Kamado once I'm in a place where I can justify a grill that weighs in like a sumo wrestler. :)