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Overheard a pitmaster say 'low and slow' is actually a lie
I was at a competition in Kansas City last weekend and this old timer said 'low and slow is a myth for most cooks, cook at 275 not 225.' I always thought you had to go 225 for everything. Tried his advice on a pork shoulder at 275 and it came out just as juicy but took 4 hours less. Has anyone else bumped up their temp and still got good bark?
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lunah1219h ago
Yeah @elliotm57 nailed it. I feel like I spent the first year of my smoking career treating 225 like some holy number and now I realize I was basically just being a SMOKE SHEEP. One time I took a brisket off at 7am to wrap it and realized I forgot to drink my coffee so I just stood there holding the foil like a confused zombie. Switched to 275 on my last pork butt and the bark was so GOOD I almost cried. That old pitmaster probably has forgotten more about smoke than I'll ever learn but at least I'm burning less charcoal now.
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the_susan19h ago
...and then there's the part nobody talks about, how long you stand there in a trance staring at the smoke. I've done that more times than I can count, just zoning out with a coffee cup in my hand while the meat does its thing. You're right though, that whole 225 thing is like a trap for beginners. I remember being so nervous about going over that I'd mess with the vents every ten minutes. Now I run my WSM at 275 most of the time and everything turns out better. The bark on a pork shoulder at that temp is something else, like candy almost. Good for you for shaking off the rules and just cooking.
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elliotm5720h ago
It reminds me of that thing in cooking where everyone swears by one rule until someone breaks it and proves it works better. I've noticed the same pattern with grilling, people get stuck on "low and slow" like it's some sacred commandment, but really it's just a starting point. Once you understand why 225 works, you can tweak it for your own setup and time constraints without ruining anything. That pitmaster was probably just saying what most experienced guys figure out after enough cooks. So what else did he say about adjusting temps for different cuts?
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