The OFFICIAL meat smoking thread

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33anda3rd
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Re: The OFFICIAL meat smoking thread

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Freed Roger wrote:Kind of weird, but in my job its like reading cookbooks and doing things by rules. I don't extend that to smoking meat. Not that I am opposed to other people with their myoglobin expertise. Trial and error works just as well.
Trial and error works but food/agriculture and eating and cooking is all science, the same as biology or physics. Even if you're pulling a radish from the ground, rinsing it with a garden hose, sprinkling some salt on it and eating it, that's science. Applying heat, applying cold, forcing interactions between things, layering flavors that will interact on the tongue via tastebuds and retronasal stimulation. It's nice to have the science of a thing so you know how something works or why it does not.

This is the most valuable book on cooking I have. There's not a single recipe in it, but the roadmap to cooking virtually everything is in there.

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Re: The OFFICIAL meat smoking thread

Post by AWvsCBsteeeerike3 »

haltz wrote:marinate in a marinade

I'm sorry I can't help it
lol...i edited it

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Re: The OFFICIAL meat smoking thread

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AWvsCBsteeeerike3 wrote:What'd you marinate it in?
Italian dressing. Added spice. It wasnt a very long soak. Maybe an hour.

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Re: The OFFICIAL meat smoking thread

Post by AWvsCBsteeeerike3 »

feel like italian dressing is a sneaky great marinade. We use it quite a bit for chicken.

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Re: The OFFICIAL meat smoking thread

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AWvsCBsteeeerike3 wrote:feel like italian dressing is a sneaky great marinade. We use it quite a bit for chicken.
Kabobs it is good for. There you need a really long soak and maybe reapply veggies.

Kabobs - i like ok, but dont love. It isnt as cute to skewer the meat and vegetalbles seperately, but definitely a better outcome. My wife buys the mixed pre-kabobed ones from grocery, something ends up not done, overdone

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Re: The OFFICIAL meat smoking thread

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33anda3rd wrote:
Freed Roger wrote:Kind of weird, but in my job its like reading cookbooks and doing things by rules. I don't extend that to smoking meat. Not that I am opposed to other people with their myoglobin expertise. Trial and error works just as well.
Trial and error works but food/agriculture and eating and cooking is all science, the same as biology or physics. Even if you're pulling a radish from the ground, rinsing it with a garden hose, sprinkling some salt on it and eating it, that's science. Applying heat, applying cold, forcing interactions between things, layering flavors that will interact on the tongue via tastebuds and retronasal stimulation. It's nice to have the science of a thing so you know how something works or why it does not.

This is the most valuable book on cooking I have. There's not a single recipe in it, but the roadmap to cooking virtually everything is in there.
I am not disagreeing. I think i heard those science food experts talk about onions and cooking them. NPR. Was interesting.

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Re: The OFFICIAL meat smoking thread

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33anda3rd wrote:
Freed Roger wrote:Kind of weird, but in my job its like reading cookbooks and doing things by rules. I don't extend that to smoking meat. Not that I am opposed to other people with their myoglobin expertise. Trial and error works just as well.
Trial and error works but food/agriculture and eating and cooking is all science, the same as biology or physics. Even if you're pulling a radish from the ground, rinsing it with a garden hose, sprinkling some salt on it and eating it, that's science. Applying heat, applying cold, forcing interactions between things, layering flavors that will interact on the tongue via tastebuds and retronasal stimulation. It's nice to have the science of a thing so you know how something works or why it does not.

This is the most valuable book on cooking I have. There's not a single recipe in it, but the roadmap to cooking virtually everything is in there.
Without looking i know what book that is. Agree, it’s great.

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33anda3rd
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Re: The OFFICIAL meat smoking thread

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Freed Roger wrote:I am not disagreeing. I think i heard those science food experts talk about onions and cooking them. NPR. Was interesting.
Food science, for me, is fascinating in general. From working in restaurants I often had a lot of guests ask about tips, tricks, more that once "haha I sure can't get it to taste like this at home, jokingly when they're blown away by something." There are really two reasons most home cooks don't get it the same at home.

The first is salt. Restaurant kitchens use a ton of it. For someone who's never watched a cooking show or been in a high-end pro kitchen, if they saw the amount of salt that goes into things, whether it's a salad or seasoning a piece of fish, they'd probably be floored. I was. I grew up being told salt was fine in moderation but bad for you if you have a lot of it. My mom was way off.

The second is science. Why do burgers dome up when cooked? Because the meat is overworked prior to cooking. Overwork the meat, you untangle proteins that then re-tangle when cooked. Don't overwork the meat, shape it into patties without pounding the crap out of it, it won't dome up. Why doesn't salad dressing break in a restaurant? It's emulsified. Why are the eggs better than mom's? That hipster brunch spot doesn't cook them over high heat. There's science to how all these thing work, and I never cease to be fascinated by it. Oftentimes the answer is that there's no tip or trick or shortcut or one vital step that someone is missing, it's just that the environment they have has certain scientific rules that define what can happen in that environment.

Good BBQ is good science, and the things that make the possibilities both limited in some cases and endless in others are all science. Talk to Aaron Franklin for an hour and he'll talk to you more about wood selection, combustion, airflow, and the science of smoke than he will marinades or injections.

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Re: The OFFICIAL meat smoking thread

Post by AWvsCBsteeeerike3 »

I’m done cooking burgers unless they are smash burgers. Bought a cast iron plate basically to throw on the grill (right on top of the charcoal ring that comes with the Weber Smokey mountain makes a great base). Get it hot af and throw on a third to half a pound of ground beef mixed with salt and pepper. Smash it to the size of a burger and cook for a minute. Then flip. Throw on cheese, preferably American Kraft fake cheese, Cook for a minute.

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Re: The OFFICIAL meat smoking thread

Post by AWvsCBsteeeerike3 »

33 and ww

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