Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler Question for the BBQ experts

I would like to complement my setup with this...

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.ca/store/pro...CFYUUHwodXl0Jmw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zR2D7dN2LbU

Do you know how many pounds of bacon you could cook on that thing?! Awesome! AND, you won't leave the house smelling like bacon, but outside will for a mile or so.

Same here. I'm good for about two steaks at a time.

There are a few factors which if things never change then yes, one can use 'senses' to determine relatively closely a doneness level, but it will still never be as accurate as a temp probe and it would only be possible for less thick cuts (i.e. steaks, chops but not roasts, briskets or chicken).

In a restaurant, those factors are maintained alot more consistently such that a chef can know 2 min per side equals a rare steak which they have cut equally for every portion to be 8 oz and 1.5 inches thick, on a grill exactly at 375F, all sirloin tip from the same source batch, etc. etc.

Just a few factors affecting consistency of cooking 'by eye' that inevitably cause more failures (under or over cooked) than using a probe:

• alcohol consumption - greatly distorts a person's concept of time, makes them forget to watch the bbq for temps
• company over - chatting makes one forget length of times for bbq'uing (i have used a pen and paper in the past to write down times something was placed on the Q so at least i could calculate how much time had past)
• moisture and recipes - try bbq'ing a pork chop and then with an identical cut that was perhaps marinated for an hour or even better, a brined solution --> VASTLY increased time to reach proper internal temp
• moisture and environment - this varies by region and will have a lesser overall effect on cooking but primarily due to altitude - water and hence moisture in whatever you put on the bbq, boils at different temps based on altitude. Short explanation here:
  http://culinaryarts.about.com/od/culinaryfundamentals/a/highaltcooking.htm
• season - cooking in winter takes longer especially depending on how reliable your bbq is for maintaining heat; most propane bbq'es are notorious for having 'holes' in which air blowing through causes temps to swing literally second to second thereby increasing cooking times vs a closed unit such as a smoker or a Japanese kamado style unit
• As previously mentioned, # of items on the bbq at one time doesn't help. 6 steaks, some want them rare, some well done...you need to start some earlier, some later and time them all to get them to come off so people can eat at the same time. Then kids have burgers, different cooking time than steaks...it gets complicated without a written list of drop times.

Lately i've started using a probe to cook pork chops (min. 1 inch thick b/c the fast fry ones are impossibly thin to use a probe) to get the temps exactly at 140F. Beyond that, chops get dry real fast esp. on leftover nights.
Blech.

Oh.

LMFAO!

Too funny Bob.

Chess. My objection is to the absolute mantras one finds on bbq sites: "You can't..."

Michael D's FIL most definitely can, even if he does not really know what the actual temperature is. It is a skill he has refined over many years.

Now if you were to say "It is very difficult..." I would agree. I don't plan to abandon my thermometer (which is probably out by at least 5 degrees in one direction or the other) any time soon.

Oh yeah, injecting a spiced slurry proved a little challenging, but worked very well to flavour my smoked pork loin lunch meat. Pulverizing fresh garlic is much harder than it should be.

I use temp probes for pork and birds. Not beef. Never really have, till I got this smoker. With pork and birds, I would use the probe to make sure folks didn't get sick. Fish, never use a probe. I just cook it till it can flake with a fork. For beef, it will feel different as it goes from rare to leather. When slow cooking, I think it's more important, because you're not there monitoring it while it grills. When I grill a steak, I am there at all times.

Sorry Fred but i stick with "you can't" because no human can.
If we could tell temps by looking at meat, we wouldn't have built probes.

However, your earlier comments echo my sentiments:

We just have to quantify "done" and "what meat".

I can cook a brisket for 72 hours at 400F and be able to say "hey, i KNOW it's done".
What i'm saying is that no bbq pro ever knows unless they use a probe, what the internal temp is even though they could say the meat is "done". Done to what extent?

Even on the bbq pro shows, some will say "oh i think it went a bit long" or "this needs more time but we only have 10 minutes to plating", etc. while others are sticking the probes in all the time.

Now for type of meat, sure, i don't think anyone needs a probe for a regular frying steak or even tenderloins (although the latter usually are thick enough to use a probe effectively). I go by general time and temp and judge the thickness for doneness, but only with steak.

I agree with michael_d that for birds and pork, i want to know exactly when i've hit the safe temp and keep the meat from going much beyond. Both can start to get dry, especially pork.
For big cuts like brisket and pulled pork, again an absolute must or a person is just guessing. A few times i figured our pulled pork was done, 5 pounder, 250F average most of the day, 8 hours i figured it should be ready... the thing took 11 hours to hit temp!

Fish, nah.
Cook till lightly flaky.

Experience may decrease the odds of guessing wrong, but a probe is right 100% of the time!
I bought a rather high quality probe some time ago (+/-0.5 degrees).
Yay science!