(I intend to eventually tell all the secrets that I know that helped make Cowtown Cookers the award winning team that it was through the 80's and 90's and to pass along the championship cooking techniques submitted from enthusiasts like myself)
The "Pink" ring around the edge of a slice of smoked meat tells a very important tale about the quality of smoking to which the meat has been subjected and a thick ring is a good sign. The thickness of this ring is due primarily to the amount of smoke penetration into the meat.
Any piece of meat placed in the path of wood smoke will have some degree of smoke penetration. The amount of penetration is partly related to the type of meat, if there is skin or fat covering the meat and other factors. But the most important aspect to generating smoke penetration is compression. Compression occurs when the smoke laden air around the meat has a higher air pressure than the air surrounding the smoker. You may say that this will always be the case because the heated air will always have a higher air pressure, but that is only the beginning of compression.
If you will take a look at the more modern "bullet" style cookers versus the older models, you will find that the newer smokers have the dome lid sitting upon the grill inside the heated cylinder. The older smokers (at least some of them) had a dome lid which sat upon the handles about an inch below the top of and outside the heated cylinder. Remembering that heated air rises, it is natural for heated smoky air to go out beside the lid in the newer smokers, but it must build up pressure to force the air downward and out on the older style. This increases the pressure of the smoke and thus produces greater smoke penetration. While the difference may seem insignificant, barbecue contests are won by small margins usually as a result of paying attention to small details such as the difference in the smoke compression generated by the different types of smokers.
Another way of increasing compression is increasing air to the fire while restricting the flow of smoky air exhaust. The maximum compression is always found through experimentation as cutting off flow will tend to kill the heat or the fire thus defeating the process. I always opt for the most compression I can get while holding the temperature at the desired value.
I do know of individuals who employ fans to force compression, but I personally call it quits when it becomes a technology competition instead of a personal skill competition. Besides, I have obtained smoke rings of three-quarters of an inch in thickness or more simply by applying skill.
One additional "cheat" technique is to baste with or to inject liquid smoke. Now, come on! If you can't make smoke flavor with your own cooking techniques, why are you out there competing in the first place? That's just my opinion, but remember, I was a winner many times over, even over those who used "cheat" techniques.
Remember, attention to details, such as smoke compression to increase smoke penetration can be the difference between winning and coming close!
And as always ... "Had Wuk Mak Gud Bar B Q"
Hang 'em High (10/6/98) Neil (Meathead) Carriker
Hanging meat for smoking has long been a trademark of my former team, the Cowtown Cookers. This is another of those techniques that makes for championship barbecue and it is a little used technique. Let me give some explanation as to the dynamics of hanging meat and why it produces great results when smoking.
The process of hanging meat for smoking and drying has been around as long as history records man's activities. This therefore is not new, that is, hanging meat while smoking it. The purpose, however, is very different when hot smoking than for drying, slow smoke curing or jerking meat. By taking an example, say beef brisket, we can see the why and how that hanging when hot smoking produces special results.
A beef brisket is a large and relatively fatty piece of meat. An average brisket for our use might be 10-12 pounds. In order to get a piece of meat this size tender, there will have to be many hours of cooking. I usually like to put about 12-18 hours at 200-225 degrees Farenheit on a brisket. If you place this piece of meat flat on an expanded metal grill with a constant heat source and do the math you will quickly decide that the thin end will be charcoal and the poorer quality fat end will be done. You could cut down on the time, but you will always face the issue that the thin portion cooks faster. You may decide that you could enclose the brisket in a sealed cooking container or aluminum foil and this will make it tender. Yes that is true, but you will also lessen the smoke flavor on the meat. So how does hanging solve this problem.
To begin with, when hanging a piece of meat such as a brisket, I use a stainless steel hook specially designed for the job and pierce through the thick end of the brisket approximately 3-4 inches from the end. I then hang it on a rod which crosses the cooking chamber near the top of the chamber. This places the fatty end at the top of the chamber and above the thin end. Since heat rises, the top of the cooking chamber will always be a little hotter than the lower portion. Even if this is slight, you will remember from the previous article that it is attention to small details that results in championship barbecue. Additionally, as the brisket begins to cook and the fat begins to melt away, the liquid will roll down the brisket and continually baste the lower portion thus keeping it from drying and keeping it "in sync" with the cooking of the upper portion. I believe the hook penetrating the fatty portion also conducts a little more heat into the meat thus helping the thicker portion cook at near even pace with the lower portion.
Cooking a brisket this way, it is not uncommon for me to get a half inch thick smoke ring the length of the brisket while at the same time getting a "melt in your mouth tender" brisket. It is the long cooking time and the low temperature that allows the additional tenderness and smokiness and this is what it takes to have a championship serving portion at a contest, or for your guests.
An additional tip, which does nothing for the cooking of the meat, is to place a drip pan beneath the brisket to catch the drippings. This will save you much cleanup time!
Try hanging with briskets, turkeys, chicken halves or whole chickens and see what I mean. Also, I like to hang hams in a cheese-cloth sling as this eliminates the flat dry portion where meat meets grill, but that is another story. So remember to Hang 'em High and keep working on that championship barbecue.
And as always ... "Had Wuk Mak Gud Bar B Q"
Thank you for browsing this page. Please Email webmaster@cowtowncookers.com with any questions or comments. All contents Copyright © 1998, Cowtown Cookers, Inc. All Rights Reserved.