applied science: egg heat transfer

gdenby wrote:

I'll offer that it the Egg's superior moisture and heat retention.

There is some convection. I don't think that plays a major role, because for lo-n-slo, the air flow is almost completely shut down.

Not being a science guy, the convection thought came to me by trial and error. Only owned my egg for a week, but last night I bought a chicken, found an egg recipe for time and temperature and threw it on. My 4 pound spatchcocked bird came off beautifully, and in much less time than it would in the oven. A four pounder would ordinarily take an hour forty-five (at least) but more importantly, the bird actually tasted different- much jucier than in an oven or even a rotisserie. Then it occurred to me that the cooking method (don't open the oven; regulate heat by airflow, serious heat retention, more even cooking/baking, food dries out less etc., etc.)are the hallmarks of a convection oven, rather than a grill-barbecue, which cooks by radiation (heat directly originating from a primary source).

Think of it thusly: when we smoke something, we're indulging in low-temp convection- heating food by passing "flavoured air" (a.k.a.: smoke) around it, slowly penetrating the product.

I agree though, that when we sear, the direct radiant heat is strong enough that the "convection" part doesn't enter into it as much as would at lower temperature.

Hmm. Seems I need an engineer.