Very dry meat on the edges

mapfrancel · August 2015

Hi! I'm a new owner of a large BGE. Tried my first meat today. I was not expecting it to be perfect and it came out quite okay, in taste at least. The meat was tender inside but the edges were very dry and because of that, tough. I have not smoked anything whatsoever before and have watched practically all the videos on how to smoke using the BGE online. I just wanted to start with knowing how to control the heat and smoked only 1 kilo pork belly with not too much fat as butchers where I come from trim it with a vengeance most of the time. I smoked it at about 230F for about 7 hours total. The bark was good but could have been a bit thicker I think. I also had a pan with water under and of course used indirect heat with a plate setter. I also used quite fresh cherry Wood and charcoal was about 5 Pounds. i used the whole pack as I was not sure if it would really last until i finish smoking. grateful for any advice. Thanks!

lousubcap · August 2015

Perhaps the edges were overhanging the charcoal and not protected by the platesetter. This will lead to overcooking those portions of the cut.

SoCalTim · August 2015

What was your cook? Ribs?

GATraveller · August 2015

Looks like you smoked a pork belly.......Even with the plate setter in I still place about 2 inch thick balls of foil on each leg of plate setter to raise the grid up just above the felt/gasket level. It helps - especially with a large load of lump inside.

Edit: Welcome to the forum!!!

fishlessman · August 2015

never cooked pork belly but over hanging the pan or platesetter could be the problem. been so long since i added water to the pan i think that may play a part as well, you actually increase the fire size and heat flow in the egg to create temps higher than steam. most of us dont do that anymore with the ceramic cookers

gdenby · August 2015

1st. For BBQ, fatter is almost always better. If the fat does not render out it can always be cleaned away before eating. Where I live, the butchers will charge more for trimming the fat away than selling it. Ask them not to trim. At worst, you may throw away some excess at the end.

2nd. In ceramic cookers like the Egg, there is not much reason to have any water in pans. That is a good idea for metal cookers, but ceramic cookers retain moisture. The added water just slows the cooking.

3rd. In fact, the steam from water in a pan can wash off some of the flavor on the meat surface, and cool the surface enough that the great flavors of the Maillard reactions are inhibited.

4th. The important thing about the bark is not its thickness, but the concentrated flavor. Use lots of rub, and perhaps baste late in the cooking, and add even more rub. Just don't let the sugar in the rub burn.

Belly is fine smoked, but even a thick one is rarely as thick as a shoulder portion, and certainly not as thick as a whole shoulder. The shoulders spend longer in the smoke before they are done, and have more connective tissue which adds succulence. There are no thin parts to dry out, so the surface does not burn unless the heat is way too high.

mapfrancel · August 2015

Thanks for all the advice guys. I guess the belly is really not fatty enough to make it succulent. I will not put in a pan with water from now on. i kinda imagined it would help making the meat less dry seeing how little fat it had. I'm new to this. Been mostly just cooking indoor. Special thanks to you gdenby for taking time explaining it like you did.

gdenby · August 2015

You are welcome. I'm happy when I can share some good BBQ with family and friends. I hope you can too.

The way the Egg cooks is unlike other cookers in my experience. Once you become familiar w. how it works, good food is easy. Once in awhile I make some things that my guests find completely delightful. Practice makes perfect.

I use the term succulence to indicate that a piece of meat that had lots of connective tissue has been cooked until that tissue has turned to gel, and that smooth protein balances out any dryness from the well cooked meat.

mapfrancel · August 2015

I will smoke again soon. Would love to be able to share maybe recipes later on when I'm more into it. We have both a coal and a gas grill and I've always wanted to try my hands on smoking and a ceramic grill is convincingly the best for someone like me who does not want to be glued to it the whole time. am trying out pork butt next, and maybe some shrimps. Do you Think smoking them at the same time is a bad idea? thanks again. and have a nice weekend.

Very dry meat on the edges

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