technique, temperature, and time chart

RichardBronosky

Is there a good resource for "I decided to make ____ tonight, and I just lit my charcoal. Now what?"

I came home from work today and found I had a piece of meat in my fridge that needed to be cooked. I grabbed my heat gun and relit the egg. Then I quickly started scouring the internet for an idea of HOW to cook it.

Direct or indirect? How hot? How long?

I know what the internal temperature should be, that's pretty easy to find. I know the "how long" is ultimately going to be, "until the internal temperature is reached", but I'd like to have an idea of what to expect. As for first 2 questions, I never know what to do there.

This is only my 2nd meal on a non-gas grill.

xraypat23

lots of variables there. No real set in stone chart. More details and we could help more.

RichardBronosky

I actually edited my post so that I wouldn't get suggestions on what I cooked tonight. I wanted to keep the thread focused.

I do end up searching this forum for "pork tenderloin" and get the answer. But, it would be nice to have a page I could bookmark and save for offline viewing on my phone.

Even though there are a lot of opinions about the variables, I think it is a worth while resource to have.

pezking7p

Every time you cook something, keep a log.  Then over time you'll have this information all written down.  It could just be: Something like:

-date
-meat
-direct/indirect
-dome temp
-start/end time
-notes (temp variation, taste, seasoning, smoking wood, whatever you think is important.

But you can also be extremely detailed and keep track of what charcoal you used, how long you let the charcoal go before closing the egg, weight of the meat, what rub you used, etc etc etc. 

Actually it would be really cool to store all that in a database so you could search it electronically.  I wonder if there's an app for that? 

MrCookingNurse

Lol. I've gotta get new recipes and stuff too! Upgrading from a free gas grill to my new lbge! Def want to do more than grill te meat from raw to done!

What my wife does is find things she likes from cook books online tv etc and write them on notecards. Then she has a little box that's like divided by meat or dish and can go and see what she's done before with the said ingredient.

fishlessman

most of my cooking is direct, either down low for searing or raised for roasting. inderect makes some cooks easier but is not always needed, for instance i lok and slow ribs direct, chicken i always cook direct, porkbutt i have cooked both direct and inderect, brisket both ways as well. that gets you to what temps, if im roasting, inderect gets high roasting temps, direct gets low roasting temps. low and slows direct at say 220, inderect 250 to 300. you can get away with more heat on indirect cooks. you will get a feel for how long after a while of cooking, i dont own a watch if that helps
) this internal cooking chart gets you closer with the cooks but you still need to make adjustments to suit your needs, how big a cut, how hot you cook at play into carryover temps. this is the best chart ive seen over the years for grilling and roasting, not so good for low and slows

http://www.reluctantgourmet.com/doneness_chart.htm

JD McGee

Is there a good resource for "I decided to make ____ tonight, and I just lit my charcoal. Now what?"

I came home from work today and found I had a piece of meat in my fridge that needed to be cooked. I grabbed my heat gun and relit the egg. Then I quickly started scouring the internet for an idea of HOW to cook it.

Direct or indirect? How hot? How long?

I know what the internal temperature should be, that's pretty easy to find. I know the "how long" is ultimately going to be, "until the internal temperature is reached", but I'd like to have an idea of what to expect. As for first 2 questions, I never know what to do there.

This is only my 2nd meal on a non-gas grill.

Here's a pretty good reference for time and temp...

http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/cookingtimes.html

Cheers!

JD