Low and Slow at Altitude

Travelin_Matt34

Hi there - long time lurker first post here. Had my egg for a few years mostly solid cooks all around. Last year we moved to higher elevation...around 5000 feet (Denver area). I've noticed - especially with overnight Brisket cooks - that the end result generally seems to be drier than I would like. Curious if there are any guidelines or special rules I should be considering given that perhaps things dry out faster and the boiling point is lower than sea level (202F). 

For example with the brisket cook yesterday I pulled at around 197 Flat/194 Point after taking a probe test. I tapped with butcher paper around 175 and then kept it in the paper and cambro'd for an hour after pulling. Its good don't get me wrong but more "flakey" than the juicy/bendy feel that I'm looking for. I suspect perhaps I should be pulling earlier at this altitude. 

Thanks!

HogFather

I’m usually high when I do L&S too. You’re in Denver. You get it. 

Legume

Welcome!  I live along the front range too.  I haven’t cooked a brisket here, so i can’t comment on that, but I haven’t noticed what you describe with pork butts or anything else.

lousubcap

Welcome aboard and continue to enjoy the journey.  Above all, have fun.  I have no experience with cooking at higher altitudes but if your result is consistent then that to me would eliminate the "cow drives the cook" variable.  
Absent anything else, give lightly spritzing toward the second half of the cook on around an every 60-90 minute or so interval and see what that does.  
Hopefully you will get some experience based feedback.  

Mark_B_Good

Travelin_Matt34 said:

Hi there - long time lurker first post here. Had my egg for a few years mostly solid cooks all around. Last year we moved to higher elevation...around 5000 feet (Denver area). I've noticed - especially with overnight Brisket cooks - that the end result generally seems to be drier than I would like. Curious if there are any guidelines or special rules I should be considering given that perhaps things dry out faster and the boiling point is lower than sea level (202F). 

For example with the brisket cook yesterday I pulled at around 197 Flat/194 Point after taking a probe test. I tapped with butcher paper around 175 and then kept it in the paper and cambro'd for an hour after pulling. Its good don't get me wrong but more "flakey" than the juicy/bendy feel that I'm looking for. I suspect perhaps I should be pulling earlier at this altitude. 

Thanks!

What I can offer is the following:

- for long cooks, I do put in a deep pan with water ... some say not necessary, but I like it as a safety measure ... also helps moderate temperature swings as it is a heat sink.
- wrap earlier ... at 150F to 160F ... stall should come at that point, 175F sounds too high for wrapping ... probably past the stall point, and it means most of the water has evaporated from the meat by then.
- wrap with foil. Butcher paper is preferred if you want to maintain a good bark, but aluminum foil is the preferred choice if you are more interested in moisture.
- inject your meat. I pre-inject with vegetable broth just before putting it in the egg. Then I re-inject with vegetable broth again before I wrap it in foil.

OhioEgger

Travelin_Matt34 said:

 Curious if there are any guidelines or special rules I should be considering given that perhaps things dry out faster and the boiling point is lower than sea level (202F). 

Not really. Apart from the temperature water boils at, there should be no difference in your cooking at all.

I suppose you could stretch a point and say that moisture will come out of your meat at a lower temperature which could lead to overcooking it and possibly a drier product, but really the difference would be so slight as to be irrelevant. 

Mark's suggestions above are good ones.

1voyager

I live at an elevation of 6,900 feet.

Smoking a brisket here at above 250 degrees has always resulted in a dry hunk of junk, at least that's my experience.

I don't wait for the stall. The beast goes in foil at 150 degrees. It's usually probing well at about 195 degrees. Granted, the bark suffers but it is what it is.

No problem with dry brisket once I started using this method.

lkapigian

Water leaving the protein at a much lower temp, faster rate, smokers benefit from water pans at high altitude and more liquid in your wrap ( if wrapping) extend cook time as well , at the end of the day, tough typically is undercooked no matter the altitude