Plateau?

Unknown

I've been reading a lot of posts about smoking butts, there is a term that pops up sometimes about the meat reaching plateau, what is that?
thanks
Craig

WessB

fosk,
I believe the Whiz gave you a perfect definition yesterday...[p]
Wess

Mark Backer

fosk,[p]from the whiz:[p]Part 0 - Introduction [p]I'm certainly no expert on cooking a butt low and slow, having done it just once as of this writing. However, everything went just as smooth as silk, so I decided to write up what I did with the hopes that other first timers will feel emboldened enough to do their first also. In keeping with my "It's gotta be fun, it's gotta be thimple, it's gotta be tasty" theme, I didn't use any rubs or mustard, just your basic thimple butt. I used an 8.5 pound butt, by the way. [p]Part I - Building The Fire [p]Keeping a fire going for 20 hours probably benefits from adequate preparation. Some folks will disagree on how to build the fire, but here is how I do it. First of all, clear out the egg. Get rid of any old lump and clean out the ashes that might already be in the egg. I don't take the firebox out and clean around the edges, but I do clear out the bottom of the firebox. [p]Dump your lump into a bin so you can see what you are putting into the egg. I don't advocate dumping a pile of lump in from a bag. Find several large pieces and place them in the bottom of the egg in the center. Then basically, what I do is start placing the largest pieces in the egg, evenly distributing them. Then just keep tossing in the largest piece you have left, keeping the lump level as you pile it up. When you get to the top of the firebox, distribute some pieces of hickory on top of the lump (or whatever wood you want to use to smoke with) then continue piling on the largest pieces of lump from the bin. [p]When you have reached about half-way up the fire ring you are ready to start your fire, assuming everything else is ready. [p]Part II - Starting The Fire [p]First of all, you need to realize that a butt cooked at 220 degrees will take around 2 hours per pound. Do the math. An 8 pound butt will take 16-18 hours. You have to start the night before you want to eat it! Ready? My 8.5 pound butt cooked at 220 degrees and took 19 hours, 54 minutes and 53 seconds. Those 53 seconds are important, huh? [p]I use a Weber starter chimney. Place the chimney in the egg on top of the lump. Put about 2 inches of lump in the starter chimney, light a sheet of paper under it, and then wait until the lump is burning red hot. Dump this lump carefully into the center of the egg. Place a fist-sized piece of hickory (or whatever) on top of the burning lump and push it down in. [p]I then close the egg up and shut down the air vents to almost closed. The egg gets up to around 400 degrees when I dump the lump in from the starter, so I want to calm things down a bit. Meanwhile, I go take the butt out of the fridge, put it on the v-rack and bring it out to the egg along with some water and a drip pan. I don't pretend to have any information on rubs, etc., so I'll leave that up to you. However you have prepared your butt, bring it out on a v-rack. [p]When ready to start cooking, open the egg and put a plate setter upside down into the egg. Place a drip pan on the plate setter and fill it with at least 1 inch of water. Place the grid over the drip pan and finally your butt on a v-rack on top of the grid. Insert your Polder probe, making sure not to let it near any bone. I'm assuming that you know to wrap the Polder cable with a layer of foil to protect it. If you don't, well, wrap the cable with foil to protect it from the heat. Close the egg. [p]By the time you have done all this, the egg should be down below 200 degrees. Open the lower vent about an inch and the daisy wheel open, meaning the sliding lid is closed, but the rotating part is open. When the temperature reaches 210, shut the lower vent to about 1/4 inch and the the daisy top to about 1/2 open. Now, it's just basic temperature control. You want to get the egg to 220-250 degrees. [p]Part III - The Cook [p]This next part shouldn't be too hard. When you are convinced you have the egg stabilized between 220 and 250 degrees, then go to bed. Ok, you can check it a couple of times before you go to bed to ensure the temperature is stable, but THEN go to bed. If you have built a good fire, it won't go out. If you have stabilized the temperature, it won't run away from you. [p]When you wake up, the egg should still be at the temperature that you left it. The meat should be in the 160's. Leave it alone. Be a good boy and don't open the egg until the meat hits 200 and it's time to eat. That means don't open it even once. You can impress the women with your ability to hold back. [p]The meat will hit a plateau at anywhere from 160 to 180 degrees. It will stay in this range for a very long time while all the fat renders and collagen in the meat is converted to gelatin.

Mark Backer

fosk,[p]sorry about that bad cut and paste. Here's what I meant to post...[p]
from the whiz:[p]The meat will hit a plateau at anywhere from 160 to 180 degrees. It will stay in this range for a very long time while all the fat renders and collagen in the meat is converted to gelatin.

Unknown

Mark Backer,[p]thanks for the info. just to clarify. I have seen some posts that say when the meat plateaus you raise the temperature in the egg. but it sounds like you just leave it alone and the internal meat temp will, at some point, begin to rise again.

Mark Backer

fosk,[p]I have tried it both ways, and my advice is that, unless you're rushing (which you shouldn't be when doing lo and slo's) then leave it alone and let it work. Whiz's right. There's something remarkable about not opening your Egg for 20 hours and, when you do, removing this amazing piece of meat. [p]Well worth it. Make sure a friend or two are around when you do it. They'll be even more amazed than you are.

Wise One

fosk, yes you will raise the meat temperature past the plateau but the object of low and slow cooking (according to drbbq - who I trust) is to spend a long time in the plateau. This is where you're rendering out all the things you don't want in the meat so you don't want to rush it through. Will the meat be edible if you rush it through? Yes, (I eat it at BBQ establishments all over) but it will be even better if you let it linger a bit.