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How important is it for meat to be at room temp before egging?

how many of you do it? I'm perfecting my technique and going to start trying it. Never worried about it before but I know some swear by it.
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Comments

  • buzd504
    buzd504 Posts: 3,824
    edited June 2016
  • REMtx
    REMtx Posts: 63
    edited June 2016
    I only worry about it a bit on some steaks, so I get even cooking. Big meat for smoking is actually better slightly cold so it can develop a smoke ring.
  • shtgunal3
    shtgunal3 Posts: 5,629
    Never have. Probably never will.

    ___________________________________

     

     LBGE,SBGE, and a Mini makes three......Sweet home Alabama........ Stay thirsty my friends .

  • Carolina Q
    Carolina Q Posts: 14,831
    I've never heard anyone on here admit to doing that. If you leave a piece of meat of any size out on the counter long enough to get to room temp, all those microbial nasties are gonna have a field day.

    I hate it when I go to the kitchen for food and all I find are ingredients!                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

    Michael 
    Central Connecticut 

  • lkapigian
    lkapigian Posts: 10,708
    I've egged stuff frozen solid
    Visalia, Ca @lkapigian
  • MaskedMarvel
    MaskedMarvel Posts: 3,136
    I exclusively smoke butts frozen solid. Makes buying in bulk when they go on sale here for $1.29/lbs easy...
    Large BGE and Medium BGE
    36" Blackstone - Greensboro!


  • lkapigian said:
    I've egged stuff frozen solid
    i'll bite.... seriously? like what?
  • DaveRichardson
    DaveRichardson Posts: 2,324
    Most of the time, with the big cooks of boston butts, etc, that take 10+ hours, those chunks of meat are still semi-frozen when they go on.  My deep freezer is well stocked with boston butts and steaks.  The coldest butt was at 24 degrees when I got the probe into it.

    Steaks will be reverse seared at 225 until they reach the sewwt spot before going nuclear.....

    All depends on how much time ahead I think about tossing something in the fridge to thaw it out!

    LBGE #19 from North GA Eggfest, 2014

    Stockbridge, GA - just south of Atlanta where we are covered up in Zombies!  #TheWalkingDead films practically next door!

  • I've never heard anyone on here admit to doing that. If you leave a piece of meat of any size out on the counter long enough to get to room temp, all those microbial nasties are gonna have a field day.
    That's why I've never tried it before,I think I will skip that....thanks for everyone's comments
  • lousubcap
    lousubcap Posts: 32,170
    Another vote for right out of the fridge to the BGE except for steaks-then I poor-man hot tub them before tossing on the fire.  FWIW-
    Louisville; Rolling smoke in the neighbourhood. # 38 for the win.  Life is too short for light/lite beer!  Seems I'm livin in a transitional period.
  • NonaScott
    NonaScott Posts: 446
    I try to take steaks out an hour before cooking to take the chill off a little. I find they do cook a little more even that way. Everything else right out of the fridge.
    Narcoossee, FL

    LBGE, Nest, Mates, Plate Setter, Ash Tool. I'm a simple guy.
  • gdenby
    gdenby Posts: 6,239
    Chef Thos. Keller, 1st Michellin 3-star in US, recommends "tempering" the food. From what I can tell, that is that the food/meat is all at an even temperature all thru. Not necessarily at room temp.
     
    Do note that Chef Keller is so precise he might be accused of OCD.

    As far as contamination goes, here is a loose guide. Pathogen growth rates roughly double every 10 degrees above freezing. US guidelines say that raw food refrigerated at 35 - 40F should be safe for 7 days/168 hrs. So at 50 F, you have about 84 hours. At 60, 21 hrs. 70, 10, and so forth. Between 90 and 110, the pathogens reach peak growth rates.  IMO, best to prep quickly from fridge temp, and then into the heat.

    FWIW, Pork vindaloo was developed in the Indian city of Goa, where the Portuguese had a colony. It was so hot, that pork would be spoiled before it was cooked. The vindaloo method drops the pork into a vinegar and hot spice mix, essentially pickling and spicing it as a preservative to last a few hours w/o refrigeration.
  • westernbbq
    westernbbq Posts: 2,490
    Not very. In fact, i just got my latest issue of Cooks Illustrated magazine and there is a technique for grilling thick steak frozen that results in similar fashion to reverse sear.   


    You put frozen steak in hot ci skillet or ci grill great, sear 90 secomds on all sides, including edges, then put in 250 degree oven or egg until desired internal temperature is achieved


    Crazy....


    Also, do not, under any circumstances let any kind of poultry or fish sit out to room temp.   Certain illness causing bad things grow exponentially in these meats that can make you very sick fyi.....
  • Darby_Crenshaw
    Darby_Crenshaw Posts: 2,657
    edited June 2016
    there's some confusion around this topic.  for one thing, leaving a roast or steak out on the counter will not really allow it to get "to room temperature", not unless you want to wait many hours. the most anyone practically seems to do this is momentarily.  like max a half hour.

    so what is the REAL idea behind this? because there is logic, and it IS legit.

    same logic as warming a steak in sous vide (although that has OTHER benefits, outside this discussion), or warming it in a ziploc under warm/hot water ("hot tubbing"), or reverse searing, or T-rex (which is to sear first then drop temps while the steak cools a bit and roast to finish), or X-ert (which is T-rex backwards, what the BGE forum called reverse searing before it was called reverse searing).

    additionally, at least when i was there, you'd see piles of that evening's steaks out on the counter at a Morton's steak house.  those were really out long enough to be at room temp.

    all of these things revolve around the SAME idea:  a steak or roast is thick.  it cannot cook evenly if you put a cold mass onto a hot surface and blast heat at it until the very center is your desired temp.  if you do this, you get a nice tiny core of good, and a thick rind of overcooked.

    so yes, there is logic behind it, and it was something that was practiced, but most people do not have the courage to rest a roast or steak until it really is at room temp.  many hours.

    i don't agree that it is not necessary.  because it is, if you want an even cross section of your desired doneness.

    this is also why roasts are often (even traditionally) slow roasted.

    you get a better roast at 225 for a few hours than you do tossing it in at 500

    EDIT: re pathogens.   pffft.  did some sirloin tip steaks the other night.  on a bowl on the counter, i salted them and peppered them, and they sat there for better part of an hour or more as we debated whether or not i should start the grill and when we were gonna eat.  towel over it in case of flies (but there were no flies).  salting took care of pathogens.  we only lost one dinner guest to food poisoning.  so that was pretty good.
    [social media disclaimer: irony and sarcasm may be used in some or all of user's posts; emoticon usage is intended to indicate moderately jocular social interaction; the comments toward users, their usernames, and the real people (living or dead) that they refer to are not intended to be adversarial in nature; those replying to this user are entering into a tacit agreement that they are real-life or social-media acquaintances and/or have agreed to or tacitly agreed to perpetrate occasional good-natured ribbing between and among themselves and others]

  • tarheelmatt
    tarheelmatt Posts: 9,867
    there's some confusion around this topic.  for one thing, leaving a roast or steak out on the counter will not really allow it to get "to room temperature", not unless you want to wait many hours. the most anyone rpactically seems to do this is momentaryily.  like max a half hour.

    so what is the REAL idea behind this? because there is logic, and it IS legit.

    same logic as warming a steak in sous vide (although that has OTHER benefits, outside this discussion), or warming it in a ziploc under warm/hot water ("hot tubbing"), or reverse searing, or T-rex (which is to sear first then drop temps while the steak cools a bit and roast to finish), or X-ert (which is T-rex backwards, what the BGE forum called reverse searing before it was called reverse searing).

    additionally, at least when i was there, you'd see piles of that evening's steaks out on the counter at a Morton's steak house.  those were really out long enough to be at room temp.

    all of these things revolve around the SAME idea:  a steak or roast is thick.  it cannot cook evenly if you put a cold mass onto a hot surface and blast heat at it until the very center is your desired temp.  if you do this, you get a nice tiny core of good, and a thick rind of overcooked.

    so yes, there is logic behind it, and it was something that was practiced, but most people do not have the courage to rest a roast or steak until it really is at room temp.  many hours.

    i don't agree that it is not necessary.  because it is, if you want an even cross section of your desired doneness.

    this is also why roasts are often (even traditionally) slow roasted.

    you get a better roast at 225 for a few hours than you do tossing it in at 500

    EDIT: re pathogens.   pffft.  did some sirloin tip steaks the other night.  on a bowl on the counter, i salted them and peppered them, and they sat there for better part of an hour or more as we debated whether or not i should start the grill and when we were gonna eat.  towel over it in case of flies (but there were no flies).  salting took care of pathogens.  we only lost one dinner guest to food poisoning.  so that was pretty good.
    RIP Aunt Rita.  
    ------------------------------
    Thomasville, NC
    My YouTube Channel - The Hungry Hussey
    Instagram
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    My Photography Site
  • northGAcock
    northGAcock Posts: 15,164
    .....not to forget mentioning a counter surfing dog. 
    Ellijay GA with a Medium & MiniMax

    Well, I married me a wife, she's been trouble all my life,
    Run me out in the cold rain and snow
  • BikerBob
    BikerBob Posts: 284
    Supposedly cold meat absorbs more smoke flavor than room temp meat. A good reason to cook straight from the refrigerator.
    Cooking on the coast
  • DoubleEgger
    DoubleEgger Posts: 17,125
    You'll get a better smoke ring putting cold meat on the egg. 
  • DieselkW
    DieselkW Posts: 894
    I have to agree with refrigerated temperature, as long as it is thawed, the entire chicken/steak/whatever should be the same temperature top to bottom to get consistent results time after time.

    A frozen center will certainly result in overdone exterior on a steak, but a low and slow cooked big muscle will be fine since it has time to thaw before the heat begins to penetrate to the center.

    Microbes are there. Ever been to a slaughter house? The microbes are there every step from the first cut to your shopping cart. It's best not to think of them.
    If you want, you can read about the bugs that live in your eyebrows.

    but it's best not to think of them.

    Indianapolis, IN

    BBQ is a celebration of culture in America. It is the closest thing we have to the wines and cheeses of Europe. 

    Drive a few hundred miles in any direction, and the experience changes dramatically. 



  • Darby_Crenshaw
    Darby_Crenshaw Posts: 2,657
    BikerBob said:
    Supposedly cold meat absorbs more smoke flavor than room temp meat. A good reason to cook straight from the refrigerator.
    nope.  just the smoke ring
    [social media disclaimer: irony and sarcasm may be used in some or all of user's posts; emoticon usage is intended to indicate moderately jocular social interaction; the comments toward users, their usernames, and the real people (living or dead) that they refer to are not intended to be adversarial in nature; those replying to this user are entering into a tacit agreement that they are real-life or social-media acquaintances and/or have agreed to or tacitly agreed to perpetrate occasional good-natured ribbing between and among themselves and others]

  • msloan
    msloan Posts: 399
    i for sure do the room temperature thing when cooking all meats other than chicken.

    I have no problem getting a great smoke ring on butts or briskets when I have allowed them to come up in temp before paling them on the smoker.
    gettin lucky in kentucky!   2 XL eggs!
  • Lit
    Lit Posts: 9,053
    I didn't read all this so I may be repeating someone but leaving a steak out is actually doing the opposite of what you want you are getting the outside closer to done and the inside barely moves in temp so you have to over cook the outside even more to get the inside to temp. Search the hot tub method on here it will accomplish what you want to happen. I usually do it around 105 degree water for an hour or so and the meat will be internal around 90-100 and will be medium rare with a short sear then minute or 2 indirect to get a little smoke flavor.
  • gmac
    gmac Posts: 1,814
    .....not to forget mentioning a counter surfing dog. 
    This A$$hole took 1/2 a roast of the counter last night. Surprised he's still alive but ultimately it's the kids fault for leaving it out...
    Mt Elgin Ontario - just a Large.
  • 4Runner
    4Runner Posts: 2,948
    Joe - I'm a reformed gasser-holic aka 4Runner Columbia, SC Wonderful BGE Resource Site: http://www.nakedwhiz.com/ceramicfaq.htm and http://www.nibblemethis.com/  and http://playingwithfireandsmoke.blogspot.com/2006/02/recipes.html
    What am I drinking now?   Woodford....neat
  • Darby_Crenshaw
    Darby_Crenshaw Posts: 2,657
    4Runner said:
    he doesn't say it isn't important, he says it's not really possible to leave it out and get to room temp. which is true

    you still want to cook it in a way that creates an even cross section.
    [social media disclaimer: irony and sarcasm may be used in some or all of user's posts; emoticon usage is intended to indicate moderately jocular social interaction; the comments toward users, their usernames, and the real people (living or dead) that they refer to are not intended to be adversarial in nature; those replying to this user are entering into a tacit agreement that they are real-life or social-media acquaintances and/or have agreed to or tacitly agreed to perpetrate occasional good-natured ribbing between and among themselves and others]

  • As others have stated, I think it depends on the thickness of the meat you are cooking. For steaks, I let them come to room temp to ensure a proper sear (a few friends who are professional chefs have recommend this to me). For larger cuts (e.g., brisket, butt, etc,), I like them cold such that they develop good smoke.like most things BBQ, I don't think there is a "right" way, but this is what has worked for me.
  • gmac said:
    .....not to forget mentioning a counter surfing dog. 
    This A$$hole took 1/2 a roast of the counter last night. Surprised he's still alive but ultimately it's the kids fault for leaving it out...
    Maybe he's next on the egg?
  • Lit
    Lit Posts: 9,053
    As others have stated, I think it depends on the thickness of the meat you are cooking. For steaks, I let them come to room temp to ensure a proper sear (a few friends who are professional chefs have recommend this to me). For larger cuts (e.g., brisket, butt, etc,), I like them cold such that they develop good smoke.like most things BBQ, I don't think there is a "right" way, but this is what has worked for me.
    This is not true at all leave a steak out on the counter for an hour and check your internal temp it hardly moves only the outside gets warmer which is the opposite of what you are trying to achieve.