Submitted by Bradley Robertson on Wed, 07/23/2008 - 1:02pm
About a year ago I purchased my first BBQ smoker. I have experimented with a lot of different things from chicken to cheese, and in denser meats like brisket and pork there is usually a plateau that occurs. If you have ever smoked brisket or even ribs you know exactly what I am talking about. Your fire is at the right temperature, in fact you have even raised it a few degrees, but the temperature of the meat is hovering around 150 degrees or so and has even dropped a degree. After reading about so many accounts of this happening I just accepted it as BBQ law that this happens and didn't really bother to seek out a reason. However, my friend, Tim, is currently trying to make some pulled pork and had this happen to him. He wasn't satisfied with the "it just happens" answer and decided to see what info he could find. With a little digging he was able to find the answer.
According to the Naked Whiz's site:
...At around 150 to 170 degrees internal temperature, the collagen in the meat is going to be slowly converted from collagen to gelatin. While this occurs, all the heat absorbed by the meat will be used to perform this melting of collagen. During this time frame, the internal temperature of the meat will stop rising and will stay steady for a very long time. In fact, it might even drop a few degrees. Once the conversion is complete, the heat absorbed by the meat will once again be used to raised the internal temperature of the meat. This conversion process is critical in converting a tough chewy dry piece of meat into a tender and moist piece of meat.
So, it will help you greatly if you have a remote thermometer like a Polder so you can watch the internal temperature of the meat. It is critical that you do not try to raise the temperature of the cooker in order to force the meat's temperature up. This plateau is normal and to be expected. In fact, you want the plateau to last as long as you can in order to ensure that the conversion from collagen to gelatin is complete. So, while you monitor your meat's temp, don't freak when you see it hit the plateau. Don't freak when you see it stay in the plateau for many hours. Don't freak if the internal temperature of the meat actually goes down a degree or two. As long as your fire is burning like you want it to, this is all normal, so just let nature take its course. And remember, if you do it right, your brisket is going to take a long time to cook, perhaps 2 or more hours per pound.
I'm sure someone out there that is reading this already knew this and sees this info as old hat since this article was posted four years ago, let alone where else this info may be posted. But for BBQ n00bs like me this information is helpful. Like most good things you can't rush good BBQ. So the next time your BBQ plateaus, relax, grab another beer, and just let the smoke do its job.
