Real SLOW and real LOW.

[Sean Olivares]

Hello guys, I have heard about people cooking meat at 165 Fahrenheit for extended times for very tender meat.

Having read through the forum and understanding the Smoking it model 2 the best way way to go about something like that would be to get a meat thermometer and decide on a internal temp and then just wait till the correct temp is reached. Do not depend on a set time.

Anyone have experience cooking with real low temps for extended times?

Do you feel that it adds anything beneficial?

 

[BedouinBob]

Sean, my guess is it wouldn't add much and meats like port butts need to be in the 190 range to be tender. I would think that is a little low for temp. Check out sous vida in another part of the forum and you will see some really low and slow cook methods. Happy New Year!

 

[SuperDave]

In addition to the pork butts that Bob mentioned, some meats should reach an internal temp of 140 within 4 hours.  A box temp of 165 would make that impossible to reach with anything other than the thinnest of cuts. 

 

[SconnieQ]

That does work well for sous vide. Check out my post about cooking a chuck steak at 131 for 4 days!
http://smokinitforums.com/index.php?topic=4390.msg39848#msg39848
You can break down a tough cut of meat at a lower temperature given A LOT of time. You end up with a very tender, prime-rib-like medium rare steak. 130 is actually a safe temp if held for 112 minutes or more (not widely publicized since it mostly pertains to sous-vide and requires precision/accuracy. 140 is safe when held for 12 minutes or more).

I also started wondering about lower temp prolonged smoking/cooking. Sous vide is in a sealed pouch. My fear with super low and slow in the smoker, is even if you can get the meat up to a safe temp within 4 hours (which is possible, start at higher temp, turn down when IT 140 is reached), a prolonged period at a low temp might eventually just dry out the meat. You'd need to wrap it, or cook it in a pan with liquid (braising). As long as you keep the IT of the meat above 140, anything is possible I suppose. You could always try it and see what happens. As long as you make sure it stays at a safe temperature, the worst that can happen is that it turns out terrible.

 

[Sean Olivares]

Thanks, all.

 

[DivotMaker]

Sean, the only meat I smoke below at least 200 is jerky, and that's at 140.  I don't think 165 would be good for most things.