This time of year is when customers come in asking about all the crazy things they either heard from great grand pappy or the internet when it comes to barbecue.
The bbq world is full of myths. Some seem feasible while others are just plain ridiculous.
One of my all time favorites is soaking wood in water before you smoke with it. First of all, water does not penetrate wood otherwise we would not have made boats out of wood for centuries. The actual penetration is about 3% according to Meathead of Amazing Ribs. Secondly, wood will not smoke while it is wet. The moisture will vaporize in the wood but that moisture must evaporate before the wood will actually start to smolder which is where the smoke comes from. So, if you want to prolong the time for your wood to start smoking, then soak it. Lastly, guess what happens to charcoal when you add wet wood to it... it drops in temperature. This could prolong your cook unnecessarily.
Final decision on soaking wood: try it both ways and see which works best since every smoker is different. Chances are, you won't need to soak that wood before your cook. Note: grilling planks are the exception to the rule as they usually sit directly over open flame which will catch the wood on fire. Make sure you soak your grilling planks before putting them directly over fire.
Another great myth is that searing a steak will "lock in the juices". We can thank our good friend Alton Brown for debunking this one. If this were the case, a non seared steak would weigh less after cooking than a seared steak. Studies show us this is not the case. Here is the video proving such: Searing steak myth Please do not try and get your grill up to 600 degrees F or above to "sear a steak". Chances are you will damage your grill doing this.
This next one isn't so much a myth as the issue isn't as bad as the media would have you think. There have been a few cases of bristles from cheaply made bbq brushes documented. In all cases, the bristles were from either home-made brushes or very cheap brushes. The answer is to use bristle-less brushes or make sure you buy your brushes from a reputable dealer. Here is an example of a bristle-less bbq brush:
The bbq world is full of myths. Some seem feasible while others are just plain ridiculous.
One of my all time favorites is soaking wood in water before you smoke with it. First of all, water does not penetrate wood otherwise we would not have made boats out of wood for centuries. The actual penetration is about 3% according to Meathead of Amazing Ribs. Secondly, wood will not smoke while it is wet. The moisture will vaporize in the wood but that moisture must evaporate before the wood will actually start to smolder which is where the smoke comes from. So, if you want to prolong the time for your wood to start smoking, then soak it. Lastly, guess what happens to charcoal when you add wet wood to it... it drops in temperature. This could prolong your cook unnecessarily.
Final decision on soaking wood: try it both ways and see which works best since every smoker is different. Chances are, you won't need to soak that wood before your cook. Note: grilling planks are the exception to the rule as they usually sit directly over open flame which will catch the wood on fire. Make sure you soak your grilling planks before putting them directly over fire.
Another great myth is that searing a steak will "lock in the juices". We can thank our good friend Alton Brown for debunking this one. If this were the case, a non seared steak would weigh less after cooking than a seared steak. Studies show us this is not the case. Here is the video proving such: Searing steak myth Please do not try and get your grill up to 600 degrees F or above to "sear a steak". Chances are you will damage your grill doing this.
This next one isn't so much a myth as the issue isn't as bad as the media would have you think. There have been a few cases of bristles from cheaply made bbq brushes documented. In all cases, the bristles were from either home-made brushes or very cheap brushes. The answer is to use bristle-less brushes or make sure you buy your brushes from a reputable dealer. Here is an example of a bristle-less bbq brush:
Cooking a piece of meat is another common barbecue myth. Again, Meathead from Amazing Ribs debunks this one. According to Meathead, the muscle fibers of meat are way to tight to allow any juices to run down INSIDE the meat during the cook. The juices will keep the outside moist as it will run down and around the meat but not inside. So fat cap up, or fat cap down.. doesn't matter.
There are many more. Want to find them out? Come in to the store and talk to Dan about them or take one of our barbecue classes. :)
Dan
Colorado BBQ Outfitters
