The Hot Pepper said:
If you are maintaining constant temps that is more important, if smoke was escaping but heat was constant, no issue. There's enough smoke in the chamber to smoke. How were the temps?
Yesterday I
cooked like Aaron ... just for JHP.
From experience with that grill, I cooked at about 245-275F for the first 60-75 minutes, and between 205 and 240F for the last two hours ...
I didn't record temps yesterday, but only because I've analyzed my own photo data (only for that grill) and know what the temp range is for the vent combinations ...
If you set the bottom vent where the handle is lined up w/ the left half of the second circle from the left, and the top vent open ~1/3 open - my grill cooks 220-250F if there's fresh unburnt fuel, and 205-240F if everything is surface charred ... it doesn't matter much whether it's lump or briquet or fruit wood, I've figured out.
So, I don't know, but I have a pretty good idea ...
NOTE: I should just add some high-temp gasket ... no big deal, really ...
Actually, if you look at my last half dozen cooks on the Weber ... where it's been low and slow/smoking or whatever ... I've stopped probing until late.
I verify w/ a probe for the last 10% of the cook ...
I can think of no reason why to stick the meat from the beginning ... it's not good for the probe, it makes the probe harder to clean, it makes a spring for juice to run out of for longer, and in my case it just gives me something to think about during time when I really don't need to be giving
that metric any though ...
I don't think my quality has moved up or down since I've started concentrating more on the fire (both in constructing the fuel, how I start it, and in managing it through the burn) ...
For one thing, I start all of my temp-controlled cooks w/ my Iwatani ... I never have run-away hot fires anymore, although I do have some fire's that require additional torch after 3-5 minutes - especially if it's lump that I'm trying to start ...
The rest of the game (prep, rub, grain management) has slowed down enough for me now, that I really just try to keep the fire on my mind as a priority, the food just happily goes along for the ride ...
If nothing else, it's made grilling less frustrating and more enjoyable - and that has a real-world value that far exceeds a unit of doneness - a shade of pink if you will - beyond my best-case ...
Danielle doesn't agree. She likes to eat the meat how she likes it every time ...
I like variability and even a little unpredictability if you will ... it's essential to maintaining my interest, really.
Anyways ...
Deep thoughts on Q, over this Grapefruit Saison ...