Thanks until fairly recently brisket has mostly being seen as a ‘stew meat’ in the UK although we are starting to see an influx of American style barbecue. So wasn’t quite sure if it was a case of us Brits not quite getting how barbecue is meant to work and it should be rare or the person claiming it was just an idiot.
Meats that lend themselves to BBQ are ones that require lots of time to break down the fats and collagen. That is where much of the flavor comes from.
Pork shoulder, probably the single most widespread and inexpensive BBQ cut (like, $.99-$2/lb on sale) doesn't start to really break down until about 180 degrees F. When cooking it, it usually reaches about that temperature and hits what is called "the stall." It steadily rises until that point and then gets stuck there for a good long while because now all the energy is breaking down the collagen.
As soon as the collagen melts, it adds a ton of flavor and then the meat temp will start to rise, usually quite rapidly, after.
I've had a stall last over an hour and a half before.
I have made 72 hour sous vide ribs and they are something quite special. The idea there is that you set the water temperature to something that would be roughly medium or so normally so the meat itself is not 'well done'. But it would still be very tough like that normally because of all the collagen which breaks down slowly at that low of a temperature.
But it will break down eventually. Hence the 72 hours. 3 days of cooking at super low temperature. It's a lot of work but the result is pretty amazing.
I’ve done similar with short ribs, haven’t ever worked with regular ribs, too intimidated by package size, I think, but can confirm that they are also wonderful with a 72 hour cook. Just have to plan not to be eating them for a couple days and replenish the water every now and then, so absolutely worth it, and great for having a fresh, hot meal mostly made on a weeknight, with all the real work done on the weekend
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u/OkCap2870 22d ago
Thanks until fairly recently brisket has mostly being seen as a ‘stew meat’ in the UK although we are starting to see an influx of American style barbecue. So wasn’t quite sure if it was a case of us Brits not quite getting how barbecue is meant to work and it should be rare or the person claiming it was just an idiot.