
Harvard engineering students devise BBQ smoker - mhb
http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/05/05/harvard-class-cooks-ultimate-bbq-smoker/0O4fLQ0rbt9qMGsllPoTjK/story.html?p1=Article_Trending_Most_Viewed#
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kwantam
I wonder if they used the "Texas Crutch," i.e., wrapped the brisket in foil
after ~4 hours.

The upshot of the Texas Crutch technique is: after about 2 hours on the smoke,
the internal temperature of a brisket will plateau for 6-8 hours before
climbing toward its final temperature. According to experiments by Greg
Blonder[0], this stall is caused by evaporative cooling: once the internal
temperature reaches a point where the energy lost to evaporation balances the
energy gained from the (low---225-250 Fahrenheit is the "right" temperature
for a brisket) ambient temperature, the internal temp of the meat will stay
put until sufficient water has evaporated.

Some call this cheating, but in my experimentation the "crutch" produces
significantly tastier results because of the difference in juiciness. As
additional evidence here, I'll note that _every_ BBQ place in Austin whose
brisket is good to great---Franklin, La Barbecue, John Mueller Meat Co., and
even Rudy's---wraps their briskets in foil. (Edited to add: I didn't mention
Black's and Kreutz's because I'm not 100% sure that they do, but I vaguely
recall that they do.)

One worry might be that the meat doesn't absorb as much smoke after the foil
is applied, and this is indeed true. One can trade off additional time in the
smoke for more evaporation. After about 4 hours, the meat isn't going to
absorb much more flavor from the smoke, so that's a great time to wrap it.

In fact, at that point you may as well make your life easier by transferring
the meat to an oven (ideally, a convection oven to avoid hot spots) and
finishing it off. It may feel wrong, but in my experience the results are
superb.

[0]
[http://www.genuineideas.com/ArticlesIndex/stallbbq.html](http://www.genuineideas.com/ArticlesIndex/stallbbq.html)

~~~
tptacek
As soon as the meat reaches ~130f, it's not going to absorb any more smoke.

~~~
kwantam
Interesting. There seem to be conflicting opinions here. Referring again to
Blonder[0], it seems that one can improve smoke absorption by mopping
consistently. Personally, I'm usually pretty aggressive with the mopping, that
is, every 45 minutes to 1 hour.

[0]
[http://www.genuineideas.com/ArticlesIndex/srasmokeringmoist....](http://www.genuineideas.com/ArticlesIndex/srasmokeringmoist.html)

~~~
firebones
Lookin' ain't cookin' are the words I live by. (Brisket is very, very
forgiving if you go low and slow and just focus on the internal meat
temperature. Maintain 225-250F with the smoker, don't worry about short
spikes, focus mostly on the target temperature.)

Turn once 50% into the cook (pounds * 1.5 hours), again at 75%. Spray apple
juice.

I learned a ton from the Virtual Weber Bullet forums. From the perspective of
food hacking, the HN crowd would really love it--lots of overlap with the
approach, even a lot of good "hardware" mods.

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jnks
If you've ever wondered what the real value of going to Harvard is, it's all
in this sentence from the article:

> On a hike up Camelback Mountain in Arizona, he pitched the idea to
> executives from Williams-Sonoma, who agreed to be the client for his class.

Just casually pitched an exec and got a brisket sponsor, no big deal...

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parasubvert
I think the article exaggerates the lack of accessibility in BBQ. There sure
is a fair amount of BBQ-broscience but resources like AmazingRibs.com, Aaron
Franklin's YouTube videos, and Virtual Weber Bullet all have great recipes,
guides, and forums. The challenge is that BBQ is true regional American
cuisine, with a lot of variation. This is similar to authentic Chinese or
Indian food where there are significant differences among the regional
flavors, techniques and ingredients. The cooking tools aren't overly
dissimilar, or don't really need to be, as traditional pits are pretty
impractical... but you have to know what flavors and textures you're looking
for.

I own a Big Green Egg (ceramic Kamado-style oven) and a Weber Smokey Mountain
(a vertical water smoker) and I have a hunch right away as to the improvement
with this device.

The Egg is quite versatile in that you can do direct grilling along with
indirect slow roasting, by use of a "plate setter". This is a large ceramic
plate with legs that is very similar to what is used to fire plates in a kiln,
though in this case it acts as a heat sink and shield between the meat and the
fire.

The hourglass shape enables a better blockage of direct heat from the main
cooking chamber. BGE plate setters have gaps on the sides that in the case of
large briskets can burn the ends, leading to a form of traditional "burnt
ends" unless you're diligent about dousing hotspots with a water gun and
mopping/spritzing regularly.

This is partly why I prefer the Weber smokey mountain for brisket. That said,
Kamados are very easy to use - dump your lump, light a couple paraffin cubes,
and you're up in 20 minutes.

~~~
jsabo
I agree, there's plenty of good online resources, and brisket especially is
pretty straightforward. When I was learning, I absorbed Aaron Franklin's
videos and was delighted with the results even as a beginner. By the time I
mustered the willpower to actually wait in line and try some BBQ at
Franklin's, I was pleased to find that I really wasn't too far off.

This line from the article was a little silly: "In the end, the secret was to
precisely control the temperature both in the smoker and in the meat over the
“low and slow” smoke."

When really the importance of heat control is pretty well known. Something I
use and that may be of interest to HN is a heatermeter:

[https://github.com/CapnBry/HeaterMeter](https://github.com/CapnBry/HeaterMeter)

which uses a fan to maintain a set temperature automatically and has a web
interface to monitor it remotely. The article mentioned the students had built
something similar too.

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lambdaelite
I love kamados, but if one is really concerned with temperature control I
don't see how one could beat a water bath for cooking with a separate smoking
step.

Also, while interesting, that hyperboloid profile has significant
disadvantages compared to the more traditional ovoid used by the BGE and
clones: more difficult to manufacture, internal stresses, smaller cooking
area, more weight, etc. Good engineering practice would need to account for
those. I don't expect a news article to address any of this, but I would be
interested to hear what was considered in class.

~~~
dekhn
When Nathan Myhrvold visited Google and spoke, I asked him what he thought the
"best" way to make BBQ ribs was (with a stretched definition for "BBQ"). He
said: sous vide, arrest via dipping in liquid nitrogen, deep fry, then smoke.

~~~
lambdaelite
I'm so conflicted with Myhrvold: I hate Intellectual Ventures and what they do
with the passion of a thousand suns, but Modernist Cuisine is an incredible
and seminal work of art and science.

The modernist methods for BBQ do consistently produce a great que, but
throwing a butt on an egg slow and low tastes just about as good and takes a
lot less work.

~~~
dekhn
The other thing I asked him about was BBQ stall.

He had done some nice work providing evidence against the "it's just fat
melting" theory (he prefers the idea there is water vapor around the meat,
absorbing the heat). I suggested that one could wrap the butt in aluminum
foil, which would eliminate the evaporation and cause much more of the low
heat to stay within the body of the meat.

That would presumably affect the bark, which is why he suggested the deep fry,
although I don't think that's really the same as a slow bark.

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rubyrescue
If you don't want to build your own, the green egg is a really solid ceramic
smoker/oven. expensive but the results are consistently good.

~~~
learc83
You can build a really cheap smoker out of a ceramic flower pot. I built one
after I saw Alton Brown talking about it.

Mine is almost exactly like this one, except that I replaced the top pot with
a ceramic lid.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAydLWYGoJA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAydLWYGoJA)

I've been thinking about building a PID controller for it (I already have the
equipment from a project I did for an embedded systems lab in college), but
I'm worried I'll end up eating way too much barbecue.

~~~
jqm
I've built a couple of smokers out of cardboard boxes and they were fantastic.

I got a large box (like refrigerator might come in), cut the bottom out and
cut a door leaving one side for the hinge. I then used a pencil to poke some
hole and ran dowels through the box horizontally to put the racks on. An
electric hotplate and a cast iron skillet full of apple wood chips provides
the smoke. I put it on the concrete and put the box over the top of it. I put
a meat thermometer in the top of the box. Warning: the first time I did this,
the concrete under the box was also smoked and I had a large black square on
my patio. Cover the concrete with tinfoil to avoid this.

This method produces a lot of smoke and not much heat. I've done salmon and a
couple of turkeys like this. I let them smoke for 4 or 5 hours, then finish
them off in the oven. Rave reviews on the turkey at thanksgiving. The whole
thing cost like $10 to make (I already had the hotplate).

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tmuir
I have a related project that I've considered commercializing. I've built a
temperature controller with an embedded linux board that serves a webpage and
runs a python websocket server that updates the page. I've also got a
daughterboard with a thermocouple amplifier and transistor to power a small
fan that feeds the fire. The system logs and graphs temperature data. It's
basically complete control from your phone.

[http://imgur.com/a/aGr0H](http://imgur.com/a/aGr0H)

~~~
firebones
This is awesome. The big issue for me when I've considered this is the
operating conditions. You're hosting a linux board near a 250 degree source of
heat that may be operating in ambient conditions that range from 35F and very
rainy to 100F summer smoke.

~~~
tmuir
The board doesn't have to be near the fire. Even the fan is separated. I 3d
printed a fan mount that threads onto a pipe that runs into the firebox. The
board' temperature range is 0-70C, so freezing temperatures would be a
problem, but high temperatures. The rain would be an issue though.

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balls187
For those in the Seattle area, Jacks in Sodo is where you can get your BBQ
fix. Best brisket outside of Texas.

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RyJones
Agreed. Eat there frequently.

And you spent time in Terre Haute. My congratulations on your escape.

~~~
balls187
Hrm... your screen name makes me think that I might know you. Fellow Rose
Grad?

~~~
RyJones
No, but I did DJ at WMHD in the mid-80s. Hung out with Ron Dippold and Wayne
McDaniel.

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WillyF
One thing that they don't talk about at all is meat quality. Whom you buy your
brisket from can be much more important than optimizing every detail of the
smoking process.

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crikli
I wonder if they really used mesquite as their wood or if that was some
artistic license on the author's part. If so it would be an interesting
choice. Mesquite burns hot, produces a lot of smoke and can very easily impart
a harsh bitter flavor. It's a tough wood to get right.

~~~
QuercusMax
Mesquite is the traditional wood for Texas-style beef brisket. Pork and
chicken may not be able to stand up to the stronger flavor of mesquite, but
beef does well with it.

Or at least that's what I've read. My smoking experience is very limited, but
I've done a lot of reading.

~~~
parasubvert
Mesquite is best for grilling due to its flavor and strength. You can smoke
with it, but you really need to like Mesquite.

Oak and/or Hickory is usually what I've seen and used. I also like Pecan.
(smoking briskets for about 5 years)

~~~
jp555
Apple wood can make outstanding pork & lamb.

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summerman12
I prefer the hot and fast cooking method (smoking temperature around 275).
Ribs can be smoked in an hour and 10 minutes. I compete in KCBS sanctioned bbq
events and do well using the hot and fast method. I've tried many smokers out
over the years and now solely use vertical drum smokers (specifically Hunsaker
Vortex Smokers) as they do well with the hot and fast method.

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11thEarlOfMar
This one is also a temperature-controlled, natural fuel BBQ and smoker:
[http://www.grilltender.com/](http://www.grilltender.com/)

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venomsnake
PID controller, fan, heater and SSR relay is all you need.

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MichaelCrawford
"Berkeley engineering students respond with automated bong."

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hackuser
Anyone hungry tonight? How about some delicious Boston-style BBQ? Harvard-
style BBQ? Engineering student-style BBQ? Anyone?

Harvard is one of the world's great educational institutions, but perhaps it's
spreading the branding a little thin to apply it to BBQ made by engineering
students.

Now a BBQ smoker from Central TX A&M might be interesting.

~~~
scep12
What's the difference between Austin and Boston when it comes to cooking
brisket? Given the ubiquity of information and the ease of travel, I wouldn't
place such a premium on location. Some of the best BBQ I've ever had was in
Brooklyn (and I didn't have to wait 2 hours for it).

~~~
will_work4tears
Experience and standards? It's like asking what's the difference between NY
Style pizza in NY and NY style pizza in LA. Do you think they are the same?
It's also like saying that TexMex in MN is the same as in TX or CA.

Anybody can open up an BBQ place in Anytown, USA, and it could be passable or
even pretty good, but it'll not beat a moderately good place in a town known
for BBQ. It's mostly because the low quality places get run out of town to
those with exceptional BBQ, and maybe even thrive in places where BBQ joins
are scarce. Making really good BBQ is an art, and takes many years of
experience and practice, maybe even mentoring under a master. Some guy smoking
a brisket following a recipe online isn't going to come near even low quality
BBQ restaraunts. Not without a lot of experience, trial and error, and by that
point they aren't even following the recipe any longer.

~~~
chiph
Aaron Franklin just got the James Beard stamp of approval, winning Best Chef:
Southwest for 2015. I expect there'll be Franklin-Style BBQ "Just Like Austin"
places opening up around the country as a result.

[http://dining.blog.austin360.com/2015/05/04/aaron-
franklin-w...](http://dining.blog.austin360.com/2015/05/04/aaron-franklin-
wins-james-beard-award-for-best-chef-southwest/)

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dbg31415
Somehow I suspect this would have turned out better if they were UT or A&M
students. Oh wait... can we just put brisket Texas students make using tin
foil and a crock pot up against the brisket made by the Harvard kids? I'm
pretty sure talent and experience will triumph over technology.

