To many, barbecue is a religion. But to its truest practitioners, it’s a broad course of
sciences: physics, chemistry, microbiology. The searing and slow-roasting community has a lead researcher in “Meathead“ Goldwyn. His BBQ and grilling-centric site, AmazingRibs.com, is the de facto hub for smokeheads to compare metrics in the interplay of heat, smoke, proteins, fat, and salt.
For people like this, Kingsford has developed their new Long-Burning Charcoal Briquets, for a smoky, slow cook with low ash. But getting different parts of the grill to these temperatures? That’s on you and your judicious use of the charcoal. After all, fire and meat may be science, but hitting those sweet spots is an art. (Which technically makes grilling one of the humanities. Live and learn!)
Meathead takes his temperatures seriously: there’s a narrow bandwidth between pathogenocide and tough meat, and you don’t want to be on the wrong side of either one. He gladly expounded on his catalog of significant temperatures so you understand what’s going on in your grill at sea level (sorry, Denver). We also spoke to Suhail Ansari, a development scientist at Kingsford, to find out what happens on the charcoal side. Now on with the education! https://www.thrillist.com/eat/nation/everything-that-happens-in-your-grill/food-and-drink
