Grilling Tip- Time Vs Temp from Pitmaster Ryan

Jan 11, 2023

One of the biggest mistakes that folks make when cooking or BBQ’ing is cooking by time and not to internal temperature. There are many recipes out there that will give you a time to cook at a certain temperature to complete the recipe, but this doesn’t always work. Due to the variances in different cooking appliances, grills, and smokers, you should always cook to the proper internal temperature of the protein. You can use the recommended time given in any recipe to help you plan for when you want the recipe completed, but just use it as a loose guideline.

Educating yourself in proper internal temperatures for each protein will vastly elevate your game in your culinary adventures. Investing in a good instant read digital temperature probe will help you to nail that perfect protein every time. Always measure internal temperature from the middle and thickest part of the protein. Further, understanding that ambient temperatures outside will also affect your time, will help you plan ahead. The colder the weather, the less heat retention your grill or smoker will have, thus longer cook time to hit that correct internal temp.

Taking these recommendations into consideration will help with a successful cook. Don’t get discouraged if you don’t nail it the first time, reflect, and consider what you could do better for the next cook.

Above all have fun with it, don’t stress over it, and understand the protein is going to do what it wants to do.

Enjoy!!