Smoked Barbeque at Altitude
Did you ever notice that good, juicy smoked barbeque is slowly cooked near the boiling point of water? This way, the water does not evaporate too fast and stays in and on the meat longer - basting the meat surface and keeping it moist inside and out. The slow and low temperature also allows the collagen in the muscle fibers to break down over time to produce tender smoked barbeque. The boiling point of water is 212 deg F for those pit masters who didn't know. But that's only at sea level. As you go up in altitude, the atmospheric pressure goes down and the boiling point of water drops. What this means is, at higher altitudes, your slow smoked barbeque juices will evaporate faster if you smoke in the normal 220 - 250 range that most pitmasters smoke at. The result will be dry meat. Here's a little table of just some of the altitudes and the corresponding boiling point of water.
Altitude |
Boiling Point of Water |
Sea Level |
212 deg F |
1000 ft |
210 deg F |
2500 ft |
207 deg F |
4000 ft |
204 deg F |
6000 ft |
201 deg F |
This chart is why it takes so long to boil an egg in the mountains. So... how do you cook better slow smoked barbeque in the mountains? The answer is... instead of cooking at 225 deg F at an elevation of 5000 fee
t, maybe try 215 deg F and just cook it a
little longer. That way all your juices will not evaporate too fast.An easy way to remember the proper slow smoked barbeque cooking chamber temperatures at altitude is to basically subtract 2 deg F for every 1000 feet in elevation. Subtract this 2 deg from your normal smoking temperature. For example... let's say you are cooking some smoked barbeque on vacation in the Smokey Mountains. You're smoking some ribs and from reading "Competition BBQ Secrets" , you know you are supposed to smoke them at 230 deg F. You have read "Competition BBQ Secrets", haven't you? If not, you should get it HERE. Anyways... you're at 4000 feet so you don't want to cook like the book says to cook at sea level. You'll want to cook your smoked barbeque ribs 8 deg F lower (or at 222 deg F). Maybe cook for an extra half hour or so until done as described in the book.
By the way... make sure
you measure your temperature AT THE GRATE where your meat is. Do not go by the thermometer in the lid of your smoker. Those things are the #1 cause of terrible smoked barbeque and can
be as much as 100 deg F off. Get yourself a dual probe digital remote thermometer like the
one to the left. Just click on the graphic to purchase...
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