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Microwaves are not, strictly speaking, heat. They generate heat within meat by the agitation of its molecules of water. This is the only cooking (?) process in which meat does not depend entirely upon conduction from its exterior to raise the temperature in the center.

As a practical matter, in an enclosed grill, unless meat is suspended from or resting upon a non conducting surface, it is at all times receiving heat by all three transfer methods.

What does all this mean to the barbecuer or the griller? Meat does not care how it receives the heat. What is essential in barbecuing is that the exterior of the meat does not over cook, dry out, burn, blacken or char before the interior reaches an acceptable temperature. This requires that meat receive a constant flow of heat, in any form or forms, at a temperature low enough to permit conduction, within the meat, time to work.

In this respect, water is the great ally. Water absorbs and conducts heat much better than dry tissue. Therefore, the more moisture that we can retain within the meat, the faster it will conduct and the more tender it will be when it is finished. Everybody knows that, at sea level, water boils at 212 degrees Fahrenheit. It, therefore, follows that, if we keep the temperature of the exterior of the meat a slightly below the boiling point of water, conduction is improved and tenderness is retained.

The one saving grace of the ubiquitous, tin can "water smoker" is that, as long as there is water in the pan, the temperature at the surface of the meat cannot rise above 212 degrees. Among its numerous defects is that it encourages neophytes to overpower the taste of good meat with excessive smoke and has confused many about what is meant by "smoking".

For a barbecuer, the effective grill is one which will allow its operator to present heat by all three forms in a controlled fashion over long periods of time and have ready access to the meat and to the coals -- each without disturbing the other. The greater the mass of the cooker and the coal bed, the more consistent the transfer of heat and the more time for enjoying all the ancillary activities for which barbecue has become famous.

In the final analysis, there is no direct heat. There is no indirect heat. There is only heat. The judicious use of heat in any form and the creative us of the time during which it is applied is what barbecue is all about.

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'According to Smoky' is © by C. Clark Hale
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