Have you ever done a long cook – maybe Brisket or Pulled pork only for it to come out dry and tough? Ever notice how the temperature of the meat seems to plateau or stall for hours and hours? Many pitmasters have long believed that the stall was caused by a protein called collagen in the meat being combining with water and converting to flavorful and slippery textured gelatin. Called a “phase change” the conversion of collagen starts happening at about 160°F. But the truth is much simpler, and Dr. Blonder, former Chief Technical Advisor at AT&T is the Physicist that cracked the BBQ Mystery.
