Class helps Aggies perfect barbecue skills
Want to be the life of the party? Two Texas AM University professors believe they have the answer: Excel at barbecue.
They also believe it’s a teachable skill — one that can earn students academic credit in addition to the approval of their peers.
“People love food,” said Jeff Savell of AM’s Department of Animal Science, who teaches the class along with department colleague Davey Griffin. “I made the statement to students that if you learn to barbecue, you’ll have friends.”
There are some added benefits for the professors: Savell says he gained nine pounds the first year the class was offered.
The class, “Texas Barbecue,” is devoted to the history, culture and techniques of cooking various types of meats and poultry. It has been offered for three years, and so far has been filled with its maximum 20 students each semester.
The course emphasizes food safety, costs, availability regionally and internationally, cooking methods, and, of course, taste testing. There’s no better way to judge success or failure in cooking than to take a bite, Savell said.
Savell, Griffin, a third faculty member, two graduate students and four sophomores who took the class last year recently attended the second Texas Monthly Barbecue Festival in Austin, where they offered advice, tips and tricks to barbecue.
Griffin said the university’s class covers what types of meat should be seasoned or smoked, what temperatures are best for cooking and the cultural and social aspects of Texas barbecue.
There’s a lot of personal preference in how to get that perfect bite, he said, but there are many techniques to guarantee barbecue improvement.
Most people who barbecue brisket, Griffin said, are disappointed the meat isn’t tender. Cooking the meat at 160 F ensures the meat is safe to eat. But safety shouldn’t be the only goal, Savell said.
“To really break down the connective tissue that’s involved in that, you really need to get that on up to 180 to 190 degrees internal temperature,” he said.
Savell said there’s nothing fast about barbecuing. A good gauge is to remember it typically takes one hour to cook one pound of meat properly, he said.
“It truly is a low and slow method of cooking because most of the cuts you cook are big,” he said.
Smoke, like time, is a chef’s friend, he said. Cooking with hickory, oak, pecan or mesquite can also add a unique barbecue flavor to the meal. It takes practice and harnessed technique to ensure the meal doesn’t taste like an ashtray, though.
Griffin said the class has been beneficial to the department as well in that it inspires some students to get involved in the school’s meat judging team or in other parts of meat-related science.
“The class has been really fun,” he said. “You’re never without friends if you’re the guy that can barbecue.”
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