The 18-hour braise rule is kinda a myth, found out the hard way

I was reading that Modernist Cuisine book at a friend's place last month and they broke down collagen breakdown temps. Turns out after about 6 hours at 185F, you're not getting any more tenderness from a pork shoulder, it's just gonna dry out. I've been doing 18-hour braises for years and now I feel like an idiot. Anyone else find a 'rule' in cooking that turned out to be total overkill once you checked the science?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_linda20d ago

Eighteen hours is just showing the pork who's boss at that point, like it's in time-out. I did a 24 hour brisket once for a party and ended up with shredded beef jerky, had to pass it off as "smoked dried beef" which nobody bought. Six hours at 185 actually sounds generous, I switched to 4 hours in a pressure cooker and it's the same result without the all-night babysitting. All that wasted sleep and propane for basically bragging rights.

viola_ward20d ago

God, that 24 hour brisket story is brutal. I've been there with the dried out meat pretending to be something else, it's just sad to watch people pick at it. You're totally right, all that time and money for a result that's equal to or worse than a pressure cooker. I gave up on long smokes myself after a few late nights, it's just not worth the hassle for what you get. The bragging rights don't make up for ruined meat and zero sleep in my book.

davis.ruby14d ago

The pressure cooker really exposes how much of that long braise time is just tradition over results - it's like we were all running a marathon when a brisk walk got us there just fine. Breaking down collagen isn't some magical slow process, it's literally just heat and time hitting a specific temp, and once you know that number the whole "low and slow" mystique kind of evaporates.