I accept what you are saying about the sand. Would this be equally true in
an electric smoker - I believe that combustion of wood/gas produces a lot of
water vapor even without a water pan (hydrogen in fuel combines with oxygen
in air and makes H20)? Also, would not the dryness of the atmosphere at
least influence whether there was drying at the surface and the rate of
moisture loss from the meat? Why is a meatball cooked in sauce moister than
a hamburger cooked on a grill?

Regarding the tenderloin, my understanding of meat cookery is that up to
150F internal, the meat is indeed contracting and squeezing juices out of
itself. However, above 150, the collagen in between the fibers starts to
melt into gelatin and become softer. At this point the muscle fibers are no
longer as tightly bound and some moisture will actually reenter the meat
from the braising liquid. This is why meat has to either be eaten rare
(grilled steak) or well done for a long time (brisket). A tenderloin is a
poor candidate for well done because it lacks collagen, but this same lack
of collagen makes it a good cut for grilling rare. A brisket is the
opposite.


Also it is my understanding that surface moisture does influence our
perception of taste - when you pour the gravy over the dried out turkey
breast we don't perceive it as dry as meat without gravy even though the
gravy just sits on the surface.




"Monroe, of course..." > wrote in message
...
> In article >, "Jack Denver"
> > wrote:
>
> > OK, I'll rephrase my response - if there's no such thing as moist heat,
why
> > do many BBQ smokers come with water pans?
>
> The pan is to shield the meat from the direct heat of the fire.
> Lo-n-slo cooking is usually (but not always)done with indirect heat.
> The water is optional-it acts chiefly as a heat sink-some people use
> sand in the pan instead of water-some folks use an empty pan (as I do)
> The moisture from the boiling water does zippidee for the moistness of
> the meat.
> Take a tenderloin and boil it until well done. You'll find when you
> slice it the meat will be as dry as a bone, even though it was swimming
> in water while it was being cooked.
> Water in meat leaves on a pretty much one-way ticket-never to return.
> You can steam, mop, shoot, slop, baste and glop all you want but you
> won't replace a single drop of moisture back into the meat.
>
> monroe(there's sometimes a fine line between done and dried)