Slow food

LOW & SLOW

With almost any cooking equipment, you can make slow food – it’s all about preparing food slowly at a low temperature. There are many different methods, results, situations, and goals. Sometimes you want a tender but sliceable pork loin glazed to perfection. Another time, it might be an 18-hour smoked and cooked beef brisket. By far, the most common slow food is the versatile pulled pork.

Slow food can also include something like a long-simmered meat stew, where the simmering happens in liquid and the meat is in pieces. The biggest challenge in stews is not juiciness but achieving balanced seasoning and adding the different ingredients at the right time to ensure a distinctive, flavorful end result.

The philosophy of tenderizing meat – according to Marko

The goal of long cooking is to tenderize the meat’s collagen (the strong protein fibers holding the meat together) into soft gelatin with as little moisture evaporation as possible. This process removes the “toughness” of the meat. It’s like twisted rope fibers gradually weakening, loosening, and unraveling. This reaction starts at around 70°C and takes time. That’s why we need a low temperature and a long cooking period to achieve a juicy and tender result. Some cuts take less time, others more.

You can also cook already tender cuts slowly, but in those cases it’s best to use an especially low temperature.

My personal favorite temperature for smoking and long meat cooking is about 90–115°C. Even within this range, the cooking time varies significantly. For example, I use 90°C when “curing” a whole pork neck so that it remains sliceable and doesn’t fall apart. At 115°C in the oven or smoker, a 2–3 kg pork neck is ready in about 9 hours, whereas at 90°C it easily takes 14 hours. That’s just an example from pulled pork preparation—and even these times vary depending on the meat, cooking method, and equipment used.

It’s good to be aware of the target internal temperature for the meat you’re cooking. You shouldn’t exceed the target, and the climb toward it should be steady. Internal temperature is especially important for cuts like fillets, chicken, roasts, hams, and other meats where internal temperature significantly affects the final result.

When cooking large, very tough whole cuts of meat, the internal temperature isn’t quite as critical, even though it provides a general guideline. For example, meats commonly used in American BBQ—like brisket, whole pork neck, or shoulder—don’t necessarily behave according to internal temperature alone. What matters in these cuts is achieving the right tenderness. For brisket, that could be a soft, even feel when poked with a skewer. If you can still feel the connective tissue separating, it’s undercooked. If there’s no resistance at all, it’s overcooked and essentially shredded.

If the temperature seems to be rising too quickly, lower the heat—otherwise, the tenderization process may remain incomplete, and the result will be tough. If you continue raising the internal temperature, the meat’s collagen will contract and squeeze moisture out of the meat.

The higher the temperature and especially the faster the internal temperature increases, the more moisture will evaporate, and the more collagen will contract and push liquid out of the meat prematurely. The result will be “cooked” but tough. Yes, meat will still tenderize over time even at higher heat, but it will lose more moisture. If lowering the heat isn’t an option (which can be difficult with grills like kamado), it’s best to wrap the meat in foil or place it in a covered dish. That way, the meat juices are “captured” and, as the meat rests, some of the liquid will reabsorb.

Preparing the meat and internal temperature

The internal temperature of meat rises significantly faster at the beginning of the cook than at the end. This is simply because the temperature difference between the smoker and the meat decreases as the meat warms up. For example, in a 95°C smoker, a piece of meat starting at 10°C will gain about 20 degrees per hour during the first two hours. Once the internal temperature goes over 80°C, it may only rise about one degree per hour.

One very easy way to make good slow food is to use increasingly popular slow cookers, such as Crockpot™ or even a traditional cast-iron pot. With these, the lid stays on throughout the cooking process, keeping all the meat juices inside the dish, which helps retain moisture and flavor.

Thermal energy and cooking, time to put on the sci-fi glasses

The liquid that accumulates in the dish during cooking also helps transfer heat more efficiently to the meat than air, shortening the cooking time. This creates a layer of liquid between the meat and the sides of the dish that conducts heat effectively. This effect occurs in any dish (not just a slow cooker), as long as the piece of meat isn’t too small compared to the size of the dish. If it is, the layer of liquid is too thin and dries out—this, too, slightly affects the final juiciness.

In a regular oven, heat transfers from the elements through the air to the dish, whereas in a slow cooker the heating element is in direct contact with the pot. So, energy is delivered more easily—that’s the difference. In my own tests, I’ve found that a 2 kg pork neck cooks and tenderizes several hours faster than in a covered dish in the oven.

At the end of the day, cooking is all about transferring heat energy from the heat source into the meat—and in this case, liquid is about twice as efficient at doing that.

That’s why it’s common even in restaurants to tenderize ribs, for example, by boiling them in salty water for a few hours. There are different schools of thought on this. Personally, I prefer dry-rubbed ribs cooked slowly in a smoker to create a flavorful crust. But in the end, results matter—if you find that simmering your ribs overnight in salty broth (for example, in a deep pan in the oven at 80°C) and grilling them afterward gives the best result, then go for it. There is no single right way to achieve a good outcome. The main thing is that you enjoy it!

Seasoning in slow food

RUB spice blends are a very popular way to season both whole cuts of meat and long-simmered stews. This method is also called dry marinating, although RUB seasoning and dry marinating are not exactly the same thing. However, RUB seasoning can be considered a dry marinade when it includes salt (i.e., not a salt-free RUB) and when the marinating time is at least overnight.

If there’s a thick layer of fat on top of the meat, it should be removed, because not even salt can penetrate that fat into the meat, and the flavor will end up quite shallow. In general, spice absorption varies: some ingredients penetrate better than others. Typically, most of the flavor remains on the surface of the meat, whether you use a liquid marinade or a dry rub. RUB blends, however, create a delicious and distinctive seasoning crust, which allows the smoky flavor to bind effectively with the other spices.

It’s very common in American barbecue to inject brine or salty apple juice into thick cuts of meat using a marinade injector. We recommend a simple mixture of 1 tsp of salt and 1 dl of water per 1 kg of meat. You can replace part of the water with apple juice, which pairs especially well with pork. Another common method is basting the meat every hour or two with juices from the pan, apple juice, or cola. You can also baste with BBQ sauce—commonly referred to as “mopping”—especially on ribs, but that should be done toward the end of cooking to avoid burning the sweet sauce.

Many people place the meat in a foil tray during cooking to save the juices. That liquid should definitely be used—for example, by mixing it with the shredded pork after pulling. And if you’re not making pulled meat, the leftover juices can be turned into a sauce or even a French-style onion soup.

When seasoning stews, don’t forget chili! You can actually control the perceived spiciness depending on when you add chili sauce or chili in general during the cooking process. If you add chili or chili sauces at the beginning, the heat distributes and mellows throughout the dish as it simmers, resulting in a slower-building, warming type of heat. If chili is added at the end, the burn is sharper and more immediate because it hasn’t had time to infuse.

Poppamies offers 11 different RUB blends in its selection:

What on earth is “bark”?

The combination of the surface of a slow-cooked whole piece of meat and its seasoning layer is called “bark.” There doesn’t seem to be an official Finnish translation for it. It’s crispy, smoky, sweet, spicy—everything at once. This surface is a favorite among all slow food fans, and the pieces with bark are usually the first to disappear from the table.

Over time, the surface becomes incredibly flavorful as the smoke, spices, and outer layer of the meat meld together. That’s why RUB seasoning is so important, and you shouldn’t be stingy with it. Bark enthusiasts usually don’t baste their meat with thick sauces during cooking—they only mix it in afterward, for example after pulling pork. Some of the most common liquids used during cooking include apple juice or cola sprayed from a spray bottle.

Injecting, why bother?

Only a very few spices actually penetrate deep into the meat—salt being the main one. By injecting lightly salted apple juice, for example, you not only enhance the meat’s flavor but also achieve a juicier result. You can experiment with different liquids to find your favorite combination. Injection becomes especially important with meat cuts over 2 kg. A suitable amount is about 100 ml of liquid per kilo of meat. A basic injection solution is easily made by mixing 1 tsp of salt with 1 dl of water per kilo of meat, as mentioned earlier. After injecting, it’s best to let the salt distribute evenly—ideally by letting the meat rest until the next day, or for at least 6 hours.

Vegetables in slow food

Vegetables are talked about far too little in slow food—even though they’re almost always included, especially in stews. Vegetables play an important role, both in bringing flavor and in the texture of the finished dish. Personally, I almost always use carrots, onions, and potatoes in long-simmered stews. These slowly break down and help thicken the dish with their starches and fibers—not to mention the flavor they bring. So don’t be afraid to use vegetables generously.

You can also add vegetables only during the last 30 minutes of cooking, so they cook in the broth and absorb its flavor. In that case, the dish is ready to serve as is, without needing any additional sides.

There are also many vegetables that you can prepare as whole slow food items. Examples include whole cabbage or a whole butternut squash.

Popular slow food methods and equipment

ELECTRIC OVEN, Found in every home. We recommend using convection mode at about 100–120°C.
WOOD-FIRED OVEN, Use residual heat overnight in a covered dish. Smoke the meat for a couple of hours first, then cover it and transfer it to the oven.
SMOKER, Charcoal, wood, electric, or gas. Temperatures vary, but aim to keep it between 90–115°C depending on your needs. It’s all about that smoke…
PIT BBQ, A ground pit, campfire, stones, sand, and meat wrapped in wet newspaper and chicken wire. Best done over a weekend, with a guitar and a bottle of rum.
SLOW COOKER, Such as Crockpot™. Probably the easiest and most energy-efficient way to make decent slow food at home.
SOUS VIDE, Vacuum cooking in a water bath. Arguably the most consistent and often the juiciest result, but it can’t create a roasted surface. If you don’t want a “bark” crust, a combination method is a good idea. Start by smoking the meat and finish cooking it sous vide for an incredibly flavorful result. However, there is a catch: if you heat the meat straight to 85°C, the internal temperature rises so quickly (due to efficient heat transfer) that the collagen may squeeze out more moisture than you’d like. To avoid this, hold the temperature at 75°C for about three hours, then raise to 80°C for one hour, and only then to 85°C.

There is an endless list of suitable cooking tools—as long as you can control the heat, you can make slow food. Even if you’re cooking over an open fire, just raise the pot higher or hang the meat further from the flames.