Why cook the meat so long?
Ed– Barbecue is an evolution of cooking technique that involves using the tough, cheaper cuts of meat and cooking them until they are tender. Brisket comes from the breast area of a steer that does a lot of work and tends to be very tough. This is also true for pork shoulders (the forelegs of the pig). These cuts of meat have a lot of fat and collagen, the material that holds the muscle together. Long slow cooking transforms the collagen from a tough material to a gelatin that dissolves. This can take hours at a temperature of about 160F.
