If you guys have found the higher temps to be fine. Where do you think all the hype about keeping it under 250 came from? Just curious.
Years ago the slaves were given undesirable tough cuts of meat. Poor people could only afford these cuts as nobody wanted them. They figured out that a low and slow temperature made these tough cuts of meat some of the most tender and tasty meats on the animal. Think of chicken wings, they used to throw them into the trash untill somebody in a bar in New York threw them in a deep fryer, added some hot sauce and Buffalo Wings were born and the price went from trash to sometimes to much compared what you can buy a whole chicken for.
I think a lot has changed because of the steroids and antibiotics they pump in these animals,and the food they are feeding them to get them to grow faster and gain weight.
In the 80's my grandpa raised a pig, butchered it and salt cured the hams and shoulders in his tool shed. He would go to the shed daily I think, pour more salt on them and just leave them alone for many days untill they were done. I was young then so I can't remember all the details. It was some of the best pork I have ever ate. Fried up for breakfast or supper, I ate a bunch of it and it was very good.
Years later I asked him why he never did it again, and he said you can't. He didn't know why but he thought it was the food the pig ate. I still don't understand what he meant, but that was the only time he did it when I was around.
Im guessing he was onto the GMO foods way before it is common knowledge now.
Back to the meat prices,,have you noticed a cow tounge is $30? Nothing is cheap any more