the meat’s collected juices, or a sauce. A film
of liquid clings to the surface of each shred
and thus coats many fibers with some of their
lost moisture. The finer the shredding, the
greater the surface that can take up liquid, and
the moister the meat will seem. When
“pulled” meat and sauce are very hot, the
sauce is more fluid and tends to run off the
shreds; when cooler, the sauce becomes
thicker and clings more tenaciously to the
meat.
Flames, Glowing Coals,
and Coils
Fire and red-hot coals were probably the first
heat sources used to cook meat, and thanks to
temperatures high enough to generate
browning-reaction aromas, they can produce
the most flavorful results. But this “primitive”
method takes some care to get a juicy interior
underneath the delicious crust.