Tendernism: Ol' Mister Over Here Is Downright Appalled At How Ridiculously Tender This Smoked Meat Is
Something magical happens when you take a giant chunk of meat, season it up with some salt and pepper, toss into some sort of cooking vessel, you light a fire, fill that vessel with smoke, and maintain the temperatures somewhere between 250-275 for hours upon hours.
A crunchy bark of flavor forms on top of the meat. Inside, the fat renders down into this gelatinous blanket of savory goodness. And those muscle fibers break down to the point where the bite just melts into your mouth upon arrival. The flavors are out of control. The texture makes you feel like you're receiving the warmest, gentlest hug of your life. And the meat is so tender that it could leave an old fella like this completely flabbergasted. It looks like he's borderline disgusted with how tender this meat is.
Now I'm sure there are going to be some folks out there who attempt to make the argument that this level of tenderness is just overcooking. And sure, there's a certain art to being able to cook a beef rib that is so tender that it melts in your mouth, but also still has enough integrity to remain on the bone. But there are levels to overcooking. This would just be level 1 of overcooking, which is hardly even a violation at all. It's still as delicious as possible, but it just starts falls apart before it even reaches your mouth. Maybe it's overcooked by like 15-20 minutes. It's not overcooked to the point where they've ruined the meal at all. It's about as far as possible from a dried out piece of shoe leather. So if tender is your thing, then this is the peak. If they tender, then tender ain't the word.