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[pmillen]

I recently watched a YouTube video by a guy who seems to do a nice job of grilling and smoking.  He said that we should not put pepper on meat that we're grilling.  He believes that pepper burns at those temperatures and we should apply it at the table as it's served.

What are your thoughts?

[W6YJ]

Paul,

It looks like the YouTube video is correct for higher temp cooks.
I looked it up and black pepper begins to burn at 130° C / 266° F.

Who pneu???

[Bar-B-Lew]

I think if pepper is the only thing that you have on the meat and you are cooking quite a bit higher than that burn point you may be able to taste the burnt flavor.

I saw an episode of some food channel show where a restaurant in Chicago puts on its dry rub on a brisket and then puts a layer of pepper on after the rub.  They seemed to rave over it but I think they were only cooking at 250.

[Bentley]

Tell me how fine the pepper is and I will tell you if it is going to taste bad!

[pmillen]

Tell me how fine the pepper is and I will tell you if it is going to taste bad!

That would make a difference?

Which one burns more?

[Bentley]

It probably does not, but it would seem to me the finer the grind, the less issue you might have with the high grilling temperature. 

We have all grilled steak for the last 40 years (well, some of us), have we had bad experiences with burnt pepper flavor?

[GREG-B]

Not that I have noticed.  Unless it's just part of the steak flavor I crave.  I highly season my steak and lightly season SWMBO's steak with McCormicks steak seasoning.

[Canadian John]

 Been doing steak this way for years with nothing but positive results. Grind very coarse black pepper( almost 1/2 MM Dia) onto one side of the steak with enough to almost cover it. Patt into place, turn over

 and apply SPG. Let sit @ room temp 45 Min to 1 HR, then cooked direct, ~ 450º over lump charcoal to 100º to max of 110º internal. Carry-over takes the temp close to 120º. This is on a 1 1/2" thick steak.

 The only burning is the garlic in the SPG and slight char from the grate. Frequent turning under these conditions is a must to assure there is no over charing and a more evenly cooked steak. Of major

 importance is a covered rest.

 I have never had an issue with burnt pepper that I am aware of. These extreme juicy steaks I do have always tasted good to me. Could it be burnt pepper has a taste of its own? Could the moisture on the meat

prevent burning?

  There is a lot of info on this subject if you look.

[Kristin Meredith]

Seems to me you would need to test. Half with pepper half without, cook, then add pepper to the bare half and taste test to see if there is a difference.

[hughver]

I probably use twice as much pepper, both black and crushed red, than most. However, since except for an occasional sear, I virtually never cook over 250° so burning is not a problem for me.

[W6YJ]

Not sure if it is possible to burn the capsaicin in red pepper as it turns to vapor at a little over 400F, while the piperine in black pepper breaks down around 265F.

[pmillen]

Not that I have noticed.  Unless it's just part of the steak flavor I crave.

Good point.  That may be the case with me.  I season before grilling.  Maybe we like the taste of burned pepper.