Crazy thought for a butt

LOL  -- the great mustard debate lives on....

This all started on a discussion about "increasing" the amount of bark.    Not sure my suggestion was taken fully in "context" or not - and didn't bother to go deeper.  

Will go a bit deeper here - relaying my personal experiences, your mileage may vary.   As with most of this - its all about finding what works for you.   Please don't consider this argumentative in any way, simply a deeper explaination of where I think Mustard has value.

Personally - I don't think mustard has any impact on taste.   Cooking half mustard, half no mustard - both would taste the same.

Keep the discussion on increasing bark,  Mustard ( along with other techniques used concurrently can improve bark formation and retention.  

Step 1, clean the meat,

step 2, no foil.

Step 3, this is where mustard comes in.

Rub on meat forms bark.    Getting the fat off meat, makes bark stick better, rub that is clinging to fat will go away as the fat renders.   More material on the surface of meat ( that stays on during the cook ) means more bark. 

Two key points, #1 the amount of surface material when you start the cooking process, # 2 the amount of surface material that stays on through out the cooking process.

The two activities in step 3,  that has convinced me are increasing bark are: Mustard on the surface of the meat under the rub as the inside binder, brown sugar worked in after 2 applications of rub ( apart in time ) to serve as the outside binder.

The brown sugar will sweeten the bark a bit - I think it adds more flavor than the mustard does.  Main impact of the brown sugar is when it starts to carmelize under heat, grabs hold of the surface material helps hold it in place to crisp up as bark.    Look at the label on your rub, it no doubt has sugar in it already, thats why.   The brown sugar I add is just increasing that.

Mrs. Boatbum dearly loves bark - so I have experimented a lot with creating some hefty - barky - meats (brisket and BB ).

The comment about Franks hot sauce is a good point also.    Before I got the Egg, I had used a side box smoker.   A big challenge (or workload)  with a side box smoker is maintaining that consistent temp over time.   I used foil alot to help even out things reduce the amount time I had to watch the fire.

I would do a couple of hours of unwrapped without foil,  then when I was foiling, I would dump an entire bottle of Louisianna Hot sauce on the BB.   Any vinegar based hot sauce would work.   You would never taste it in the finished product, but the vinegar would help tenderize the meat.

I have not been using any hot sauce since I moved to the Egg, ( since I have quit foiling ).   But your suggestion of it has made me think - thank you - will try some again.    I think what I might do is try to get the hot sauce into the meat before applying the rub steps.

Thanks