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i got no bark

fishlessman
fishlessman Posts: 32,624
edited July 2013 in EggHead Forum
didnt take a pic, was serving pulled pork to new neighbors LOL.  anyways this has never happened to me, a lightly tanned pork butt cooked low and slow for 17 hours. no bark at all. to complicate things i did two things differently that ive never done before with the last hundred or so butts, no mustard and lit the egg thru the lower vent instead of on top. other than that it was a typical cook for me, rub, additional brown sugar, some cayenne,apple wood for smoke, add an injection of apple juice and vinegar with some heat half way thru the cook, an indirect setup etc. neighbors didnt know the difference but .....
so what was it, lighting method or no mustard.
fukahwee maine

you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
«1

Comments

  • Eggcelsior
    Eggcelsior Posts: 14,414
    I have nevered mustarded a butt. Ribs just once. I don't know why the lighting method would make a difference. Maybe the injection bubble out and washed the rub off? Nothing else seems likely.
  • boatbum
    boatbum Posts: 1,273

    the rub fell off - meat surface was probably dry.  Or there was a lot of fat on the surface, which melted and washed the bark off.

    Doubt it had anything to do with how the fire was lit.

    Cookin in Texas
  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,624
    well it was injected 12/13 hours into the cook, it was a boneless butt, and i always cut all the fat off before cooking to get more bark. ive just never seen this before and no mustard or lighting is the only things i can think of that were done differently. my pork usually looks like a burnt up meteor
    :))
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
  • Charlesmaneri
    Charlesmaneri Posts: 1,295
    Fishlessmas     at what pit temp did you smoke your pork 2nd question is was the apple wood wet or dry Im told that wet wood really dose not smoke the meat is kinda steams the meat im thinking your wood was wet hence no bark 
    2 Large Eggs and a Mini 2 Pit Bulls and a Pork shoulder or butt nearby and 100% SICILIAN
    Long Island N.Y.
  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,624
    my temp gage has been broken for a while now but i have an old fashioned spring monitor made by the guru people that holds it at around 235 dome temp, its pretty dependable and time for the 16 pounder came in as expected for the cook. i use apple wood chips that were dry, about a third of a bag. has me stumped. i still kinda think the fire setup was involved somehow, the fresh lump was still on top in the morning. just thought of another thing, i lit from the bottom vent and also put the smoking wood in the lower vent, seemed to burn and smoke fine down there, could taste the smoke
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
  • yzzi
    yzzi Posts: 1,843
    Was it raining outside? Maybe the rain kept the butt nice and moist on the outside.
    Dunedin, FL
  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,624
    nice night hot and sunny day, no rain. i have to cook another with the egg lit this way and see what happens with mustard on it. even the pork came from the same butcher i always buy from
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
  • lousubcap
    lousubcap Posts: 32,082
    edited July 2013
    @fishlessman I have read all the above and can't come up with anything to add.  Sounds like your rub did not adhere.  Origin of fire as long as you were at the same cooking temp (and indirect?) shouldn't make a difference-although without a dome or some other reference temp you just may have done a low temp smoke-especially with the fire low in the BGE.  Beats me-let us know how your follow-on experiments go.
    Louisville; Rolling smoke in the neighbourhood. # 38 for the win.  Life is too short for light/lite beer!  Seems I'm livin in a transitional period.
  • Clay Q
    Clay Q Posts: 4,486
    It was the fire. 
  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,624
    i dont get it at all but it tasted good, pulled well, just didnt have that crunchy bark that i like. i dont think temp was a problem at all, the old gurus regulate the temp in the dome vent so it opens below 235 and closes above 235, pretty simple device. i havent done any real low and slows since i started lighting this way
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
  • Mickey
    Mickey Posts: 19,669
    You have about 90 cooks on me, but I always rub , mustard, then rub again. ???????????
    Salado TX & 30A  FL: Egg Family: 3 Large and a very well used Mini, added a Mini Max when they came out (I'm good for now). Plus a couple Pit Boss Pellet Smokers.   

  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,624
    Mickey said:
    You have about 90 cooks on me, but I always rub , mustard, then rub again. ???????????
    thats what i always do but this time tried to see what all the mustard rub haters were talking about
    :))i think they are missing out
    :D
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
  • I wouldn't say I'm a hater, I just don't think it's necessary. I never use mustard and you could hit the bark with a hammer. Sometimes it's too much.


    image
    Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,624
    I wouldn't say I'm a hater, I just don't think it's necessary. I never use mustard and you could hit the bark with a hammer. Sometimes it's too much.


    image
    well then it has to be the fire or someone switched out my pork butt while i slept
    :))
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
  • That is a weird one. Same rub as always?


    Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,624
    ive used it a few times, and added a handful of light brown sugar which should have taken care of things. its a good thing the new neighbors were used to crock pot pull, could of also been the reason i drank so much
    :)) see what happens
    :D
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
  • dweebs0r
    dweebs0r Posts: 539
    edited July 2013
    I have found that my bark is much firmer when I trim the fat cap.  I think the fat cap probably rendered onto the meat and washed the rub away.  Butts have so much internal fat that the cap is not needed for moisture or flavor (imho).
       -Jody Newell (LBGE & a 36" Blackstone griddle).
    Location:  🍺🍺  The back porch, Munford, TN.  🍺🍺
  • Eggcelsior
    Eggcelsior Posts: 14,414
    I still can't wrap my head around it. It's not that I hate on mustard either, I just don't see the point in my experience. My rub sticks fine. Perhaps it's the salt content for me or the fact that I typically rub the night before and wrap in cling. When I wake up, the rub is wet and I sprinkle more on about an hour prior to cook time when I fire up the egg. Then maybe a little more when it goes on. Space rock comes out hours and hours later.
  • Skiddymarker
    Skiddymarker Posts: 8,522
    ive used it a few times, and added a handful of light brown sugar which should have taken care of things. its a good thing the new neighbors were used to crock pot pull, could of also been the reason i drank so much
    :)) see what happens
    :D
    Now the truth is out.....due to adult beverage you weren't there for the cook!
    I use mustard, usually whatever is old lurking in the back of the fridge. Easy way to get the rub to stick and bark is always acceptable. 
    Delta B.C. - Whiskey and steak, because no good story ever started with someone having a salad!
  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,624

    ive used it a few times, and added a handful of light brown sugar which should have taken care of things. its a good thing the new neighbors were used to crock pot pull, could of also been the reason i drank so much
    :)) see what happens
    :D
    Now the truth is out.....due to adult beverage you weren't there for the cook!
    I use mustard, usually whatever is old lurking in the back of the fridge. Easy way to get the rub to stick and bark is always acceptable.

    oh i was there for the cook, was there at 10pm to put it in the egg, was there again around noon the next day to inject it, was there at 3 pm to pull it off the egg
    :)) i slaved over that thing
    :))
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
  • boatbum
    boatbum Posts: 1,273
    I think CenTex and I had a mustard debate about this time last year... hahahahhaha Not going there again -- My wife is a bark lover so I have studied the art-of-bark a bit. Have posted many times previously about the topic. Won't drag through again - but you can search on my posts and find more opinionated drivel written by me than you care to explore....
    Cookin in Texas
  • JRWhitee
    JRWhitee Posts: 5,678
    edited July 2013
    I don't have anything against mustard either just have never used it on Butts and I don't inject, I just rub them down with olive oil then I heavily cover with the rub and smoke fat cap down. Here are my last two cooks at 250 indirect, my Butts always turn out about the same with good bark. 
                                                                
    _________________________________________________
    Don't let the truth get in the way of a good story!
    Large BGE 2006, Mini Max 2014, 36" Blackstone, Anova Sous Vide
    Green Man Group 
    Johns Creek, Georgia
  • Carolina Q
    Carolina Q Posts: 14,831
    fish, I never use mustard. waste of a perfectly good hot dog condiment. 250° dome, butt on grid above drip pan, rub applied on my way out the door to put the butt on. Has a good bit of sugar (dark brown and white). Heavy application (no meat showing once rubbed). I always use hickory, never tried apple. Never injected one either. Rarely remove any fat, unless it's a shoulder.

    They ALWAYS look like this... tons of bark.


    image

    I hate it when I go to the kitchen for food and all I find are ingredients!                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

    Michael 
    Central Connecticut 

  • boatbum said:
    I think CenTex and I had a mustard debate about this time last year... hahahahhaha Not going there again -- My wife is a bark lover so I have studied the art-of-bark a bit. Have posted many times previously about the topic. Won't drag through again - but you can search on my posts and find more opinionated drivel written by me than you care to explore....
    http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1138684/the-great-mustard-debate/p1

    :))

    Good one.


    Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
  • thailandjohn
    thailandjohn Posts: 952
    CarolinaQ That looks like the perfect butt to me,when you mix that outside bark with the inner part, you don't need any sauce
  • boatbum
    boatbum Posts: 1,273
    boatbum said:
    I think CenTex and I had a mustard debate about this time last year... hahahahhaha Not going there again -- My wife is a bark lover so I have studied the art-of-bark a bit. Have posted many times previously about the topic. Won't drag through again - but you can search on my posts and find more opinionated drivel written by me than you care to explore....
    http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1138684/the-great-mustard-debate/p1

    :))

    Good one.


    But the test was flawed.  Wasn't testing the point of discussion.

     

    Hesitate to cast any doubt on Cen-tex brisket - he is the master... 

    But when it comes to bark - "on your knees and howl"   we can make bark....

     

    LOL

    Cookin in Texas
  • Mickey
    Mickey Posts: 19,669
    Is there a chance you just did not get enough rub on?
    Salado TX & 30A  FL: Egg Family: 3 Large and a very well used Mini, added a Mini Max when they came out (I'm good for now). Plus a couple Pit Boss Pellet Smokers.   

  • nolaegghead
    nolaegghead Posts: 42,102
    Mickey said:
    Is there a chance you just did not get enough rub on?
    That's exactly the problem - in the end, it just didn't stay on.  Carbs - mostly sugar, but also protein make bark.  Maybe the condensation from the beginning of the cook washed it off. Or a fountain of liquid from the injection.  Somefin'.
    ______________________________________________
    I love lamp..
  • boatbum
    boatbum Posts: 1,273
    so, the solution is Mustard......
    Cookin in Texas
  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,624
    Mickey said:
    Is there a chance you just did not get enough rub on?
    That's exactly the problem - in the end, it just didn't stay on.  Carbs - mostly sugar, but also protein make bark.  Maybe the condensation from the beginning of the cook washed it off. Or a fountain of liquid from the injection.  Somefin'.
    should have been covered in bark by the time i injected it, actually glad i injected late in the cook because it made up for the lack of bark. condensation may be the culprit, its been extremely wet here, enough i cant get the motor on the boat to dry out. that has to be it. that solidifies the fact i want to use mustard, it wouldnt have condensated the rub off the butt once it started to hit the heat
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it