Dark Brisket Bark

johnnygreengo12

Any suggestions on how to obtain a dark and consistent bark on a brisket? My tendency has been to let brikset go to room temp before the grill (250 deg) and season with salt and pepper only. 

Photo Egg

Put brisket on cold. If using water pan, don't.
If 250 is your dome temp then bump up to 275.
Add a little brown sugar to your rub.
Just a couple basic ideas because I have no idea what you are doing now. 

SPRIGS

I am by no means a brisket expert but i have cooked my share of them.  On the ones where I was disappointed on the bark - it was always because I went too light on the rub.  My suggestion would be to load up on the rub, give it a nice thick coat.  Should improve the bark.  If you want the bark dark - try a rub with some sugar in it. 

fishlessman

what i do goes against all that is texas. dump a box of white sugar on it, wrap in syran in the fridge for two hours. remove and wipe, not wash, the sugar off. salt and pepper, 235 degrees indirect, and cook a pork butt over it

did i break enough rules. didnt even have a fat cap with this one

Legume

fishlessman said:

what i do goes against all that is texas. dump a box of white sugar on it, wrap in syran in the fridge for two hours. remove and wipe, not wash, the sugar off. salt and pepper, 235 degrees indirect, and cook a pork butt over it

did i break enough rules. didnt even have a fat cap with this one

Crazy coincidence, that’s how we cook lobster.

Photo Egg

Legume said:

fishlessman said:

what i do goes against all that is texas. dump a box of white sugar on it, wrap in syran in the fridge for two hours. remove and wipe, not wash, the sugar off. salt and pepper, 235 degrees indirect, and cook a pork butt over it

did i break enough rules. didnt even have a fat cap with this one

Crazy coincidence, that’s how we cook lobster.

OK, that was funny!

bikesAndBBQ

Post more of your method. Letting it get to room temperature is not a good idea. It does nothing beneficial. My suggestion would be to throw it on cold, more rub and no wrapping. 

GoooDawgs

putting it higher in the dome could also help due to the reflective heat. 

fishlessman

johnnygreengo12 said:

Any suggestions on how to obtain a dark and consistent bark on a brisket? My tendency has been to let brikset go to room temp before the grill (250 deg) and season with salt and pepper only. 

you want the brisket cold going from the fridge to the smoker so it takes longer, the smoke ring supposedly doesnt form when the meat is over 140 degrees during a low and slow, i say supposedly because a hot fast cooked brisket will form a descent ring. next thing is cook it fat side down, fat on the top causes things to puddle and drip off the seasonings and screws with bark formation.  water in a drip pan also screws with bark formation in a cooker like an egg. i do literally dump a box of white sugar on a brisket and lit it soak in a fridge for a few hours but im from newengland and that goes over big here with boston baked sweet tasting beans as opposed to southern or texan beans

lousubcap

No problem with getting a meteorite here.  Heavy on the rub and as mentioned straight from fridge to BGE.  I run nekked for the entire cook.

Here are two pics from a cook, one last Sun and one NBD:

and NBD:

Of late I have been using a commercial rub-Hardcore Carnivore Black but S&P will get the same bark.  I prefer more pepper and less salt ratio but it all works.  Just lay it on.  FWIW-

johnnygreengo12

bikesAndBBQ said:

Post more of your method. Letting it get to room temperature is not a good idea. It does nothing beneficial. My suggestion would be to throw it on cold, more rub and no wrapping. 

I’ve been going 50 salt/50 pepper with rub, fat side up, and wrapping with foil after exceeding internal temps of 155 deg. I’ve even tried doing a Sous vide for 24 hours at 155; flavor was great, but the bark sucked. I’ve heard more coarse pepper helps, so I went with cracked, not ground. 

lousubcap

Skip the foil and see where you land.  And definitely cracked pepper but no need for a fancy grinder.  I use pepper corns, toss 'em in a ziploc bag then pound with a one pound rubber mallet til it looks good.  FWIW-

SGH

johnnygreengo12 said:

Any suggestions on how to obtain a dark and consistent bark on a brisket?

With the above said, we all have a different opinion or personal preference on what “bark” should look like. Here is the bark “look” that I prefer on brisket.  

If this is the bark that you are shooting for, let me know and I will PM you a step by step guide to obtaining it. It’s simply as pie my friend. You can obtain it 100% of the time with just a few tips.  

fishlessman

johnnygreengo12 said:

bikesAndBBQ said:

Post more of your method. Letting it get to room temperature is not a good idea. It does nothing beneficial. My suggestion would be to throw it on cold, more rub and no wrapping. 

I’ve been going 50 salt/50 pepper with rub, fat side up, and wrapping with foil after exceeding internal temps of 155 deg. I’ve even tried doing a Sous vide for 24 hours at 155; flavor was great, but the bark sucked. I’ve heard more coarse pepper helps, so I went with cracked, not ground. 

if you are going to foil, then dont foil til you have the bark you are looking for, 155 would just be a guide to look, not to foil. foil stops bark from darkening, it also softens the bark.

bikesAndBBQ

johnnygreengo12 said:

bikesAndBBQ said:

Post more of your method. Letting it get to room temperature is not a good idea. It does nothing beneficial. My suggestion would be to throw it on cold, more rub and no wrapping. 

I’ve been going 50 salt/50 pepper with rub, fat side up, and wrapping with foil after exceeding internal temps of 155 deg. I’ve even tried doing a Sous vide for 24 hours at 155; flavor was great, but the bark sucked. I’ve heard more coarse pepper helps, so I went with cracked, not ground. 

As others have said, skip the wrap. I never wrap on the egg. If you need to speed up the cook, just bump the temps up a little. If you do wrap, wait until the bark is exactly how you want it. 155 seems early to wrap in my opinion. If you wrap in foil, make sure it is completely sealed, if there are holes you are just steaming the brisket. In my opinion, if you wrap in foil, just save the lump and throw it in the oven at 300-325. You aren’t taking any more smoke and just need heat. The oven will do the job and save you some charcoal. 

Photo Egg

Agree, wrapping too early. Especially when you loose several hours of cooking time by starting with a room temp brisket.

nolaegghead

The only reason you should wrap is to arrest bark formation and continue the cook with the bark you have.   Paper wrap preserves bark better than foil, foil will braise the meat and finish faster.

CTMike

Oakridge BBQ Black Ops Brisket rub will give you the bark you’re looking for, and incredible flavor. It is all that I use.