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Bark Question

HI all,  I have had my LBGE for almost a year and love it.  I have been lurking on the forum for a while and learned quite a bit.  My question is on creating a better bark.  I am smoking a butt (small one 4.5LBS) tomorrow.  The previous butts have turning our very flavorful but i like more of a bark.  Will the bark be better if the butt is placed higher up in the egg? 

Thanks in advance

Comments

  • nolaegghead
    nolaegghead Posts: 42,102
    More sugar/more rub will help.  Moving it up higher in the dome will make it cook faster (it's hotter).
    ______________________________________________
    I love lamp..
  • 500
    500 Posts: 3,177
    Your rub needs sugar in it. I use turbinado. But any sugar will help create the bark. Then there's the technique you use. The rendering of the fat helps to carmelize and create bark.
    I like my butt rubbed and my pork pulled.
    Member since 2009
  • More rub. You shouldn't be able to see any of the meat at all.
    Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
  • Charlie tuna
    Charlie tuna Posts: 2,191
    I think it has more to do with the temperature in the beginning of the cook -- When i used to cook butts in an offset cooker(before i found out about eggs), our rubs had very little sugar in it and we spritzed with vinegar/apple cider throughout the cook.  We always had 1/2 to 3/4 inch of bark surrounding the outside of the butts.  
  • nolaegghead
    nolaegghead Posts: 42,102
    I think it has more to do with the temperature in the beginning of the cook -- When i used to cook butts in an offset cooker(before i found out about eggs), our rubs had very little sugar in it and we spritzed with vinegar/apple cider throughout the cook.  We always had 1/2 to 3/4 inch of bark surrounding the outside of the butts.  
    apple cider is loaded with sugar
    ______________________________________________
    I love lamp..
  • Charlie tuna
    Charlie tuna Posts: 2,191
    Well that might have been the cause...
  • Cookbook_Chip
    Cookbook_Chip Posts: 1,299
    Another fun thing I do (I think I copied Griffin) is to hash cut the top and bottom about 1/4" and get more rub surface.  I know sugar works, but this one has just Dizzy Dust on it.  I just threw the bottle out, so I'm not sure if it has much sugar in it.  See these pics...
    Lovin' my Large Egg since May 2012 (Richmond, VA) ... and makin' cookbooks at https://FamilyCookbookProject.com
    Stoker II wifi, Thermapen, and a Fork for plating photo purposes
  • JayHawkEye
    JayHawkEye Posts: 196
    Do you wrap during te cook? That will soften what bark you have considerably.
    "Take yourself lightly, but what you do seriously." - M. Martin XL BGE - Johnston, IA
  • Spray it down with apple cider vinegar during the cook
  • Apple cider is loaded with sugar.......
    Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
  • The Cen-Tex Smoker
    The Cen-Tex Smoker Posts: 22,951
    edited March 2013

    Another fun thing I do (I think I copied Griffin) is to hash cut the top and bottom about 1/4" and get more rub surface.  I know sugar works, but this one has just Dizzy Dust on it.  I just threw the bottle out, so I'm not sure if it has much sugar in it.  See these pics...

    It's loaded with sugar too.
    Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX


  • I think it has more to do with the temperature in the beginning of the cook -- When i used to cook butts in an offset cooker(before i found out about eggs), our rubs had very little sugar in it and we spritzed with vinegar/apple cider throughout the cook.  We always had 1/2 to 3/4 inch of bark surrounding the outside of the butts.  

    apple cider is loaded with sugar

    Ha! Didn't see this....beat me to it.
    Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
  • nolaegghead
    nolaegghead Posts: 42,102
    I'm guilty of posting without reading all the time ;)  mea culpa!

    There's a cooks illustrated study on apple cider vinegar.  The vinegars that people liked the best had the most sugar (they actually sent them to a lab).  I dunno if the vinegar (acetic acid) does anything to help build bark, but the sugar sure does.
    ______________________________________________
    I love lamp..
  • Cookbook_Chip
    Cookbook_Chip Posts: 1,299
    Another fun thing I do (I think I copied Griffin) is to hash cut the top and bottom about 1/4" and get more rub surface.  I know sugar works, but this one has just Dizzy Dust on it.  I just threw the bottle out, so I'm not sure if it has much sugar in it.  See these pics...
    It's loaded with sugar too.
    Well, there you go!  thx, C-T
    Lovin' my Large Egg since May 2012 (Richmond, VA) ... and makin' cookbooks at https://FamilyCookbookProject.com
    Stoker II wifi, Thermapen, and a Fork for plating photo purposes
  • gdenby
    gdenby Posts: 6,239
    Luke_dogs said:
    ...The previous butts have turning our very flavorful but i like more of a bark.  Will the bark be better if the butt is placed higher up in the egg? 
    The bark forms best when the outside of the meat has mostly dried out. During an indirect cook, the dome zone is usually a little hotter. There is a better chance of a good bark cooking there.

    Once a lot of the meat's moisture has cooked out, the surrounding hot air will slowly bake/fry the fat and sugary rub to make a crispy and delicious bark. All the smoke flavor will sit on the bark.

    The problem I have had w. smaller pieces of butt is that the core temperature of the meat get too hot too long while the bark is forming. The meat ends up very gumm/chewey and not nearly as moist as it should be. I  mop w. oil later in the cook to keep the moisture in. Ends up better than just letting the meat go longer w/o the oil coat.
  • Skiddymarker
    Skiddymarker Posts: 8,522
    Bark is better with a low and slow, 250-275 temp than at turbo temps. I think it has more to form. Sugar is the answer.... I don't spritz, never found it needed in the egg. 
    Delta B.C. - Whiskey and steak, because no good story ever started with someone having a salad!