bark when smoking

[kerryd15]

I recently bought an electric smoker. I have read most of the smoking library on here. On the first picture in the library, how are you getting the bark or color? I smoked a pork shoulder and a butt this week end- first ever smoking. I used apple wood. Put a brown sugar and chile powder on one and mustard and famous daves seasoning on the other. Put the rubs on the night before. Then smoked for about 12 hours. I was suprised that I can not tell the difference between the 2 rubs. They are both tender. The shoulder bone pulled right out. I went to an internal temp of 182-185. I used wood the first 3 hours, dumping the chip filler once an hour. Smoke was coming out the whole time. They did not have much of a "smoke" flavor. One we made into pulled pork and the other we are slicing. I am not going to say they weren't good just want better flavor. Took 7.5 pounds of pulled pork to work and didn't bring any home!! Any thoughts? Use a mixture of apple wood and oak? Do I need to add chips more often? Longer during the process? I alos was checking temp. I ran a Deep fryer thermometer down the vent and it consistently read50 to 60 degrees higher than the temp the smoker said. After i figured that out I backed the heat off, so I was at 270-280 for the first hour. Did I seal the outside cooking it too hot for the first hour? Is this a good way to check internal temp of the smoker? When the meat was at 165 internal I also wrapped in foil till it finished. i did use water in the tray. Thanks for any pointers.

[OnAFly]

Next time, try prepping the meat the same, but just put it in at 225F and let it sit until the internal temp is 200. For a 7.5lb butt, it will take 14-16 hours but it will be worth it. I smoke for about the first 5 hours, then after that no smoke.

[DonBo]

Apple wood is good but somewhat subtle in flavor. If you like a smokier flavor, try hickory (my favorite for most everything) or mesquite. (which is stronger still) Also, don't be afraid to use the smoke for a longer time period.

[amateurfishing]

i personally prefer very strong smoke flavor and i use hickory wood exclusively. IMO it gives a better flavor quicker and is less sweet than apple/mesquite types. if i am planning bbq's or something similar for the meat where it will get all chopped up i cook a 5 lb. roast low n slow (under 200 degrees) for bout 5 hours or so until meat is shriveled up like a prune (mr or med if slicing for sandwiches). then let meat rest overnite and throw in crockpot next day with a little bit of homemade sauce (worshestireshire, wine, garlic, water, broth, or whatever i have laying around) and keep in crock pot for 6 hours till meat is reconstituted with sauce and just falls off bone with a fork. utterly tender & delicious.

my full technique for smoking is thaw meat for 24 hours, then marinate for 24 hours, let dry for 2-3 hours, dry rub for 24 hours, smoke, then crockpot. the meat will be super flavorful & tender

[FlagsDown]

The foil wrap will soften the bark. Put it back in the smoker after foiling to firm up the bark.

Also, if your pulling, bring the internal temp up higher to 190-205. It will pull easier.

Did you calibrate your deep fryer thermometer? You could have 2 thermometers that are off.

[OnAFly]

Get a couple of digital probe thermometers. They are relatively cheap ($15). That way you can know what the temps are without opening anything.

Another thing I just thought of - my smoker has condensation issues. I have to keep my damper wide open the first several hours just to let the moisture out of the smoker. When I do this, I wind up with a good bark. If I don't I wind up without a bark. If you notice your meat is wet half way through your smoke, this could be the issue. I never use a water bath for this reason. I'm sure it works OK for some smokers, but not mine.

[kerryd15]

After starting the meat on the smoker, I left to go get a thermometer. The only time i opened to smoker was to insert the probe after I checked calibration and again at the 165 degree internal temp to wrap in foil.

The condensation part is interesting, I did have liquid dripping out the bottom of the door on both corners. nothing in the drip pan out the back. When I did open the door I checked that the hole was not plugged going out the back. The meat was wet the whole time. I will try not using the water pan and having the vents open more.

After reading reports of the thermostat being wrong I whought I would check it. I do have another thermometer that is calibrated but only goes to 220 and that one was maxed out. When I had the digital readout at 170. i will check the calibration between the 2 thermometers.

[kerryd15]

So I opened the smoker looking at the fin on the door, it was bent up so any moisture ran off the sides and under the drip pan not out onto the drip pan.

I warmed some water and used my new digital thermometer to check the deep fryer thermometer. The deep fryer thermometer actually read about 10 degrees cooler than the digital at 170 degrees. Which would mean that the temp was about 10 degrees higher yet in the smoker!!

When I have some time I will check it with a bowl of water in the smoker. Thanks

[SkunkedAgain]

Great comments from everyone above. I've got a couple of other thoughts:

- Cherry is another good wood for smoking

- Definitely lower your temp to the 225 range

- Unwrap your roast after it comes out of the stall. That will help set the bark again

- Be careful that if you address the condensation/moisture issue, be careful of not using the water pan. The most important thing is to make sure that you've got tender, moist meat. Second would be to get that bark on there. What good is dry pork even if it has good bark?

- You may not have had a strong smoke flavor because, if you were cooking at temps in the upper 200s, the woods might have flamed up too fast. The low and slow technique also keeps the wood smoking and not burning, and therefore imparts a stronger smoke flavor.

- One final thought is about your thermometers. For $60-70 or so you can get a combo digital thermometer that will tell you smoker temp at the grate/food level and also one for the internal meat temp. When you stuck your thermometer through the vent, you are taking the temp of the air at the top of the smoker (or wherever the vent is located) versus the temp that your meat is exposed to at the grate level. Smoker thermometers (the ones that come built into the smoker itself) are notorious for being inaccurate. A good thermometer made for smoking will take all of the guess work out of it.

[OnAFly]

I'll second the Cherry wood. It's what I've switched to for almost everything.

[McGurk]

Another wood that I have been happy with for pork is Pecan. Like a mild Hickory, and you can get a bag of Pecan chunks from Gander Mountain. Be careful with Mesquite, as that stuff can really overpower a meat. As stated, cook at a lower temp for more smoke, foil if you want at the stall between 165 and 180 (it can speed up that part of a cook, too), and no foil with higher smoke temps (275?) at the end for better bark.

[eyeguy 54]

I've been doing half and half hickory and mesquite for my ribs. love it :>)