Mustard Glaze

Thanks. That what very helpful and informative. I am using a horizontal wood smoker. My idea for the maple syrup came from my tinkering with a mustard based BBQ sauce that I finally perfected and wanted to try mixing the syrup in with the mustard and then apply it to the meat to enhance the bark. I do spritz my meats and I like the idea of blending apple cider with the syrup for the spritz.

Well, since smoking is partially about experimenting I gave it try, and it worked spectacularly with a Boston Butt. I have attached a photo of the finished product.


It may look burnt and seem like it would taste terrible, but to the contrary. What you see in the photo is a piece town out after I pulled it out first thing in the morning, and it took no effort at all! This thing fell apart as I was pulling it and was very juicy.

I smoked this butt for 20 hours at 230 degrees, the last 6 hours wrapped in foil. I made a mustard glaze with a combination of yellow mustard, maple syrup, and chipotle chili power to give it tang, sweet and spicy to create a sweet and savory taste. As typical, the mustard lost its tang but the maple syrup came through to give the bark a complex flavor that had depth beyond regular bark with just mustard with spices. If you make sure not too put too much syrup into the mustard, and keep the temperature low, the sugar from the syrup does not appear to burn and become bitter. Having said that, I need to do this a few more times to ensure consistency to determine whether I am correct or it was just a fluke.