Soggy Bark

alamar

Smoke Blower

Original poster

May 4, 2008

129

26

St. Clair Shores, MI

• Apr 5, 2010

• #1

Smoked 6 butts totalling about 55# pre cook over the weekend. Rubbed and rested over night on Thursday. Smoked Friday til 165 degrees then wrapped until 205. Held in oven (off) between 2 blankets for 3 hours. Flavor and smoke ring were super but the bark was sort of soggy. The meat was moist and there was a lot of juices in the foil for each of the butts. Should I wait a little longer before wrapping to let the bark develop more? Need some feedback. Thanks

 

rbranstner

Smoking Guru

OTBS Member

Oct 18, 2007

5,698

39

West Fargo, ND / Northern MN

• Apr 5, 2010

• #2

Yea if you like a hard bark you might want to foil at a later time or don't foil at all like a lot of people do.

 

mballi3011

Gone but not forgotten. RIP

OTBS Member

SMF Premier Member

Mar 12, 2009

14,477

58

• Apr 5, 2010

• #3

Now if you want a good and crusty/hard bark I think you might try going without the foiling and you could take it off at about 195° or so. Then I'm not sure about the moistness of the butts. They might be really good and moist but I just haven't done it that way before but I know alot of folks here do it all the time.

 

rdknb

Master of the Pit

OTBS Member

SMF Premier Member

Jan 23, 2010

3,981

159

Chester (Kent Island), Md

• Apr 5, 2010

• #4

I never foil my butts, as I like the bark. Try it that way one time and you can decide how you want to do it

 

kanadan

Fire Starter

Dec 27, 2009

71

10

menifee ca

• Apr 5, 2010

• #5

you can foil them to bring them up to temp. then put them back in the smoker to tighten up the bark

 

corn cob

Meat Mopper

Mar 30, 2010

204

24

Small Town, Mississippi

• Apr 5, 2010

• #6

Foil is better served wrapping up cookies, and cupcakes...Not meats in a BBQ pit.
With it you have goo....Without it you have bark!

Fun!

 

chisoxjim

Master of the Pit

OTBS Member

Jul 25, 2007

2,761

17

• Apr 5, 2010

• #7

lmfao..

 

mgwerks

Smoking Fanatic

Sep 9, 2008

480

12

Texas Hill Country

• Apr 6, 2010

• #8

You know, not everyone wants a thick hard bark on their Q.

 

alamar

Smoke Blower

Original poster

Thread starter

May 4, 2008

129

26

St. Clair Shores, MI

• Apr 9, 2010

• #9

Agree, I just want a little more than the soggy stuff I got outta the last batch. Will go a little longer before foiling next time. Thanks for the feedback.

 

wingman

Smoking Fanatic

SMF Premier Member

Dec 18, 2009

558

21

Tacoma, WA

• Apr 9, 2010

• #10

To fpil or not to foil? I have done it both ways and I personally think you may have a combination of things that occured. Try foiling at 180 degrees. I then bring mine up to 210. Then I remove the foil. The butts usually drop to around 192-194 degrees. I put them back in (no misting at this point) and let them come up to 215 degrees. I get a great bark every time. The pork stays moist inside. When I remove them I do not wrap them or anything. I let them sit in the open air. If you wrap them any steam (humidity) coming off the butts will be trapped near the bark and soften it. All this is my own humble opinion.

 

jirodriguez

Master of the Pit

OTBS Member

SMF Premier Member

Jun 5, 2009

4,656

143

Portland, OR

• Apr 9, 2010

• #11

Smoke it entirely without foil.... THEN... when you pull it of the smoker at 205° wrap it in foil and put it in the cooler to rest for 2 hrs. You will still have bark, but it wont be hard and crusty, and it won't be mushy either. I do this on my ribs as well.