Black butts. Not what you think.

[DocSteve]

Maybe it's just me but I see alot of cooks where butts are completely black on the outside.
I dont understand that. The pic below is a 13hr smoke. Not burnt black, fall apart tender.
I do mine at 225 till done. Love those crusty dark outer pieces. Alot I see just look burnt on the outside. Not pieces I would want to trim off and snack on.

 

[chef jimmyj]

The quality of the camera and lighting can often account for a darker than actual, picture. Sugar in the rub and swings or spike temps over 325 will do it too...JJ

 

[forktender]

I think a lot of people using electric or propane smokers try to make up for the lack of bark by adding way to much brown sugar.

 

[atomicsmoke]

Maybe it's just me but I see alot of cooks where butts are completely black on the outside.
I dont understand that. The pic below is a 13hr smoke. Not burnt black, fall apart tender.
I do mine at 225 till done. Love those crusty dark outer pieces. Alot I see just look burnt on the outside. Not pieces I would want to trim off and snack on.

It's called bark and it's not burnt meat.

 

[Fueling Around]

Agree
I always go for a bark to peel and eat. I feel it is the cooks reward to snitch a few pieces (quality control?) while pulling the hunk.

I have gotten charred and over cooked especially in a place I didn't expect, Dallas Texas. Really ruins the experience.

 

[DocSteve]

It's called bark and it's not burnt meat.

I beg to differ. I understand bark but look at alot of cooks, its black. That's burnt, not good bark.

 

[DocSteve]

I think a lot of people using electric or propane smokers try to make up for the lack of bark by adding way to much brown sugar.

Ya for years growing up my dad sauced ( high sugar content) chicken from the start. I grew up thinking black chicken was normal.

 

[DocSteve]

Agree
I always go for a bark to peel and eat. I feel it is the cooks reward to snitch a few pieces (quality control?) while pulling the hunk.

I have gotten charred and over cooked especially in a place I didn't expect, Dallas Texas. Really ruins the experience.

That's what In talking about. I keep seeing pictures of smokes that are charred black and people praising the results.
I dont get it.
Black char is a failure in my opinion. Black char is a failure to monitor proper temp and hitting spikes or consiatant high temps.

 

[mike243]

When using hickory mine will get black, other woods give different shades, not a burnt bite on any I have cooked, some folks get hung up on the visual aspect and think black or dark means something is burnt but its not

 

[zwiller]

Yes, it's you Steve. Honestly, I didn't get it at first either. Had to do 7butts/50lbs PP for daughter's grad party and decided to try and achieve that "meteorite" look on one butt to see what all the rage was about. I actually posted here for advice and got a variety of answers but I decided to try a new technique I learned for poultry: pellicle/overnight uncovered rest in fridge. I remember that smoke well. Took that butt off the smoker and it was BLACK. I was convinced I ruined it but boy was I wrong. HOLY S***. I asked the family and they agreed. Life has never been the same...

 

[Jonok]

A lot of times, it’s the light. For example, this is the same 2 racks of ribs 5 minutes apart:

And subsequently plated:

The true color was the same, but on the plate in bright sunlight, they look burnt in the picture.

 

[atomicsmoke]

I beg to differ. I understand bark but look at alot of cooks, its black. That's burnt, not good bark.

I guess you made up your mind and you were not looking for a clarification in your OP.
You cook your butt at a little above boiling point-obviously won't get the same Mallard reaction as a butt cooked at 300. You might have less smoke flowing. The rub type affects final colour too.
Proper black bark does not taste like burnt carbon, it might look burnt but is not.
Don't have to take my word on it. Run the temps higher next time and you'll see.

 

[mooncusser]

Have to agree - it can look black (or almost black) without being burnt. If someone prefers less dark, that's perfectly fine, but it doesn't change the facts.

 

[DocSteve]

I stand corrected. The light and type of wood has a great effect on pictures. Another bit of info I have learned from here.

 

[chef jimmyj]

Paul Prudhomme became famous, and wealthy, taking heavily seasoned Red fish and cooking it in a super heated CI Pan to the point that the fish was BLACK as Pitch but not Burnt...JJ

 

[DocSteve]

Interesting. Gotta look that up.

 

[Jonok]

Kinda put a dent in the redfish population for a decade or so, (and not as good as “Redfish on the half shell” IMHO)

 

[DocSteve]

I spent 3 1/2 years on Guam. Family had a charter boat. It was standard to go out and catch 1k of Yellow Fin tuna, 600-700 pods of Mahi, 400-500 pods of Wahoo.
I ate good back then.

 

[DocSteve]

Pds, pounds, not pods. Spell check.

 

[chef jimmyj]

That sounds great. Im paying $12 a pound for Yellow Fin and who knows when that was caught and frozen...JJ