Fat Side Up of Down - Pellet Cooker?

[illini40]

I know there are differing views on this topic, however, for a Traeger Pro 34, is there a preference to fat side up or down?

Thanks

 

[Bearcarver]

In my opinion, If your cooker throws off a lot of direct heat below the meat, it would be best to put the Fat side Down to protect the meat from the heat.

My Smoker is Electric & doesn't get much direct heat all the way up to the meat, so I put the Fat side up to help baste the meat.

Bear

 

[chef jimmyj]

What Bear said....JJ

 

[ynot2k]

I go fat down on vertical smokers and fat up on offset smokers. I know a Traeger looks like a horizontal smoker, but it's heat source is below the meat, so it's actually a vertical smoker. If you wrap toward the end of your cook I would suggest to flip the brisket and finish it wrapped with the fat up. Cheers!

 

[johnmeyer]

Some people put fat side up because they say the melting fat bastes the meat. The extreme version of this is "barding," where you wrap the meat in fat.

I've never seen any tests that prove or disprove this, but my own experience seems to support the notion that the self-basting effect is minimal, if it exists at all.

So, I always cook, whether in the smoker or in an oven, with the fat side down, but I do it for one more reason: I like to spray the meat with sugary liquid during the smoke, both to increase the smoke adhesion, but also to help build up bark. This spraying would be wasted if the fat side is up, since I discard the fat at the end of the process.