This all started because of the love a beautiful woman and she doesnt understand what she has created and enabled here but here goes:
The wife wanted to get me something to cook poolside that wouldnt be an "all day operation" for me and something a little "easier" on me to cook with just for us by the pool this summer. Ive got 2 trailered stick burning Reverse Flows (Big Bertha and Great Big Bertha) but just to put 1 or 2 butts on or chickens wings or bologna its not feasible to run em for that. Thus, the pool side pellet pit boss.
So here is my question and my problem: I couldnt get the typical bark I usually get with my butts. They also took almost 4 hours longer than they typically do on my stick burners.
Prep: Rub was my tried and true rub with brown sugar, salt, poprika, garlic and onion powder, cayenne pepper, and black pepper. Injected with apple juice and water and spritzed with apple juice/water along the way. Again, nothing new or different in the prep of these butts.
Onto the cook: They were 8 pound butts, cooked at 250 until I wrapped them at 160IT, like always, and then cranked it up to 300 until IT was 200. At that point I pulled them out of the foil and the bone wouldnt budge. No biggie been here before. Back on for another hour and crank it up to 350 IT is at 210 now and still wont pull clean. 12 hours into this cook these butts are 215IT and the bone still wont pull clean and no meteorite bark. I pulled them off and let them sit for 30 minutes (the kids couldnt wait any longer to eat) and pulled them. Still, bone wouldnt pull clean without alot of help. Flavor was great, nice smoke ring, and super juicy, but my favorite park is the bark and I didnt get it. Wife and kids had zero complaints with the meat and you know what they say...happy wife, happy kids...but in the never ending quest for BBQ its the little things that keep us up at night.
So...pellet heads, how do you get your bark on these pellet cookers? Did I miss the boat somewhere? It was my first cook with a pellet but By no means my first rodeo on butts but it was the first time I couldnt get bark on any cook. Tips, tricks, or ideas.
Below are the Q pics...Pitt, first put butts on, butts at 140, and butts at what would normally be pull off temp (notice no bark)
The wife wanted to get me something to cook poolside that wouldnt be an "all day operation" for me and something a little "easier" on me to cook with just for us by the pool this summer. Ive got 2 trailered stick burning Reverse Flows (Big Bertha and Great Big Bertha) but just to put 1 or 2 butts on or chickens wings or bologna its not feasible to run em for that. Thus, the pool side pellet pit boss.
So here is my question and my problem: I couldnt get the typical bark I usually get with my butts. They also took almost 4 hours longer than they typically do on my stick burners.
Prep: Rub was my tried and true rub with brown sugar, salt, poprika, garlic and onion powder, cayenne pepper, and black pepper. Injected with apple juice and water and spritzed with apple juice/water along the way. Again, nothing new or different in the prep of these butts.
Onto the cook: They were 8 pound butts, cooked at 250 until I wrapped them at 160IT, like always, and then cranked it up to 300 until IT was 200. At that point I pulled them out of the foil and the bone wouldnt budge. No biggie been here before. Back on for another hour and crank it up to 350 IT is at 210 now and still wont pull clean. 12 hours into this cook these butts are 215IT and the bone still wont pull clean and no meteorite bark. I pulled them off and let them sit for 30 minutes (the kids couldnt wait any longer to eat) and pulled them. Still, bone wouldnt pull clean without alot of help. Flavor was great, nice smoke ring, and super juicy, but my favorite park is the bark and I didnt get it. Wife and kids had zero complaints with the meat and you know what they say...happy wife, happy kids...but in the never ending quest for BBQ its the little things that keep us up at night.
So...pellet heads, how do you get your bark on these pellet cookers? Did I miss the boat somewhere? It was my first cook with a pellet but By no means my first rodeo on butts but it was the first time I couldnt get bark on any cook. Tips, tricks, or ideas.
Below are the Q pics...Pitt, first put butts on, butts at 140, and butts at what would normally be pull off temp (notice no bark)
