Bark discussion


 
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PaulBz

TVWBB Fan
So I got a really great bark on my rib cook this time that I didn't have before. I wonder why exactly that happened. I know you don't want to use too much wood or you'll get a funny taste. But these were perfect with a nice crispy bark. I used ozark hickory and I think I used a little more than previous cooks which is why I got the great bark. Any thoughts on bark for ribs? I smoked at 225 for four hours on a 14.5 with Royal Oak Charcoal.
 
Forming bark, from what I've read, is all about giving a lot of surface area for the smoke to interact with. Rubs that feature bigger coarse particles work better than rubs with smaller particles. Moisture on the surface also helps draw in more smoke to build bark. Taking the meat straight out of the fridge and onto the smoker helps with bark too since moisture will condense onto the surface of the meat.

If you haven't read Aaron Franklin's book, it's worth a read. He uses kosher salt and pepper that's not ground too fine to aid in building bark on his briskets. He also spritzes the briskets with apple juice (if my memory is right) during the early parts of the cook to help build bark.

So, what did you do differently this time?

Different rub, or a different amount of rub?

Were the ribs at room temp when you put them on the smoker or straight out of the fridge?

Did you spritz the ribs during the cook?

Same cooking temperature as before?

I'm FAR from an expert in BBQ, so I keep a log of all my cooks with notes on set up, temp, time, wood, brand of charcoal, etc so it's easy to look back at what worked well, or what didn't work well haha.
 
A few rib observations:

Ribs don't need as much rub as a big hunk of meat. "Light dusting" is a good target.

Texas-style is salt and pepper only, but some paprika adds a nice flavor and that mahogany color.

Spritzing is good, or the bark might get leathery. Apple cider vinegar keeps the bark from becoming bitter (Bitter Bark Face?)

Smoke wood choice is personal taste. I like smoky ribs, so hickory is my choice. Oak is the mildest and pecan is a good middle choice.

Most important temperature: beer should be 32°.

Jeff
 
Well I thought they were great and the bark was awesome. But maybe a tad too salty. I cover them in rub and then put another layer after being in the fridge for a couple of hours. So maybe I should cut down a little on the rub. The previous cooks I let sit overnight with the rub. That dried out the meat a little which is why this cook was a little better I think. The rub wasn't really any coarser than my last rub that I could tell. I used a different Ozark hickory though. The previous wood I used were much bigger chunks and I had to rest the water pan on them. These were smaller so I used more and the water pan fit perfectly and I put them around the edge of the 14.5 so they weren't directly under resting on the water pan. I think the different wood and I used a little more helped out with the bark. And I know the water pan providing moisture really helps the bark I read. So a little more wood and a full water pan helps bark. But I did hear that you do not want to put too much wood on there because then you will over smoke your food on the wsm. I put the same amount of wood in a long brisket cook and a rib cook.
 
One of the biggest differences between a WSM and an offset is that the fire and the food are in the same chamber of the WSM. So we control temperature by choking down the oxygen to a minimal level. That gives us a long burn on one load of fuel, but also makes the wood smolder rather than burn up and turn into coals, like in an offset. Dustin Dorsey is far more experienced than me when it comes to offsets, so maybe he can offer some clarity. I've watched Aaron Franklin cook and his firebox doors are wide open. He is a master of keeping a gorgeous bed of coals pumping just the right amount of heat into the cooking chamber.

So the WSM can produce "bitter" smoke if you're not careful. Smoldering produces a different kind of smoke than an open flame. I'm still trying to get a handle on it. I'm using smaller chunks and less overall wood, but still get plenty of smoke flavor. That said, I have over-smoked many a rack of ribs. Does anyone have a different wood strategy?

Jeff

Jeff
 
J Hasselberger said:
So the WSM can produce "bitter" smoke if you're not careful. Smoldering produces a different kind of smoke than an open flame. I'm still trying to get a handle on it. I'm using smaller chunks and less overall wood, but still get plenty of smoke flavor. That said, I have over-smoked many a rack of ribs. Does anyone have a different wood strategy?

Jeff
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Never heard it put that way before. Have you tried placing the wood on the grate first? Are you doing the Minion Method, or just hot coals?
 
Yes, I use the Minion, placing the wood chunks on top of the unlit briquettes. I'll even put a chunk in the chimney when firing up the starter briquettes. I have buried chunks in the past, but don't see that as any benefit. I notice that even if all the charcoal burns, the wood chunks have not turned to ash (black, but still in the shape of a wood chunk). I don't get bitter smoke taste much anymore, but from time to time ...

One change I have made is to let the fire stabilize for up to an hour before I put the meat on. The smoke is wispy and the temp sitting comfortably stable.
 
Bark is really just the surface of the meat that has dried out and essentially turned to jerky. That drying out of the surface is also what gets you past the stall (if cooking unwrapped). Wrapping can soften this bark considerably. You can mitigate this by firming up the bark at the end of the cook, or wrapping very tightly to keep the bark from steaming. I'm ok with it not being super crusty. You can definitely overdo it. Airflow just helps quicken this process through convection.

Airflow also allows you to burn a cleaner fire. Smoldering fires tend to create thicker smoke particles that can taste bitter, like J says. The disadvantage to the WSM is that it is so efficient that you really have to shut down the vents if you want to run 225. This is even worse in ceramic kamados. With offsets, you can really get some convective airflow going and can really run a clean fire. However, it requires more skill and a lot more work. Most of the time when you put a new log on you will get white smoke until the log ignites. People do things like preheat their logs. To me a mixture of white (larger smoke particles) and blue smoke (smaller particles) taste best. The trick with the WSM is to not use too many chunks and to use the right amount of lit coals to start your minion method so that when you set your vents, you aren't having to shut them down too far, if that makes any sense. If you let too many coals get lit, the only thing you can do is shut your vents down, reducing air flow.
 
J Hasselberger said:
Yes, I use the Minion, placing the wood chunks on top of the unlit briquettes. I'll even put a chunk in the chimney when firing up the starter briquettes. I have buried chunks in the past, but don't see that as any benefit. I notice that even if all the charcoal burns, the wood chunks have not turned to ash (black, but still in the shape of a wood chunk). I don't get bitter smoke taste much anymore, but from time to time ...
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I haven't experienced that yet. My buried wood chunks dissolve into ash.


J Hasselberger said:
One change I have made is to let the fire stabilize for up to an hour before I put the meat on. The smoke is wispy and the temp sitting comfortably stable.
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Same here. I always make sure the smoke is clean before adding meat. One sure method of detecting bad smoke is by swiping a finger on the top grate and tasting for creosote. If it's present, I wash the grill and wait for the smoke to clear up.
 
All of this discussion and not a single mention of Louis Camille Maillard's work.
Should be interesting in what Reaction is created.
 
Originally Posted by Rusty James
Originally Posted by J Hasselberger
Yes, I use the Minion, placing the wood chunks on top of the unlit briquettes. I'll even put a chunk in the chimney when firing up the starter briquettes. I have buried chunks in the past, but don't see that as any benefit. I notice that even if all the charcoal burns, the wood chunks have not turned to ash (black, but still in the shape of a wood chunk). I don't get bitter smoke taste much anymore, but from time to time ...
Click to expand...
I haven't experienced that yet. My buried wood chunks dissolve into ash.
Click to expand...
I would venture the difference is the amount of oxygen getting to the fire. If burned in a very low oxygen environment, the various compounds in the wood burn away and you're left with just carbon -- charcoal. With a sufficient supply of oxygen the wood will burn completely and you're left with ash. J has the vents closed down enough that the coals are barely smoldering so the wood chunks turn to charcoal. You apparently have your vents open enough that the wood chunks burn completely. No right or wrong here, just different. I've seen both things happen.
 
I use the bbq IQ and it works great. I highly recommend it. It keeps the fire at 225 like a charm. I switched to smaller wood chunks. Which Aaron Franklin says to do as well. I just bought his book. I put the smaller wood chunks on top of the lit coals. I fill the bottom with unlit coals almost to the top and then use about a quarter of a weber chimney lit and pour that over the unlit coals. I then put the smaller wood chunks on the outer rim. Not only so the water pan fits better, but I have a feeling being closer to the outside I got better smoke. I did three racks of ribs the last time. My only concern was that it took almost 45 minutes to get back to 225. But the IQ keeps it at 225 for many hours. I think it was the wood that gave me that great bark this time. Rubs I found out don't really help all that much with bark. Next time I do a rib cook, I'll just do it the same way. But with maybe a little less rub as I thought it was a tad salty.
 
JayHeyl said:
You apparently have your vents open enough that the wood chunks burn completely. No right or wrong here, just different. I've seen both things happen.
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Correct. I usually keep the vents open on the 18.5" WSM to keep temps at or above 225°. Ideally, I prefer to smoke in the 250° range.

The 14.5" model is more of a challenge as it tends to run close to 275° and above with the vents open - even with H2O in the water pan.
 
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Rusty James said:
Correct. I usually keep the vents open on the 18.5" WSM to keep temps at or above 225°. Ideally, I prefer to smoke in the 250° range.

The 14.5" model is more of a challenge as it tends to run close to 275° and above with the vents open - even with H2O in the water pan.
Click to expand...

My 22.5 likes to run hot, but I think I'm out of round slightly where the middle section touches the base, somehow. That's the one place I didn't install the gasket. Usually I'm 1 vent open a sliver at 225.
 
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